Drew Barrymore pushed herself as an actor maybe greater than she’s ever had in this praised 2009 drama. However she admitted that the position in query took each a bodily and psychological toll on her whereas filming.
Drew Barrymore’s face didn’t look the identical after she starred in this TV film
In 2009, Barrymore took a break from the romantic comedies to star in the tv film Gray Gardens. The movie was primarily based on a 1975 documentary of the identical identify that centered on a mom and daughter’s reclusive life-style.
Earlier than Barrymore was solid in the image, nevertheless, she was removed from director Michael Sucsy’s first alternative.
“I called to meet the director and I was told he didn’t want to meet with me; he had other actresses in mind,” Barrymore as soon as informed Newsweek. “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.”
After clinching the half, the discuss present host went by means of an much more intense preparation course of for her position of Edith Beale. This included solely getting three hours of sleep a night time whereas filming, and enduring make-up periods that didn’t agree along with her face.
“Depending on the scenes we were shooting, I’d have to sit in that makeup chair for four to six hours every single day. Just ageing the face and hands took hours. Then, taking it off was another hour and a half,” she as soon as mentioned based on Irish Examiner. “My face suffered as a result. We ended up with skin issues I’d never had before because I developed an allergy to chemicals in isopropyl, the alcohol used in removing cosmetics.”
Drew Barrymore misplaced her thoughts whereas filming ‘Grey Gardens’
Slipping into her Gray Gardens position additionally almost price Barrymore a few of her psychological well being as effectively. Edith Beale and her mom lived an unorthodox and really remoted life-style, which Barrymore admitted she’d gotten a bit too near.
“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,” she as soon as mentioned on Armchair Expert. “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.”
However regardless of how troublesome it was entering into the head-space of the recluse, Barrymore nonetheless relished taking part in the character.
“This had a challenge in every freakin’ corner, it was terrifying,” Barrymore as soon as mentioned to Reuters. “But I just fell in love with her, who she was and who she became.”
Drew Barrymore on if she drew from actual life inspiration for ‘Grey Gardens’
Barrymore was recognized for having a contentious relationship along with her mom. She felt like her mother, Jaid Barrymore, contributed to the damaging life-style she skilled as a youngster star. It was advisable that Barrymore emancipate herself from her mom, which she ultimately did.
Nonetheless, Barrymore shared she didn’t pull any inspiration from her actual life relationship along with her mom. Gray Gardens was additionally concerning the generally problematic relationship between mom and daughter. However the story had little similarities with the problems in the Barrymore household.
“I didn’t draw on my relations with my mother. The Edies were living together and couldn’t live apart. I parted from my mother at a very early age. So there’s nothing at all I could draw on,” she mentioned.