Barrymore Taps Into Inner Darkness For HBO’s Grey Gardens

By Alicia Sparks
March 10, 2009

In a January Mirror article about her then latest film, Beverly Hills Chihuahua, Drew Barrymore reflected on the ups and downs of her life, and a couple of days later I reflected on Barrymore’s seemingly endless supply of optimism and happy-go-luckiness.

Now, with both Beverly Hills Chihuahua and her latest film He’s Just Not That Into You finished, her directorial debut under her belt and rumors of moving on to Eclipse circulating (which, I admit, has my own little circle of fellow Twilight fans raising their eyebrows), Barrymore is intensely focused on the long awaited April release of HBO’s Grey Gardens.

And why does Grey Gardens, a television movie based on the 1975 documentary about Jackie O’s cousin Little Edie Beale, have Barrymore buzzing?

“I was excited to bring my own pain to something,” Drew reveals. “I mean, contrary to my happy-go-luckiness, I have so much darkness in there. Playing Edie, I felt like s—. I thought, I’m afraid beyond anything I’ve ever known. I’m miserable; I’m scared; I feel sick all the time. And I was like, Good! At least I have somewhere to put it. You know what? I’m not f—in’ happy all the time. I like making people feel good, but it was great not to have to please anybody. I was out there for myself and for her.” (W magazine)

Digging deep inside ourselves - tapping into the joy, embarrassment, rage, guilt, regrets, or sorrows of our pasts - is nothing new to any artist. Actors, writers, musicians, and artisans do it all the time, and having that repository of past experiences and emotions certainly makes for a richer performance or product (when it’s not interfering with that performance or the creation of that product, that is).

No one is happy all the time. Anger and sadness and stress - we’re allowed to feel these things, but for some reason people sometimes feel the need to apologize for feeling them. I’m glad Barrymore’s not apologizing, and I’m interested in seeing how her real-life experiences shine through in Grey Gardens.

If you’d like to learn more about Grey Gardens (the place, as well as the documentary, musical, movie, and of course the people), check out Grey Gardens Online.