Jennette McCurdy was a recent guest on Drew Barrymore's new digital series, "Barrymore's Backstage". The two former child stars found out they had a lot in common.
McCurdy, who played Sam on the Nickelodeon series, iCarly, recently released her memoir, I'm Glad My Mom Died, which has become a bestseller. She talks frankly about how her mother physically and mentally abused her while she was growing up.
Barrymore has also been forthcoming about her troubled childhood and her broken relationship with her mother, Jaid Barrymore.
Jennette McCurdy has been making the rounds on many talk shows over the past few weeks to promote her book. She has had some great interviews, but she and Drew seemed to really connect. Barrymore is 47 years old and McCurdy is only 30, but their 17-year age difference didn't make a difference when they realized how sadly similar their childhoods were.
8 Drew Barrymore The Child Star
Drew Barrymore was bound to be an actress. She was born into the Barrymore family of actors. Her father, John Barrymore, left Drew and her mother before she was born.
She was in her first commercial when she was 11 months old. But she truly became a star when she played Gertie in ET: The Extra Terrestrial at just six years old. At seven, she was the youngest person to ever host Saturday Night Live. At 10, she had the starring role in Stephen King's Firestarter.
Her career continued to take off, but her home life was very unhappy.
7 Drew Barrymore - Little Girl Lost
Drew Barrymore had a massively successful career by the time she was nine, but she also had her first cigarette that year. She followed that with alcohol and cocaine.
Drew says that her mom brought her up more as a best friend than a child, and would take her out clubbing. Drew said in an interview, “(My mom) was like, 'Do you want to go to school and get bullied all day, or do you want to go to Studio 54?” So Drew would go to Studio 54.
By the time she was 13, she was out of control, so her mom put her in a psychiatric ward. “I was in a place for a year and a half called Van Nuys Psychiatric, and you couldn’t mess around in there,” she recalled. “If you did, you’d get thrown either in the padded room or get put in stretcher restraints and tied up.”
She wrote her memoir, Little Girl Lost, at just 14. She was granted emancipation at the same age. She eventually mended her relationship with her mother.
6 Jennette McCurdy's Difficult Childhood
Jennette McCurdy has also written a memoir, "I'm Glad My Mom Died". In it, she speaks of her mom Debra's abuse.
Jennette claims that she was forced into her acting career, because her mom was trying to live out her unresolved dreams. McCurdy became a Nickelodeon star with shows iCarly and Sam & Cat.
Debra tried to control her daughter's career, as well as other aspects of her life. She would regularly perform checks for cancerous lumps by inspecting her body. She insisted on showering both Jennette and her older brother well into their teens.
The iCarly star developed an eating disorder which she attributes to her mom's behavior towards her. "Each Sunday, she weighs me and measures my thighs with a measuring tape. After a few weeks of our routine, she provides me with a stack of diet books that I finish quickly," she writes in her memoir.
Her mom died of breast cancer in 2013.
5 Jennette McCurdy And Drew Barrymore Have An Honest Conversation
Jennette McCurdy went on Drew Barrymore's show as a guest to promote her now best-selling memoir. The two quickly realized how much they had in common, and it became much more than a typical interview.
They were both childhood stars. They both had very complicated relationships with their mothers, which still affects them today. At one point Barrymore said, "I relate to your journey so much; I feel like I have a lot to learn from you." At one point, she even got up to hug McCurdy in the middle of the interview.
Jennette said that she has spent a lot of time in therapy, where she is able to talk things through. Drew said that she is now "doing great".
4 How Drew Barrymore And Jennette McCurdy Both Tried To Protect Their Moms
Both women realized that they felt that they needed to protect their moms. Drew called it her "Aha" moment on the show.
During the interview, Jenette McCurdy said, "In retrospect I see I was disclaiming every single thing my mom did instead of just stating the reality or how I felt about it," the 30-year-old acknowledged. "I was more concerned with how to keep my mom looking good, than expressing my true emotional reality."
Drew Barrymore herself admitted there are more stories to tell about her own mom but, "Maybe it is protectiveness that I feel. I’ve never put it in those terms in my head. I don't want to paint her negatively, I don't want people to think of her negatively, but the truth is tough stuff." Jennette told her, "When you're a kid you don't know you are in a traumatic situation."
"It took me a long time to accept that my mom was not perfect, let alone abusive," Jennette said
3 Drew Barrymore And Jennette McCurdy Take To Instagram
After the interview, both ladies took to Instagram to gush about each other. They posted the same picture of the two of them hugging.
Drew wrote, "I’m so grateful for the conversation we had @jennettemccurdy. If you have not read “I’m Glad My Mom Died,” (which, based on the stats, is unlikely!) it really is a must read." She also said that she will cherish their conversation forever.
Jennette's post read, "i had the great pleasure of speaking with the incomparable @drewbarrymore . i admire drew’s work - her writing, directing, and acting - as well as the grace, humor, and authenticity she navigates her life with. i know authenticity is a very overused word right now but i think there’s no more fitting word for drew !! also… i have never hugged somebody this much in my life. i couldn’t help it. drew’s energy is radiant and infectious."
These two truly understand and like each other.
2 Drew Barrymore As A Mom
Drew Barrymore is the mom of two girls, Olive and Frankie, who she shares with ex-husband Will Kopelman. Drew shared that she wasn't sure about having children because of her experience with her own mother.
Barrymore spoke to Dear Media's Raising Good Humans podcast and said, "Boundaries is a triggering word for me". She then shared, "I have...since my kids were born, other parents, schools and society have brought up the word 'boundaries' and every single time I heard that word, I felt bad because I did not grow up with them."
She has said, regarding raising her girls now, "I’ve got love and humour, but we’re all learning on the job. I don’t want to be my kids’ friend – I am their parent."
She and Will amicably raise their daughters, and she tries to be the best mom she can be while balancing her successful career.
1 What Will Jennette McCurdy Do Now?
Jennette McCurdy announced in 2021 that she "quit acting" and explained why, “I quit a few years ago because I initially didn’t want to do it. My mom put me in it when I was 6 and by sort of age, I guess, 10 or 11, I was the main financial support for my family. My family didn’t have a lot of money, and this was the way out, which I actually think was helpful in driving me to some degree of success.”
For now, she is a NY Times Bestselling Author and was recently named one of the 2022 TIME100. Molly Shannon wrote, "the world realized she is also an incredible, brilliant writer who worked her ass off to get to the point where she could take her mom off a pedestal and be real about her experiences growing up with narcissistic parental abuse," and said she "can't stop recommending this book".
