128 – Steven Spielberg: Exploring Drew Barrymore's Relationship with Her Father Figure

0:02 Hey Juby, it's Ashley and Anne here to make sure you know about our Patreon. For just $1.00 a month, you'll gain access to our 16 exclusive episodes deep diving every chapter of Drew's 1990 autobiography Little Girl Lost, and currently we're working our way through coverage of her 2015 book Wildflower. We also share scans of full magazine features and rare photos and content from our massive Drew Barrymore archive. Plus, we snail mail Drew Magazine goodies to those members at the $5 level for those of you who also like collecting and paper like we do.

0:38 Yeah, as independent podcasters, we truly appreciate the support and can't wait for you to join us. Patreon.com slash. Hello and welcome. How do you Drew? This is a Drew Barrymore fan podcast brought to you by the friends, collectors, and historians behind the Druseum. We're drawing on over 25 years of Drew the Expertise to dive into all aspects of Drew's world, from her personal life to her professional career. Thanks to our sponsor and friends at Positive Medium, I'm Ann. And I'm Ashley. This week, we are discussing Drew's longtime, really sweet, wonderful relationship with Steven Spielberg.

1:46 Yes. Biggie. And actually I like how in our intro we were saying personal life and professional career. This is like exactly where those things cross. Yes, the Venn diagram Steven Spielberg is right there in the middle. Yes, exactly. So we have a lot of like assorted things at the top, like a an exciting intro. We get into things. So let's jump into a couple things at the top. We noticed that half of our regular Spotify audience doesn't subscribe to the show. Hey guys, this is just a stat that just blew our mind.

2:24 So please hit that follow button and you'll see our new episodes on your homepage when you log in. If you're a regular listener, this is a benefit to. You. Yeah. It's so that you don't miss anything, you guys. So just click it. You're done. Yes, exactly. I did want to say a little hello to our newest Patreon member. So she is at the $5 level and we're kind of playing around with the idea of calling everyone on the Patreon our daisies. What do you guys think? I think it's. Really. I was thinking like Howdy's for a second but I'm like no that sounds way too western.

3:02 The Howdy doodies. The Howdy doodies. So, our new Daisy. Yes, back to what I was saying, our new Daisy, Tina Lee, thank you so much for joining us. And Tina, if we hear back from you with an address, we're going to be sending you a nice big package of Drew goodies. We actually just sent a second package to one of our biggest supporters over there, Scott, and he just got it yesterday and was excited. So we'll keep sending them to you guys if you stay at that $5 level because we have so many extras that we can send your way duplicate things that so many space and we'd rather share them with you guys.

3:41 Yes, I've got just like piles and piles. Piles. Of double S, as I call them. Yeah, magazines. Like I probably have a tub of full magazines. Wow, that's a funny I want to share this. With we want to share this with people. Yeah, we need to send some of those out. Also on our Patreon, just as a little heads up, our newest exclusive episode over there, which covers the Joshua Tree chapter of Drew's book Wildflower, and it's all about Drew's relationship with her biological dad. Very like, interesting.

4:12 I didn't realize we synchronized these two episodes. I didn't either, Ashley. So funny, we should have saved these all for Father's Day. Anyway, that is out now, and there's also a corresponding gallery of some rare photos, photos that relate to the chapter. So get on over there. Even $1.00 a month will get you access to this exclusive content. Yes, so thank you, Tina for joining and everyone else who's not a Daisy go over to our Patreon and join us over there. Patreon.com slash. Adriu, sorry, I know you just heard that.

4:47 Actually, I'm not apologizing. You never get too much of the Jingle that we didn't create intentionally. It was just us being goofballs and it just worked. It worked, guys. OK, so I feel like this just happened. Was it our last episode that we were talking about the last one? So yes. Ashley was able to spot another one of the gifts that we gave to Drew in her home that's currently for sale. So there were some more pictures released by a real estate agent or something and.

5:18 Yeah, this one is. So this one's especially exciting and validating to me. So this was also on the home, on the wall of her home in Los Angeles or former home person Terrace. We have a whole episode about that if you guys want to hear. So this picture was also on the wall there. Yeah, but this one's really special because we did not give this to her in person. Do you remember that? Is this one of the ones we like handed off to someone at her desk? Not even. We mailed this one and Chris Miller made sure it got to her and like, it's just extra.

5:48 Like, hell yeah. Like we didn't even get to like, be sure she received it and it's just like double. But we should describe it. OK. Yes, Yeah. So. I'll, I'll describe it a little bit because I'm the one who like kind of put it together. So I've gotten this magazine, it's from like the 1930s or something that has a basically Barrymore family tree, like a Drew and Barrymore family tree. Literally, says Drew Dash Barrymore, which is just so cool because it is the Drews and the Barrymore. And this is like 40 something years before Drew was born there.

6:24 So this is her family's like it's literally like a family tree that has like several generations. It's really cool. So I like scanned it, copied it like got a print of them side by side because it was like a magazine and I still have that that's. Right. Yeah, And, and I framed it when I was still working at Michael's. I recognized the frame. I remember doing it like after you said we shipped it. I'm like, oh I remember packaging this actually. Too, I was with you for some reason. We were together when we did it and I was like reading our like card that we wrote to her.

6:57 So not only was it for her birthday, but she just won the Golden Globe in 2010. So we also, like, referenced like her recent accolades and how we were so proud and yeah, it's really neat. So now I'm like extra like, oh, like, and this was her 35th birthday and the other one was from our 50th. So it's just crazy. It's cool that we've like been doing this for a while until like, and we love the idea that she's able to appreciate something that we gifted to her in her like home space. It's like it's really special that we want things to touch her in that way.

7:32 Yeah, so once again, we already like gushed about a last episode with the other one, but this is just freaking cool you. Guys, we'll never get over it. It's it's so neat. Like Drew, we love you. The last little thing I just wanted to say, and the audio wasn't very good cuz she's like hugging an audience member when this happens. OK. But there was an audience member who told Drew that she was a light in this world. And as Drew was hugging her, she said, if I'm light, then I'm probably just a reflection of you.

8:03 That is such a drew. Thing to say, I mean, and we just love the drinking game of, you know, take a drink every time someone just says that Drew's a light. So that one was just like, I just, I don't know, take take like extra drinks. She's always reflecting off people and she loves being there, loves being around people. Drew is like a light demon. I guess. Something like that, something like that. Let's get to a lighter subject. Tell me some things that Drew has proclaimed her love for recently.

8:31 I love, love. It's funny how these go in waves. Like last week we had three. This time there's a whole shit load. So here we go. I love it, Drew. Loves organization. She loves black beans. We do too. Yeah, I knew we were both going to be into that way. She loves chores. That's cute. She loves cleanliness that goes right hand in hand. Yep, she loves 711, which I think is fun because I definitely remember some article from the early 90s her talking about like playing pinball at 7:11. Oh, that's funny.

9:07 Yeah, pinball machine. OK, so she also loves bell Peppers. I can I go back and forth on bell Peppers? She's like, eat it like an apple, which is crazy. They I can't do that. But I do like them cooked. OK? Drew loves competing. She loves Capricorns. Hey, what's up? I I actually had to write down what she said. She said they're good people. I'm like, thanks, Drew, I know you're talking about me. She loves Jamaica. OK, she loves carrots. Cottage cheese with pepper. I haven't tried that but I'm intrigued.

9:46 She loves deviled eggs. Double no thanks. I love them both. She loves mint. Now I'm back on board. And she loves the back roads. Cute. Isn't you talking about like Rd. trips in that? Yeah, not taking like the highways and the freeways, yeah. That's fun. OK, we've got a druism for the week. Tell me all about that. You know, those cool little isms that we do OK, this. I just thought this was really cute. It's not as like gross or like, as, you know, doesn't put a picture in your mind and quite the same way.

10:23 But I thought it was cute. So she was eating Demi Lovato spicy pasta and she said, there's a tiny dancer on my tongue right now. And her name is Pepper. And I think that puts an image in your mind. OK, OK. Yeah, it does. Like I'm, you know, I had to like, picture a tiny dancer on my tongue. Like the dancing emoji in the red dress? It's like woo. Exactly. That's Pepper from now on. It's Pepper. Yes, that's that's the name of that emoji. Officially, we should let Apple know or you know, whoever's in charge of that.

10:56 Let's go back in time and you can tell me about this week and drew history.

11:05 OK, this is kind of one of those funny ones where I'm like, it's very recent, even though it's not, but I had a reason for picking this because it's kind of cool. So this is April 14th, 2011. Drew attended the Mocha, their artist opening of the exhibit Art in the Streets, which was at the museum's Geffen Contemporary location in downtown LA. Remember that for a second? Yes. So this was cool because she debuted her brain brand new dark red hair just the night before at a different event. So it's like this is like a brand new hair color and she's being photographed 2 days in a row like we were living the dream back then.

11:44 Yeah, it looks so great. It's such a great color on her. And she just looks freaking cool. I was just going to say the whole look is really great. Yeah, she was just like in AI. Don't know how to describe it. Just kind of this like rocker vibe look. Like, she's got, like, looks like a long earring. That's a feather maybe. Yeah. Like, oh. I definitely had one like that too that I caught. The like bag with the tassels. I'm not even like I I love like the simplicity of the outfit. And then there's just like great accessories like.

12:13 Yeah. And her jeans are kind of like tie dyed. It's interesting. It's definitely like not the style that we normally associate with this time period because she's here. She looks. Cool. Yeah, she looks so cool. And she's here with her new boyfriend, Will Kopelman. So this is obviously before where they got married and. Before they had children. Only been dating for a couple months and we usually think of her as like trying to be very Chanel sophisticated. Yeah, during that relationship, But at this time, she still looks like a little badass.

12:46 Another notable thing is that she was pictured there with the artist Shepard Fairey, and I have a feeling they were already in talks and collaborating because he would go on to design the Barrymore Wines label when it debuted the following year. And that's that really cool. Like, he took, like, the Barrymore family Crest and, like, made it into something. Yeah, his style for the label. It's a great, it was a great label. I have it still on my like wine holder, like right inside my front door and I see it every day and I just, I love it.

13:20 I love how it looks. Never going to open that one. That's so cool. We're so lucky that we like had that. Like that was part of our like collecting experience too. Another really cool thing that happened to this. Yeah. And of course that we, I love that connection. I'm sure that's why you're like, this is so cool. There's so many like, little things that come out of these Drew histories, right? Yeah, well, there's one more. So like I said, remember the location because two years after this, she collaborated with the Mocha and showed her photographs at an event at this location and we were there.

13:53 She wasn't. She was super pregnant. She was super pregnant. We, I think she was like, maybe gonna possibly be there. Yeah. And Chris Miller came and he told us that she had just filmed the Essentials for TCM and like she was too tired or it was just too much. So it was like a little bit of a like let down that she wasn't there, but it was still so cool. We got it was neat and her photos like they were projected. Right. Do we have those on our website somewhere? Yeah, on our photography page. So if you guys want to check that out, it's just the drewzium.com/photography.

14:27 And Anne, luckily, like, stood there and got a picture of every single one. I think there's a great one of her dad. Maybe there is. Holy shit I forgot about that. We totally should have included that in our Joshua Tree coverage. Well, it's not too late. Maybe we'll put the picture of us with with Chris Miller at that thing. Yeah, in the episode. Gallery. Yeah, cuz why not? Absolutely. I think it was taken by his partner at the time, right David? David yeah, like took some of drew pictures. I remember us seeing a Drew be there too.

15:01 Misty. Yeah, right. Yeah. OK. It was, wasn't it? It was it. Was this is going to be a very short segment Before we get into the weekly topic, tell me what's new with Drew? Here we go with the news, everybody. How is there so little? I'm like, this is it, This is all I got. OK, well, this is just like speculation, but it kind of looks like the final day of filming for The Drew Barrymore Show Season 6, maybe May 6th. That's the last date that's currently available for audience tickets. And there's like a weird two week gap between April 16th and May 5th.

15:39 So I don't know if they just like quickly added two more days to just like, finish things up. I don't know how all that works, but we're getting towards the end and it's been a weird season. Yeah, there's definitely been some things about it that we've noticed that are different. And I'm definitely looking forward to seeing what Season 7 feels like. Yes, I'm hoping that more of Drew is in the Drew Barrymore Show in the following seasons. More Barrymore. We like the others. We do, yeah. Yeah, yeah.

16:11 But I'm usually like, I'm in it for Drew, so I'm going to the episodes and I'm like a cooking segment. OK, I'm going to skip this whole. Part Yep. Same. Yep. Sorry. But we love the show, obviously we. Still love the show and I don't know, I'm excited for what what's coming in the future. Me too. Hey Druby, we are here to tell you about our website hosts, Positive Medium and they sponsor the podcast. We've been clients of theirs for over 10 years and we use them for all our website needs on the drusium.com.

16:46 Their services include customized web design, professional coding, search engine optimization and marketing, plus hosting, which has been huge for us for many years. Plus they're incredible. Customer service has been one of our favorite features. They've literally saved our site quite a few times and they always help with minor troubleshooting in a matter of minutes. So whether that's coding issues or back end questions, etcetera, we reach out, we get help immediately, which is just invaluable. Lucky you to our listeners, Positive Medium is offering 25% off any managed WordPress hosting plan using our promo code Drew.

17:24 That's DREW. Visit our friends over at positivemedium.com. Thank you. OK. So I think we're ready to get into the topic for the week, Steven Spielberg. Is such a nice one and like I, I like this one for a lot of reasons. I, of course, the same old story. It's like I'm a crazy repetitive thing. But like, I go, oh, this feels like it's going to be a lot of work. I don't know if I want to do this one. And then I start going and then it's totally fine. So I like that this is like kind of one of those ones that I've always been like, that feels intimidating it, and now we're doing it.

18:06 That feels cool. Yeah. I also like that it sets the record straight with one of my pet peeves. Yes. One of the misconceptions about Drew's upbringing. Yep, and it was just fun to put this together. Like I the the way I started was I just went into our articles folder of all the articles we have transcribed. Searched his name. Yeah, he just searched his name and that was like a really fun way to do it. And then that's kind of how I started. We're working really hard on transcribing articles. You guys, if you don't know, it's like so useful when it comes to doing research for stuff like this.

18:39 If we have digital versions of everything, yes. So that's a project I am endlessly working on, but I've done so many. So you've done? So many, like it's so I haven't even like gone to the folder in a while, but you'll tell me like, oh, I did a whole bunch, like a whole bunch of them. I have like another six I'm in the middle of right now so yay so cool. I love that that's happening. Anyway, so the research happened. We're here to talk about Drew's relationship with Steven Spielberg. I just thought of the Dee Wallace talking about how Drew would say Steven.

19:16 It always comes back to the celebrity profile. Always, always. OK, so let's make this thing clear, right? Drew did not know Steven Spielberg before ET. He wasn't her godfather from birth. We're going to explain this. This is something I constantly see out there in the Internet, people being very self-righteous about how she's an Eppo baby, Steven Spielberg's her godfather. That's why she's in ET. And it's like, Oh my God, that is so far from the truth. Tell us what her life was really like. Anne so.

19:54 Drew's dad, as we talked about in the episode in our Patreon, and we've talked about a bunch before, Drew's dad was almost completely out of the picture by the time that she met Steven Spielberg, and she didn't have a normal parent child relationship with her mom, so she had very complicated relationship with her parents. We've talked about this a lot. She likes to call herself an orphan for a reason. Yes. In 1981, she met Stephen while auditioning for Poltergeist. This is like a story that has been told many times.

20:26 Stephen thought that she wasn't right for the part. He said that she had too much personality to totally see that come on and but he it was suggested that she auditioned for ET. He said that she had the quote pluck and cuteness UN quote he was looking for in the part of greedy. Accurate. Yeah, So she came back several times to audition for ET and she was just so happy to, like, be coming in there and have a grown up who would listen to her talk, which is just, I mean, just that right there tells you a lot about where, you know what, where she was in life and how she was feeling incredibly lonely.

21:05 She did not have any stability or parents. And now here's this adult man who is showing up for her and wants to talk to her and hear what she has to say. So sweet. It's so sweet. Steven said that Drew made-up, like made-up a stories the best of anyone. She's wonderfully funny and spontaneous. And she just melted me. He said. And we love the story, of course, that during one of those auditions, Drew told him that she was the drummer of a rock band called the Purple People Eaters and they were going on tour.

21:37 So back again. I know that this is in the celebrity profile. This is a really cool little clip of Steven just kind of talking about how Drew got the part. Well, Drew, you know, I've met a lot of Gertie's. But when Drew came in, she had the part the minute she stepped into the room because she began to make up these stories that she was a punk rocker, She had a punk rock band. She was going on the road. She was going to do a an entire, She's six years old. She told me that she's going to do a 20 city tour in America with her punk rock band.

22:04 And then she kept making up stories and they got bigger and bigger and bigger and and Wilder and Wilder and she just blew me away. I mean, there was no, there was no second choice. I mean, Drew Barrymore was the first choice for this part. It's funny how familiar this is. Like you saw the profile, like Oh my God, exactly like word like word for word. But he's already going to say anyway. Very sweet like I love how he's describing it. Really like gives you this image of this precocious. Kid Oh, it definitely like how she described it in the past, like she would just go into auditions like a little travelling salesman and just like da da da put on a little show.

22:43 She wanted attention so badly. Like, anyway, that's a whole nother story, yes? So now let's get into ET filming. Drew considers filming ET one of the best times in her entire life, and a huge part of that was because of Steven Spielberg, she said in her book Wildflower. To say that we loved him is the understatement of the world. We didn't love him because it was our job. We loved him because he was like Peter Pan. He believed in US and for the first time in our lives, we realized our potential through him.

23:17 I have never had an experience like it. They would describe how he would get down to their level. And. Talk to them like human beings and not absolutely. They were lower than him, so he changed the game. I mean this is such a fun little story. Like a couple weeks into shooting and Drew pretty much believes ET is real. She like kind of understands but she's more on the side of believing in him. She noticed that there were men operating him behind a wall so she brought Stevens attention to it. And he said I didn't want to burst the bubble so I simply said it's OK.

23:54 ET is so special. ET has 8 assistants and he like would keep a couple of the operators on hand so that ET could react to Drew. Like, during lunch and stuff, she would sit and eat with him and tell her secrets. And it wasn't just like, oh, the machine's off. Like, you know, let's go have lunch. Like, he kept ET real to her, which I know is also to his benefit for her performance in the film. But it's also just so sweet. It's really sweet. And there's her imagination, like, yeah, whether she actually thought like this, this creature was real.

24:29 Like, that's so magical. Oh, so Drew, this is this is fun. So Drew said that as long as I knew my line, Steven let me do what I wanted. And Steven described her as 7 going on 29. Like, just like she was just like kind of an adult mentality. Yeah. At six years old, he said. At six years old, Drew fearlessly looked me in the eye and told me she thought she had a better way of doing a scene in ET.

25:02 I did see something recently where she was talking about how she's like, what the hell was I doing? Like coming in and improvising. Like who did I think I was? Like I was so bold. Wasn't that something in the like scene at the beginning where they're at the dinner table? Wasn't something improv there? Oh, probably alligators in the sewers, something like that, yeah. Alligators in the sewers. OK, so one more quote kind of in the same vein. She was a producer at six years old. She came on board ET with a lot of ideas of how the story should be told.

25:39 Drew did nothing but offer one good idea after another. The little producer in her so cute like. So because of this, they really started to form what I mean, it's like a paternal relationship. You know, she doesn't have any sort of father figure whatsoever. And now she's got this man who is really caring about her. And I mean, let's play this little clip. Yeah, to kind of show the affection, just do this. Like her voice. Yeah, yeah. Can I say hi to Steven? Sure. You want to say hi to Steven? Yeah.

26:14 Sure. Hi, Steven. I love. You. That is so sweet. Melts you. So she asked him if he could be her dad, and he said no because you know, he couldn't. But then she was like, OK, could you be my godfather? Drew says in Wildflower. Much to my relief, I had become so close with Steven that he accepted my wish, conveyed by my mother, to have him be like a godfather to me. So there you guys go. All you people out there who think it was something else, she continues. He stepped up to the plate he took me in.

26:52 A girl who needed a father and it meant the world to me. And he was such a good father figure too. Consistent, caring, strict, wholesome, nurturing. Everything she needed. Totally. Everything. She was. So lacking my. God so much. It's such a like, you know she needed. That. Yeah, she's also said that he is the only person in her life to this day who was ever a parental figure to her. And she also has said that he's the first person in her life who she knew cared. I know. Just breaks your heart. It does.

27:32 She stayed with Steven on the weekends and described it as the safest place and time that I knew in Wildflower. He gave her a cat that she named Gertie, a Pac-Man arcade game, and he took her to Disneyland, Knott's Berry Farm and the London Zoo, just to name a few things that we're aware of like there's. Some of there's. More, we also know that she would visit him on the sets of his movies like Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Color Purple, so continued to be a part of his life and that's neat, but she got to like see the behind the scenes of those things.

28:10 He also came to her first Saturday Night Live hosting appearance in November of 1982 and brought Robin Williams. With him. So cool. Didn't you describe being, like, really nervous about having, like, Robin Williams? Yeah. Yeah, and here's a cute little audio of her talking in 1984 about him. Are you still such good friends? Yes. We love each other. I go over to his house and we we play games and we see each other a lot and we're still best friends. Oh. Best. Friends. In 2025, she said, Steven was like a dad.

28:50 I was getting an opportunity to meet a safe male who I looked up to and admired so much. He was very parental with me. He felt very protective of me and I felt that from him and it felt so good to get that care. I know, and Steven has been quoted as saying about this time she was staying up way past her bedtime, going to places she should have only been hearing about and living a life at that very tender age that I think robbed her of her childhood. Yet I felt very helpless because I wasn't her dad.

29:25 I could only kind of be a consiglieri to her. So he just did what he could, right? He couldn't adopt her. Yeah, take her away from Jade completely, but yeah. And it's funny, I was just talking about consigliaries because it's a thing in the mob. So yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I can say is kind of like the right hand man to the boss. So I get and someone and someone who, which I like this description cuz he's basically like, I'm not going to go to her. She has to come to me and ask for my advice. Like it's not kind of like like a Consigliaria, I don't think gives unsolicited advice.

30:05 I don't know, like that's kind of, I'm not sure there's a power dynamic there, though. OK, that's like that. He's. Acknowledging, I don't know, it's interesting. It's an interesting way to to look at it, but it describes kind of he couldn't just like burst into her life. Yeah. I don't know, but she grows up right and she continues to have a relationship with him. When she wanted to get her ears pierced, Steven made her promise to wait until she was 10 and said he'd buy her a bunch of earrings. He was stuck on set on her 10th birthday, so his then wife, Amy Irving took Drew and she said it was the best day of my life and I was so glad I'd waited.

30:46 I had a deal with him and I was never going to break it. She's so cute and then this last detail is so great. Drew made the same deal with her daughter Olive. And like really did it. I remember like there were pictures of her on her 10th birthday getting her ears spirits or something so cute. And I also like what a simple little boundary to place. And she was like, ready for it, Like, Yep, I'm going to, I'm going to follow that promise that I made and I'll follow that rule and. I'll smoke cigarettes and drink you.

31:18 Didn't say anything about that, but. I won't get my ears pierced. We always, you know, we loved her. We also like to bust her balls and she would laugh. She would laugh too. We know she would, yes. So as Drew got a little bit older, Steven had his first son Max, and Drew would babysit him. But Steven always told her that she was his true first born child, and he's also called her his training wheels for fatherhood. So sweet. Yeah. And then we get to like, you know, Drew's troubled years, for lack of a better term.

31:55 One thing that Steven has said about that was I really think she wouldn't be the amazing person she is today were it not for these tricky years. I always told Drew to find the people she trusts the most and stick to them like glue. And on just like a little side note of that is that in a totally separate article years before, Drew had said that Steven is one of the only people who made her actually believe that there were trustworthy people out there. So so I kind of love that he's like, find the people you trust and don't get rid of him.

32:24 She's like, cool, it's you. He's like pointing at himself. Yeah, yeah, I'm. Trustworthy. Oh I love that sentiment because I feel like she does stick to people like Lou. Absolutely. We just wanted to cling to us a little bit. Is that creepy? I think it's a little creepy maybe not you guys. You guys want Drew to cling to you, don't you? I mean, I think we maybe all do. So during Drew's troubled years, she said she really didn't want to see Steven because she felt shame about her, quote, bad behavior, UN quote, which like, makes sense.

33:01 She didn't wasn't ready for the judgement, I guess, right? But she did say that one of the best things that Steven taught her was that your parents should hold you accountable when you're messing up. Yeah, which is, you know, makes sense that she would be kind of avoiding him because she knows. He wants to be held accountable. Yeah, yeah, yes, he is notably absent from little girl lost post ET. That's not it's not like there's no discussion of him really at. All yeah. And it's I've definitely it's interesting to imagine like what was going on on his end of things when you know, did he even know she got put in ASAP before it came out in the media?

33:45 Maybe, maybe not. I mean. Right. Maybe she didn't want him to know, like it'd be. So I would love to hear her talk a little bit more about that. But yeah, there's kind of this span where it's like, is he even in her life? It's hard to know. There was a really cute photo shoot, like an ET reunion photo shoot. Don't even know what it was for. It was, like, printed in foreign magazines. Yeah. From either 88 or 89. And she just looks so happy to be with him. He does. You know, it's like my dad. Is a shoot that has like those goofy like them on the bikes.

34:17 Yeah, exactly. That's so sweet. I don't think I've ever like, really, like, looked at their tenderness in this shoot and like, thought about like the distance between their like, stronger relationship and yeah, I don't know, her being actually grown up. Well, that's like kind of what we're going to get into here is the sort of thing where as she is growing up, she's kind of complaining a lot about how he just like can't accept it. But then like as she gets a little bit older, she sort of loves it.

34:46 So here's just a few quotes. In 1991, she said, I know that as old as I get, I'll always be the six year old Gertie in a lot of people's eyes, especially my godfathers. Yeah, he still sees me as Gertie. It's funny when we go out somewhere and friends of his come up to us and they say, look at her, do you see how grown up she is? But he can't get over it, you know? So cute. And this is like a long kind of story quote, so we're going to break it up. But I think it's all fun because there's a lot of like, I don't know, a lot of details in.

35:17 Here this is like one of the only times. So this is from movie line 1992, which is our most. One of your most. Juicy, interesting episodes ever where she is more unfiltered than ever in any article, and this is like the only time that she's ever sort of shown that she's like, feeling very sad about having distance from him. Right. So it's it's it's what's the word I was going to use? Profound in a way, right. OK, so it starts. She said I've only seen him maybe three times and this is 1992. So she said I've only seen him maybe three times in the past eight months.

35:58 Growing up, I practically I practically lived at his beach house. He was the only person I consider to be my father figure, the only man that was ever close to me the whole time I was growing up. Now that I'm older, we're not as close and it's a hard pain I have to deal with. I've gotten older and it's incredibly hard for him to accept basically what you just said. It's like he's having a hard time not seeing her as gritty. Yeah, and she's like, so trying so hard to not be this little child star anymore.

36:26 Yes. So then she continues and says I walked into his office a couple of months ago wearing red lipstick and he made me take it off right there. On the one hand I'm like this is my father, I can't say no to him. On the other hand, I got really angry and wanted to stand up once and for all and say I have grown up. I wear red lips. It's my style. So that she's like torn at this time. I mean, this was probably done. This interview was probably done at the end of 91. So she's young. She's still 16. And she is like, I want to be seen as a like a woman, not as this little girl anymore.

37:02 Yeah, like, literally. And this last part is really sweet. And this kind of brings you to like the part where you know that it's hard for her. So she said. I looked at his picture recently on a magazine cover at the newsstand and started crying because it doesn't feel like he's my father anymore. And this is a man I would have done anything for, who felt like the one person I could really depend on. It's hard because I love him so much. Her anguish, and this is the author of the article, said her anguish over the relationship is palpable.

37:31 She takes minutes to regain her composure. So again, I would love to hear her talk a little bit more about this time because like if you didn't have that, you would think like they were just always close and he's always been her dad and blah, blah, blah. But like, there was obviously this time when she was an early teen where, you know, it felt challenging. Yeah. I mean, that's hard, right? Like you have a teenage daughter. I think teenage daughters are hard. There you go. So, you know, they want their space sometimes, yeah.

38:04 Oh, yeah, But as she a couple years go by, so for her 18th birthday, he gave her an Armani suit and she cried with happiness over that. And like, again, could have been like, maybe they hadn't been seeing each other much and he had it sent to her and it was a surprise to her. I don't know. And then in again movie line one of if you guys don't know our movie line series, they are full of juicy info and the 1 from 1994, she said. I went to visit him at his office and he gave me a copy of the book Schindler's List as a present.

38:34 I told him how I had re evaluated my life and was hoping it gets easier. He said it did get easier. I listened to him, looked at this little painting of clouds and buildings that I made for him when I was six years old that he keeps framed on his wall. And I thought, Steven is obviously one of the ultimate people that I respect, yet he will always look at me as a young child. There's something so comforting about that, that someone would see someone else through such pure eyes. So now she's kind of like, all right, you are going to always see me as a little kid.

39:06 But I love that. But actually, that's nice. It's nice to have somebody see you in a way that is like frozen in time. I mean, I guess, like, it's hard to appreciate that when you're a team and somebody, like, wants you to stay the same and not change at all. For Drew's 20th birthday, Steven sent a package to a restaurant where she and her friends had gathered. In the package was a blanket and a copy of the Playboy magazine where Drew had recently posed On the cover And the whole feature there was a note and it said here's my version of you in Playboy and a blanket to wrap yourself in.

39:46 And in the magazine Stevens, our department had woven in, it's described its own computer generated wardrobe to cover her in every photo. I really want to see this. I know that's one of those things that we're always like, God, we wish we could see that. Like, where is it? What happened to it? This. Is 1995 so like yeah, how did they do? This and like how good is it? Oh my God, I, I mean, I really would love to know, like how many hours were dedicated to this incredible thing. Oh my God. And then Drew said I love that because it's funny and it's fatherly and it says something, but it doesn't make me feel bad.

40:29 Yeah, again, it's like she's shifted her kind of perspective on the whole thing. I think like 4 years earlier she would have been like mad about it. And at this point, she's just like, oh, I get it. It's so funny, yeah. So obviously, many, many years have gone by. They are still super close. She is still her quote UN quote, dad in so many ways. We're just going to kind of talk about, you know, the more recent years. So he did attend her 2012 wedding to Will Kopelman. We don't have any sort of evidence that he went to her 2001 wedding to Tom Green, which is interesting.

41:06 Maybe he was busy, like, who knows? Right. But he was at this one. Unfortunately he did not walk her down the aisle, which I feel like should have been, but instead she chose to have Will's dad walk her down the aisle and I think she was just so feeling like I love my in laws at this time that that's the choice. I mean, not that this could be a reason, but like, maybe she didn't if he if he if she asked him if he was like, I don't want to like, have anyone be distracted by. That's true. I mean, it's true, Barrymore.

41:36 But like, I wonder if there's part of it where he's like, it's not about me. Yeah. Or like, I don't know. But it's sweet. It's sweet that Will's dad did. It is and it's funny like how her last wedding ended up being like the most traditional cuz I'm like she, she doesn't even seem like the person that would care about having someone walk her down the aisle, right? She's not like being given away by somebody, but like. But Will's family it makes. Sense, Yeah, yeah. Right, like it kinda was for them.

42:02 Yeah, I think so too. And he also held both of her daughters when they were born, like soon after. I think she even told a story once about Olive falling asleep in his arms when she was a newborn. So they're very like very connect their family, you know, the chosen family. Yeah, Steven has been really highly supportive of Drew's producing and directing, which is so lovely to know that, like, he can be into this professional side of her. And he said, listen, at some point she'll probably run a studio and pull me out of retirement and give me a good script to direct in 2003.

42:40 He said this so quite some time ago. But I love that. I love to think of like them having something together on that side. She screamed a rough cut of whip It for him and he gave her notes. And then he attended the premiere in Los Angeles again. Like so cool to like use this basically family connection That. And also, he has said that he loved the best coast music video that she directed, and he said he wants her to direct more because he thinks that she's a really gifted director. That's what a dad would say.

43:15 That's what a dad would say. But also like one of the all time directors saying that about her. Steven Spielberg saying this, It's not just any old. Any old dad not. Just any old dad? Yeah, exactly. And then he surprised her via video call on her birthday episode of The Drew Barrymore Show in 2021. This was like the first one that they did where it was like all these surprises. That episode is so good. If you guys want to check it out. I think the whole thing is on YouTube, but let's just play this little part right here.

43:45 Oh. Drew Face, I still care about you. I've always cared about you, ever since that first time this little blonde hurricane walked into an audition in my office and took us by storm, and then soon took the entire world by storm. That was you then, and that is you today. Oh. I know it's such. A cool little segment he also shows and I know I bitched about this one happened. So he shows these framed photos of her that he has and she's dressed as a nun and he says that it was a week after he sent her the covered up Playboy.

44:28 But that's not true. And I think drew just like laughs along with it cuz she's not going to correct him on TV. But the pictures are taken on the set of writing cars with boys. So it would have been in the year 2000. And I don't know why, like, if, why she has a nun costume on the set of that movie. But somewhere along the line, she must have thought this would have been a funny thing. And she framed three of them. And the caption she wrote on them say, I'm sorry, I've seen the light, and I'm on my way.

44:56 And there's, like, pictures of her, like, praying next to a statue of Mary and stuff like that. They're really odd. They were for sale on eBay at one point, so we had all of them saved. Yeah. Who knows why we didn't buy them. And it's just a really strange, funny thing. But I love that he has them framed still in his office. So funny. It's so funny. So will we share those on the episode page? Probably, yeah. Totally. Yeah, they're really neat, really unique. In 2023, Drew presented Steven with the Time 100 Impact Award alongside Kiwi Kwan.

45:31 When when Drew presented the award, she said I can trace my entire life back to a choice made by one person. He not only changed my life, but I am so happy to be here to honor him tonight, to thank him for changing all of our lives. So sweet. Really so sweet. And in 2025, they got together at the TCM Classic Film Festival, New York pop up to discuss ET. So they did like I, I sort of think she was like moderating the panel, if what I remember correctly, the panel just being him. But one of the things that she was quoted as saying that night was we're luckily close and consistent.

46:09 It's so important to maintain those relationships that means so much to you. I'm always texting and bugging you. So that's fun too. It's easier to keep in touch now in some ways than ever. And I love to show up. You taught me so much about that in my life, showing up for people. And he, he is like the OG of showing up for Drew in her life. He is the first one to do. It yeah, this is an important relationship and I know we've been quotes galore, but this is like, it's great to have it right from Drew's mouth, right from Steven's mouth.

46:40 The relationship discussion. OK, so one of the quotes to wrap this up, Steven said I always knew Drew was going to survive whatever life handed her and learn from it. 100% true, yes. OK. In 2023, Drew said that her favorite thing in her dressing room was a picture of her and Steven Spielberg on the set of ET, she said. Not having a dad, not having that kind of relationship with anyone. He was just so good and nurturing and kind. We still have a really wonderful relationship. I think him because had he not chosen me, I think my life would be really different.

47:18 It's crazy when you can really trace it back to someone. I live to make him proud. What a great way to sum it up. Yeah, she would be so different without him in her life. Like, I mean, we have no idea. I just that kind of role that he filled for her as a young child, like thank God, thank God he was there, you know? Like, thank God he he filled that role, and thank God he put her in a film that brought her to be yeah, what she's been despite things that might have been difficult about it. But like, yeah, we're here doing this because of him in a way.

47:54 Yeah, that personal professional life Veng diagram. Thank you, Steven. I love you. I love you, Steven. Steven. This was really fun. I'm glad we took the time to examine this and share it. How important and sweet it is. We're here to, like, fill in all those sort of like, here's this reason that this girl is here and means so much and like, you can't do that without talking about him, right? Totally. Yeah, I'm glad that we finally like found a reason to just cover this. Just cover this big thing that is like peripheral.

48:36 To cover yourself up with your blanket and your Playboy. Exactly exactly. Thanks you guys. If you like this again, like Anne said, why are you listening to us on Spotify and not following us? Hit the follow button, please. We want you here all the time. And then you can leave five star reviews on Spotify. You can rate on review on Apple Podcasts. It's been way too long since we've gotten anyone over there. I don't. It's so weird. We have more listeners on Apple, but way more reviews on Spotify. Make it make sense.

49:10 All y'all on Apple, what you doing? And then if you don't already know, you can follow us on Instagram at How Do You Drew Pod? And we also have our other account at Drewzium. Lots of Drew content. As much as you need. We're here. We're providing it. And you can also leave comments on episodes on Spotify, on YouTube. If you want to tell us how much you appreciate Steven Spielberg being in Drew's life or you have some weird, like other thing to share, just share it. We're here. Yeah, yeah, a lot of places to find us.

49:43 We she just listed so many places. But also visit [email protected] to see the episode gallery for this episode. And every episode there's so much amazing content and drew pictures from our archive. It's kind of crazy when I think about like we're, we're like sharing this stuff, like it like, and I'm like, Oh my God. We're going to have some really cool ones for this episode because there's just so many beautiful pictures of them together throughout the years. Like there's stuff we didn't even touch on, like them at events together.

50:12 Like I'm going to share as much as I can so. Fun. Don't forget to peruse the drewzm.com, our online Drew Barrymore museum, while you're there. And don't forget to sign up for our Patreon. Patreon dot. Com and another place to reach us because you need more. Don't forget to send listener mail to [email protected] and we'll see you all next Tuesday. Thanks. Guys, thank you. Bye bye.

50:54 This episode of the How Do You Drew podcast was researched and produced by Ashley and Anne from thedrewzium.com with help from our sponsor, Positive Medium. Special thanks to Matt Costa for our lovely theme song, Roxy Prima for our adorable logo, and last but not least, Drew Barrymore and all the Drew Bees who love her. We do this for you. Thank you.