IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser.

Drew Barrymore hilariously explains why her kids don't like her movies

Evidently the star’s daughters — Olive, 8, and Frankie, 6 — just aren’t into “mom movies.”
/ Source: TODAY

Tough critics are nothing new for movie stars, but usually those critics don’t live under the same roof as the actors they pan.

But as Drew Barrymore revealed during a chat with fellow actor Hugh Grant, she lives with not one but two opinionated film viewers who aren’t fans of her work — her daughters, Olive, 8, and Frankie, 6.

Barrymore recently sat down for a video-call interview with Grant for the SAG-AFTRA Foundation, and the topic came up when they spoke about their 2007 rom-com, “Music and Lyrics.”

“You know, I don’t think they’ve seen it, crazy enough,” the 45-year-old said when her friend asked if her children enjoyed the film.

“That is insane,” replied the 60-year-old leading man. “I make mine watch my films every night. If they don’t watch my films, they don’t get fed.”

That dry joke got big laughs from Barrymore — as well as a confession about her kids: When it comes to what they call “mom movies,” they either don’t watch them or don’t like them.

For instance, “50 First Dates,” her 2004 flick with Adam Sandler? They’ve seen it, but “they did not respond.” And 1999’s “Never Been Kissed”? “They didn’t like (it).”

And lest anyone think that the problem is that the girls are just a little young for rom-coms, it turns out they even took issue with their mom’s childhood work in the 1982 family-friendly blockbuster “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.”

Drew Barrymore in Steven Spielberg's 1982 blockbuster, "E.T the Extra-Terrestrial."
Drew Barrymore in Steven Spielberg's 1982 blockbuster, "E.T the Extra-Terrestrial." Universal Pictures

“They did not like ‘E.T.’ at all,” she assured a visibly shocked Grant. “They’re just not up for it. Nope.”

To which he deadpanned, “I’m sorry you have two immensely damaged children like that. I love all those films!”

Still, Barrymore has hope for the younger generation in her home.

“I think I’m going to force them to watch (‘Music and Lyrics’),” she told her former co-star.

After all, they just might like it.

“This is like phases of their life,” she added. “They’ll come around.”