Drew Barrymore and Ariana Grande understand the difficulties of being raised in the public eye. They recently united on an episode of The Drew Barrymore Show to discuss overcoming the obstacles they faced in the entertainment industry and emerging victorious, despite encountering its negative aspects.
The tear-filled moment came when Grande interrupted their conversation about Wicked to praise Barrymore.
“I admire you so much because I know how hard you do work to learn and to take care of yourself and to grow,” she began. “And I know how young you started. And I don’t know too much about what your relationship has been to this industry the whole time, but I do know what you have shared publicly about it and I just have to say it can be ugly sometimes and your strength and your heart and who you are, the light that you bring, and your ability to dance in the rain and preserve that childlike wonder is such a gift.”
Grande’s voice began to crack as Barrymore leaned in to hug her.
“I know that that does take a lot of hard work to come home to little Drew and embrace her and to get there and do that. It gets hard,” Grande continued. “And I just wanted to say that because I admire you so much — not only because of your brilliant work but because of the light that you bring and how happy you make people. Because that’s really the most important thing.”
Holding back tears of her own, Barrymore returned the love to Grande.
“That means so much to me coming from you. I as a mother look at you so proud that my daughters and I love you so much because you’re such a good person,” she said as Grande wiped tears from her eyes. “And what you’ve done with this film and your life and your work is you’ve shown that no matter what, because it can be dark and ugly sometimes, is that you just find that beauty because it’s there.”
Barrymore then went on to gush over Wicked, which has become the highest-grossing Broadway musical movie since opening in theaters nearly two weeks ago.
“You put one foot in front of the other and you be yourself. And the fight to be one’s self is so hard and confusing for every human being on this planet, but you put out a film that literally, in this world, brings people together,” Barrymore said. “Do you know what an accomplishment that is? Oh, my god!”
The actresses also bonded over being “recovering people pleasers.” Barrymore became even more emotional when Grande validated her for feeling “tired” at times.
“We can give and give and give because it makes us happy,” Grande said, noting how much she loves human connection. “But sometimes when we are tired or giving too much, it’s ok to having a boundary in a loving and respectful way. Boundaries will save your life.”
The Drew Barrymore Show airs on weekdays on CBS. You can check the website for local airtimes.
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