Drew Barrymore has a sense of humor about her past addiction struggles.
During a preview of the episode of Hollywood Squares scheduled for Sunday, January 19, Drew Barrymore, age 49, was posed a question about the character played by Tom Conti in the movie Oppenheimer released in 2023.
“Punky Brewster,” she quipped. “By the way, I was on the set of that show, of course. Oh, yeah, me and Soleil Moon Frye used to kick it!”
In the same segment, another panelist, Whitney Cummings, inquired if a set visit to Punky Brewster occurred during Barrymore’s past struggles with substance abuse. (The sitcom originally aired from 1984 to 1988).
“Actually, it was just before,” Barrymore explained. “I was with Punky and then I got spunky.”
Barrymore, known for her role as the Center Square on the revamped game show, has been a prominent figure in Hollywood since her early years, gaining recognition for her performance in Steven Spielberg‘s E.T. At just 13 years old, Barrymore sought treatment for substance abuse issues, marking the beginning of her journey to sobriety which she has maintained since 2019.
“I’ve had a ‘bad girl’ narrative on my back my whole life. I thought I deserved bad things. Now I’m raising two daughters. I can’t do that to myself anymore,” Barrymore exclusively told Us Weekly in February 2024. “Kind of like the drinking — I’m picking off things one at a time, going, ‘I can’t carry you anymore. You aren’t good for me.’”
Barrymore shares daughters Olive, 12, and Frankie, 10, with ex-husband Will Kopelman and has since been candid about how motherhood shifted her overall perspective.
“The personal part of me has been the ultimate work in progress. The professional in me feels really brave and never entitled. Always so privileged and grateful,” she revealed to Us last year. “I’ve lost everything. I’ve got it back. I’ve lost it again. Got it back. So I don’t assume anything stays. I know not to take anything for granted. Whatever difficult times I’ve gone through professionally, I believed I could rewrite things. Then in my personal life, I was a failure and a broken person. I can’t f—ing believe I’m alive sometimes. And it’s the first time in my life, going on 49, that [the personal and professional] are complementing each other. Time is the greatest asset we have — it allows things to get better, to shift, to have light come into a dark space.”
Presently, Barrymore appears on Hollywood Squares and her eponymous The Drew Barrymore Show, respectively.
A special episode of Hollywood Squares airs on CBS Sunday, January 19, after the AFC primetime football game. Later episodes will be broadcast Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET.
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
