Drew Barrymore(I)

Since melting audiences' hearts at the tender age of six in Steven Spielberg's beloved sci-fi blockbuster, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), Drew Barrymore has emerged as one of the most endearing and talented actresses of her generation. Born in Culver City, California to actors John Drew Barrymore and Jaid Barrymore, the clutches of fame were virtually inescapable for young Drew, her father being a member of the esteemed showbiz dynasty fronted by stage star Maurice Barrymore, his thespian wife Georgiana, and their three children: Lionel Barrymore, Ethel Barrymore, and John Barrymore.

In spite of a turbulent adolescence that saw her grapple with drug and alcohol dependency, a determined Barrymore threw herself into her career during the 1990s, first with a succession of 'bad girl' parts in cultish B-pictures like Poison Ivy (1992), Guncrazy (1992) and, fittingly, Bad Girls (1994); then well-received turns in notable projects such as Boys on the Side (1995), Woody Allen's Everyone Says I Love You (1996), and the game-changing horror hit Scream (1996). An eclectic mix of high-profile and low-key film projects - The Wedding Singer (1998); Ever After: A Cinderella Story (1998); Never Been Kissed (1999); Charlie's Angels (2000); Donnie Darko (2001); Riding in Cars with Boys (2001); Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002) - followed, proving to erstwhile detractors that Barrymore was not just a formidable leading lady, but a gifted and versatile performer. Headline parts in 50 First Dates (2004), Fever Pitch (2005), and Music and Lyrics (2007) came next, as did the critically-lauded television film Grey Gardens (2009), for which she earned Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild prizes for her astonishing embodiment of Edith Bouvier Beale.

Barrymore - whose production company, Flower Films, has spawned a string of lucrative features since its birth in the mid-nineties - added yet another string to her bow when she spearheaded the sports dramedy Whip It (2009), her long-awaited directorial debut. Roger Ebert described the picture as having "guts, charm, and a black-and-blue sweetness", whilst TIME magazine hailed Barrymore as "a sensitive director who knows how and when to let an emotional moment linger on the screen".

Alongside a recurring guest spot (as the voice of Jillian; 2005-2013) on Family Guy (1999), recent acting gigs have included Going the Distance (2010), Big Miracle (2012), Blended (2014), Miss You Already (2015), and The Stand In (2020), as well as the principal role of Sheila Hammond in the Netflix series Santa Clarita Diet (2017), on which she also served as executive producer during its acclaimed three-season run. Since 2020, she has continued to illuminate the small screen as compère of The Drew Barrymore Show (2020), a daytime talk show distributed by CBS.