This is just a research paper about how some of Drew Barrymore's qualities influenced her to become talented. Can someone help me edit this and check for grammar, syntax and other errors? I seem to always get marked down by my professor because of my proofreading errors. Thanks ! Oh, and I don't have the conclusion done yet, so that's why it's missing.
Crazy is the word to sum up Drew Barrymore's hectic life so far. Drew Barrymore, born on February 22, 1975 is not your typical 36 year old woman. Best known for her acting roles in more than 30 feature films and several comedies, she decided to go outside her comfort zone and was willing to explore other opportunities in the entertainment world. She had done it all in the film industry. Besides being a part of a show-business family, Drew is also an American actress, film director, screenwriter, producer and model. Having support from Barrymore's mom to go into show-business, believing that life goes on after a drug and alcohol addiction, facing her fears of singing, and trying something new like directing are some of the qualities that influence Barrymore to become talented. Without these qualities, Barrymore would not have been successful in the film industry.
Trying to gain support from parents is like getting permission to do something. Barrymore's family tree consisted of members in the show-business. Drew's great-grandfather, Maurice and his wife Georgiana were famous comedians of the nineteenth century. Drew's Uncle called John Barrymore Sr., starred in several plays. Both of Barrymore's parents were actors. By eleven months old, the friends of Drew's mom told her that her daughter should audition for commercials, but the mom didn't want her daughter to be an actress like the rest of the family. She just wanted Drew to live a normal life as a child. A year later, Drew's mom agreed to let Drew play the child part in the television movie, Suddenly Love. After being in Suddenly Love and several other commercials, Drew announced to her mother that she wanted to become an actress. The two discussed the pitfalls of show-business-how hard it feels to get rejected and the worries of not getting the money. Drew replied to her mother's statement by saying, "Mommy, I know it's too hard, that's why I want to do it" (Hill, 18). Drew's mother was surprised by Drew's sincerely response and decided to let Drew give acting a try. Drew's mom would constantly help Drew find scripts to read in order to audition for movies and where ever Drew went, the mom stuck by her side and was with her along the way. This shows how Drew's mother support influenced greatly to Drew's success of being a talented actress. The support was the first step for Drew to become a talented actress. Without Drew's mother support for her daughter being an actress, Drew would have been an ordinary woman living a normal life. An individual always want support from their parents, because when you didn't get the role of something you wanted really bad, the feeling of devastation would occur and you will have no one to turn to since your parents don't support you.
Since Drew Barrymore's acting career was going on the right track, things started to fall apart. Drew started smoking and having her first drink when she was 9 years old. By age 11, she smoked her first joint and when she was 12 years old, she tried cocaine. The drug and alcohol soon became an addiction for Drew and her behavior began to get erratic. She had arguments with her mom and spent most of the time doing drugs and drinking alcohol in the clubs. Drew's mother saw this as a real problem and tried to get help for her addiction. After the phone call Drew was admitted to the ASAP Family Treatment Center in Van Nuys, California. The treatment center helped Drew become a happier person and made her feel good about herself. Two months later, Drew was discharged and began to live her normal life again, but her old habits came back one night at a club and she was sent back to the treatment center. This time, the treatment center was stricter on Barrymore and really helped her get back on track. Soon enough, Drew's spirituality was reawakened and she claims she felt the supernatural support of her ancestors by describing the feeling as "Running through my veins, encouraging me to right my wrongs and kick the demons, so that I didn't end up being just a total waste" (Ellis, 113). Just like how Drew's mom supported her from the beginning, Drew's ancestors are here now supporting Drew during her toughest time and trying to make everything alright again. Whether family members are alive or dead, their spirits and guidance will always help you through all the troubles. This showed that Drew really learned her lesson that everyone even celebrities make mistakes; it's just how they get back up that sets each other apart. Drew began to heal from her addiction by realizing life does go on. She doesn't want her talents of being an actor and her future to go down the drain just because of a drug and alcohol addiction. At 15, out of rehab, she got her own apartment, signed her own lease and worked at a coffee house. Working at a coffee house didn't make her happy because Barrymore said, "I missed my tribe, and I was really alone out in the world and I just started going on auditions again" (Hamlin, 2009). Drew didn't want to act because she was afraid if the film-industry would accept her again. She listens to her heart and decides so try acting again. It took Drew years of TV movies and small roles in low-budget films, but she won the Hollywood and audiences back. The journey was a wakeup call that made Drew a stronger woman which influenced her to act again and to discover the talents of singing and directing.
Trying to get over a fear is a hard thing to overcome. Since Barrymore's early acting career was a huge hit, Barrymore begins to explore her singing talents by starring in Woody Allen's musical, Everyone Says I Love You, and Curtis Hanson film, Lucky You. After singing for these productions, Barrymore refused to sing, because she has been told that she was not allowed to sing and how horrible it was which made her scared of singing. In 2006, Barrymore decides to give singing another try in the movie, Music and Lyrics. After facing her fears of singing again, Barrymore said, "Oh god, I never want to go down like this...thinking about the would have, should have, could have. It was essential for me to not fail, or go ahead and fail, but at least try" (Topel, 2007). Barrymore knew she has a talent of singing, but all the negativity from others were what made her believe that she can't sing. Instead of listening to her negative comments, she listened to herself, which gives her the motivation to sing again. By telling herself that she could sing, it makes her face her fears while proving others wrong that she does have the talent to sing and no one can ever make her feel so low in her life ever again. The opening weekend of Music and Lyrics earned about $2 million which defined that the audience really liked her singing in the movie. The movie taught Drew to love the sound of her singing voice. Sometimes facing your most important fear is the only way to overcome other smaller fears in order to influence yourself to achieve something higher in life.
From acting to singing, Drew Barrymore wanted to take a new direction in her life and explored the life of directing movies. Back in the spring of 1994, she was fed up because she knew that she wanted to do other things besides acting and singing in movies. To end the misery, she set up a production company called Flower Films but she knew nothing about film making or directing. This new job consisted of her researching and learning about filmmaking, meeting with agencies and building relationships. When she got all of that information down, she began to direct her first movie called, Whip It. On the set of Whip It reporters asked Drew, "Did you always want to direct?" and Drew responded, "Do you really think I haven't been preparing for this my whole life? And I'm just going to try it once and then never do it again?" (Almereyda, AR9). Even though Drew was a very successful actress, critics just assumed that Drew has a gift of every talent possible in the film industry. No one has a gift of being good at everything. To be good at everything, you need practice. For Drew to become a good director and a good boss for her production company, she spends most of her time hitting the books and learning as much as possible to succeed. Drew's exploration and studying of filmmaking influenced her to become a talented director for movies including Never Been Kissed, 50 Dates, He's Just Not That Into You and Charlie's Angel. No one knows how much effort and dedication Drew Barrymore have put in her work until the audience provides good feedback from the movies. Drew told Teen People, "I can't believe I can get a movie made. It's the oddest thing in the world, yet, I can do it" (Hill, 63). Today, people are still in awe that Drew Barrymore has such a talent to be an actress, to be a singer, and now to be a director.
