Drew Barrymore has revealed that Hollywood began criticizing her weight at just 7 years old, escalating to public scrutiny by age 10.
At a Glance
- Barrymore was told she was “too heavy” at 10 after filming E.T. at 7
- The actress, now 50, addressed her younger self on the Jan. 14 episode of The Drew Barrymore Show
- Guest Valerie Bertinelli reacted to the “disheartening” early criticism
- Why it matters: Barrymore’s story highlights the long-term impact of childhood body shaming and offers hope to viewers fighting similar battles
On the Wednesday broadcast, Barrymore displayed a photo of herself at 10 and told the audience, “This picture… It just breaks my heart. I was 10 years old and I just was told by everybody, ‘You don’t look how you did in E.T. You’re too heavy. You’re not blonde enough. You’re not old enough. You’re too young. You’re not tall.’ And everybody just started getting involved in the way I looked.”
Valerie Bertinelli, appearing as a guest, responded to Barrymore’s account, calling the criticism “disheartening.”
Barrymore recalled feeling lost under the pressure, saying, “It’s like, I don’t know what I’m supposed to be for other people. And you don’t know yourself at 10.”
Now 50, the daytime host said clarity arrived with time. “What I’m so relieved about now is that it’s four decades later, I’m 50… I do know what’s important now, and the look in my eyes is so clear.”
She framed happiness as a deliberate choice forged through internal struggle. “It’s nice to know that no matter how low it gets, or how much pressure we feel, or how unproud of ourselves, or how we are not pleasing to someone else, or we’re not fitting into some mold someone created for us… that real, true happiness is just this choice we make.”
Barrymore emphasized that reaching that mindset required persistence. “It’s a battle and a beautiful, internal war that we fight on the front lines, day in and day out, to get to a place where we can actually say this sentence and believe it, which is: ‘I deserve happiness.’ That, if it takes you a long time to figure out, it’s okay. As long as we learn it at some point.”
She ended the segment with a direct message to viewers: “You are not alone. I have been there with you, and it is not a comfortable feeling. Somehow, some way, on the other side of that is like… kind of adulthood, and a personal freedom, and a desire to stop pleasing everybody else and start realizing what it’s gonna take for you to feel good about yourself, no matter what you look like or feel like.”
Barrymore’s comments aired on the episode broadcast January 14, 2026, according to Marcus L. Bennett for News Of Losangeles.
