“I think I officially f—king lost my mind”: Charlie’s Angels Star Drew Barrymore Drove Herself To Physical and Mental Insanity For a TV movie

Drew Barrymore, well-known for her role in iconic films like Charlie’s Angels opened up about the time she went to extreme lengths for a role. While Barrymore is remembered among the fans for her role in Charlie’s Angels, her performance in Grey Gardens was exceptional. However, to make an exceptional performance in Grey Gardens, Barrymore pushed herself to a point where she hurt herself mentally and physically.

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Drew Barrymore Went to Extreme Lengths for Grey Gardens

Recalling her role in the Grey Gardens, Drew Barrymore opened up about the hard time she gave herself. Grey Gardens was based on the lives of Edith Beale and her mother who lived an unorthodox and isolated lifestyle.

To fit into this role Barrymore adopted method acting, by isolating herself from society, refraining from talking to anyone, watching TV, driving a car, or even listening to the radio. Not only this she also limited herself from reading only what Edith Beale read and used the same iconic avocado green IBM Selectric typewriter.

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Not only this Barrymore also revealed that she would sit in the makeup chair for four to six hours every day to age the face. As per Barrymore, this affected her face as she ended up with skin issues that she never had before. Not only her skin all of this also affected her mental health. Talking about this in an interview on Armchair Expert, Barrymore said:

“When I did a film called Grey Gardens, I think I officially f***ing lost my mind. I went right down into this woman’s insanity. I wouldn’t talk to anyone, I wouldn’t watch TV, I wouldn’t drive a car, I wouldn’t listen to radio. I only read what she read. I had that same avocado green IBM Selectric [typewriter] and that thing is not light … and I would just write manifestos. I was like Ted Kaczynski as Edie Beale in Grey Gardens.”

All of these efforts of Barrymore paid off as the movie turned out to be a big success with Barrymore’s acting to be at the spotlight.

Drew Barrymore Was Not the First Choice for Grey Gardens

Even though Drew Barrymore nailed her role in Grey Gardens she was not the first choice of director Michael Sucsy. As per the reports, Sucsy never approached Barrymore for the role, rather it was she who asked for a meeting with the director. Talking about this to Newsweek Barrymore said:

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“I called to meet the director and I was told he didn’t want to meet with me; he had other actresses in mind. So I thought, ‘Well, I like a challenge, nothing has come easy to me,’ so I begged and pleaded for a meeting. When I finally got one, I came with an annotated script full of research and I told him I’d do whatever I could to get the part. I’ve never studied so hard to be a character in my life. I took dialect lessons, wore different teeth and contact lenses. I cut myself off from my life.”

This highlights the lengths an actor goes to make their performance in a role perfect.

Source: Armchair Expert, Newsweek