In 1982 Drew Barrymore was just a child when she melted hearts with her performance as Gertie in the classic film, ET. Now, almost 30 years later, this accomplished actress with the distinguished Hollywood pedigree has her own film and television production company [the movies Charlie's Angels, Donnie Darko, Fever Pitch ; the television shows Shoot to Kill and Tough Love]  is also a philanthropist, and human and animal rights advocate.

Appointed as Ambassador Against Hunger for the United Nations Food Program she has herself donated over $1 million and given countless hours to speak on this oft-neglected topic.

While traveling and speaking around the world on the silent scourge of hunger, she has continued to grow as an actress. In 2010, her talent as a leading actress was recognized once again, winning both the Golden Globe and Screen Actor’s Guild awards for her critically acclaimed performance in the HBO television movie, Grey Gardens.

source: singlemindedwomen.com

article from: celebs.gather.com

Drew Barrymore just bought a house–actually, mansion would be the word–nearly next door to Oprah Winfrey.

Wouldn’t half the world like to be next-door neighbors with Oprah? Don’t we sometimes feel we already are?

No, this is not in ice-bound Chicago; this real estate is located in Montecito, California near Santa Barbara, says Comcast.net. It’s just a reasonable drive up the coast from Los Angeles.

A real bargain at $7-M, says Mail Online, this estate should keep Drew comfortable for a while. Montecito happens to be one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in America. Think they have block parties in the ‘hood? Not likely, but the tone could make up for any such defects.

Besides Winfrey, Drew Barrymore’s neighbors include Jeff Bridges, George Lucas, Rob Lowe, John Cleese, Julia Lois-Dreyfus, Kirk Douglas and Billy Baldwin. Did we forget Steve Martin? And, to add a bit of political color, Al Gore.
… read more »

The next year promises to be a year of Hollywood glamour. Buzz is that Hollywood hotties Cameron Diaz and Drew Barrymore all set to visit India in January 2011 to announce a tie-up with True Cinema, an Indian production company. Reportedly Diaz is the lead heroine of a cross-over romance opposite a B-town A-lister.
Confirming these details, Sudipto, head of True Cinema says, “Our company has signed a three-year deal for five films: Indian Autumn, Amrit Kumbh, Gora, Devi and Legend Of Rafailov, with Hollywood-based studio Black Satellite and their production wing Media Distribution Partners. Noted Hollywood based producer Raj Rahi, Shahrook Omer who produced White Night and Assad Khan have been the architects of this entire deal.”
He also confirmed Diaz’s visit to India, “Diaz and the entire Hollywood team will be visiting important Indian cities including Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Haridwar in January to formally announce the first ever Hollywood-Bollywood long term joint venture.”
Reports say that Russell Crowe will be acting in Amrit Kumbh, a film from True Cinema camp. The actor will join the other celebrities in India later.
If all goes well, this could be the first of it’s kind Bollywood-Hollywood venture.
source: hindustantimes.com

Drew Barrymore, pen in hand, is carefully printing a message on the inside of her wrist as we talk. When she finishes, the letters spell the word “breathe”. Breathe? “It’s to remind me to remember to breathe,” she says. “I write it all the time. It’s very important to me because the older I get I see that breathing is really the key. It’s the bargain basement fundamental to life and to sanity and to being able to conduct yourself in a manner you would be proud of.”

She does not want to expand on it and while it may seem a somewhat zany and obvious form of self-help therapy, it is something that clearly works for her. Considering the tragic family legacy she inherited she seems to be as in control and normal as a Hollywood-raised film star can be. After all, her background and early life has become something of a notorious Hollywood legend: America’s lovable little sweetheart at seven years old and a scandal-filled childhood, followed by a deeply troubled adolescence that included drug and alcohol addiction, a suicide attempt and several spells in rehab.

But she turned her life around thanks in part to a formerly drug-addicted musician, and during the last decade she has matured into a multi-talented actress, producer and, more recently, director who has shaken off the shadow of her family name to establish herself in her own right as a major force to be reckoned with. “Being a Barrymore didn’t help me other than giving me a great sense of pride and a strange spiritual sense that I felt OK about having the passion to act,” she says thoughtfully, talking in a suite at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills. “It made sense because my whole family had done it and it helped rationalise it for me.”

… read more »

by The Fan Carpet

Drew Barrymore covers Harper’s Bazaar and describes herself as dominant – more so than people would think. She claims she is a total control freak and loves to participate in the design of every single aspect of life.

Drew, now 35 says this has been an incredible year for her, describing it as a “very auspicious time”.

“I have never been insecure, because I see what a waste it is. I know there is a solution to insecurity”.

You can currently catch Drew in Going the Distance in UK cinemas alongside on-off boyfriend Justin Long.

LOS ANGELES — After feeding the rumor mills with their on-off relationship, Drew Barrymore and Justin Long are back together starring in the upcoming release “Going the Distance,” about the difficulties of long distance love affairs.

Barrymore, 35, told a press conference in Beverly Hills about the film opening September 3, in which she stars as Erin, an aspiring journalist.

“Erin is a very strong girl; she can go to bars and win at video games and hang with the boys. But she put a relationship ahead of her dreams before and resented it,” she added.

Barrymore said she loves doing romantic comedies and that taking inspiration from their personal lives and relationship helped her and Long make “Going the Distance” more believable.

In the movie, Erin and Garrett (Long) meet and fall in love one night in a Manhattan bar. They live in New York and San Francisco and have to somehow navigate their bicoastal relationship around six hours’ flying time.

Barrymore plays a recently graduated journalist, a profession oft-seen among young women in Hollywood romantic movies these days. She and Garrett, an aspiring musician, struggle to find meaningful jobs while trying to keep their relationship together.

“I’d been reading a lot of romantic comedies, and this one really stood out for me in the sense that it was much more raw and realistic, and very funny, too. It didn’t hold back at all,” said Long, 32.

Long and Barrymore first went out together while shooting “He’s Just Not That Into You” (2007).

Hollywood star Drew Barrymore wouldn’t play a married character in a film because she doesn’t relate to it. The 35-year-old actress, who stars as a journalist in a long-distance relationship in Going The Distance, admits she likes doing romantic comedy movies, but only enjoys intelligent and realistic representations of love, London Evening Standard reported.

“I need rom-coms at the end of a bad day – a nice happy ending and a fairytale. On the other hand I like movies that are very grounded in reality but still maintain their comedy,” she said.

“I’m not at a place in my life where I want to play a character who says, ‘I just have to get married!. “I swear to God, with some of these romantic comedies, these women are being shot in the butt with steroids, and I fell like they’ll eat the husband alive on their wedding day.

It just terrifies me,” Barrymore added.The actress, who is said to be in a relationship with her Going the Distance co-star Justin Long, also admits she likes the idea of exploring the difficulties of being a modern woman in a film.

“This movie asks the question: ‘How do you keep the job and the guy?’ That is a question I’m interested in discussing, not like, ‘I’m going to rip your hair out because you stole my wedding dress.’ I don’t care about that,” she said.

Going The Distance is released worldwide throughout September.