Okay, I am exaggerating about having an actual date with Drew Barrymore. I wish I had. I did, however, enjoy a lively Q&A with her, along with a few hundred other Drew fans, last Saturday evening at The Center for Spiritual Living in Seattle. Drew is on a 10-city tour to promote her new book Wildflower, which is filled with personal stories (aka essays). She is quick to note this book is not a memoir. Drew said she felt “memoir” is too heavy a word for what she wanted to do with this book. It is worth noting, Drew had no plans to write a book; however, she said these stories were begging her to be told. Thus, she wrote these select stories over a span of several months, shutting herself in a room to concentrate.
I have long admired sweet Drew starting with her role as Gertie in E.T. the Extra Terrestrial (1982) at the tender age of 6. I do not know why I was initially drawn to her as a 10-year old myself. I just was. Now that I am an adult, I can say I like her spunk, her honesty and her authenticity. What you see is what you get with Drew. She isn’t contrived. Throughout the interviews of her I have seen over the years, I find her to be kind, thoughtful, empathetic and sensitive. On the other hand, she is also strong, determined, hard-working and self-effacing. That is a dream set of personal characteristics if you ask me.
The moderator for the evening, writer/director Lynn Shelton, emerged for the Q&A in a short black dress and patterned tights, trailed by Drew in a long-sleeved black top and a long floral skirt (signature Drew style!). Drew quickly made light of their polar-opposite outfits by hiking up her skirt to her knee and flicking her long, wavy hair over her shoulder. Lynn asked Drew a handful of questions to which Drew followed with 10+ minutes of lively answer to each. By the time it came to the audience questions, Drew agreed to do a speed round to get through all of them, truncating her usual long-winded answers by 75%.
Throughout the evening, Drew was a great sport, highly animated and very funny. It could not have been a better way to spend a cold, rainy night in Seattle, and it certainly raised my love for Drew to a higher level (if that is possible). Drew signed books after the Q&A, but the audience was asked not to take any photographs at the book signing. Thus, I have no selfies with Drew to share with you. It was a thrill to meet Drew as she signed my book, which basically entailed me smiling at her and her smiling sweetly back at me. I kind of blew my chance to make an impression. Ha! Thanks for a fabulous evening, Drew. xo