Drew Barrymore Blossoms in ‘Grey Gardens’

Wild child Drew Barrymore is all grown up. She’s been all grown up since she was about 10. But her performance in HBO’s new film ‘Grey Gardens‘ shows a new level of maturity to Drew that reaches far beyond her happy-go-lucky romantic-comedy reputation.

She still has a tongue piercing…but get ready for the serious side of Drew.

Now 34, Barrymore says she has 33 years of “research” on her side but at times can still feel like a “newborn.” And in taking on the terrifying challenge of playing batty Little Edie Beale, Drew says she was “working from a level of insecurity I’ve never known.”

The HBO production is based on (and provides a richer back story to) the 1975 documentary ‘Grey Gardens’ by Albert and David Maysles. Their cinema verite film became something of a fascination and made the tale of the two Edies legendary.

The true story of the Beales, and their eccentric personalities, could top even the most warped reality shows of today and it gives Barrymore her weightiest role to date. She completely transforms herself under pounds of heavy make up as Edie ages, anchored by one of those exaggerated thoroughbred accents of the wealthy back in the day. You will be freaked out when you hear Drew talk in the film, but if you’ve seen the real ‘Grey Gardens,’ you’ll see she’s spot on.

Her performance is over-the-top…but so was Edith “Little Edie” Bouvier Beale.

Little Edie and her mother, known as Big Edie and played here by Jessica Lange, were quite the pair. They were a part of New York’s high society at one time, but when Edie was abandoned by her husband, the money soon ran out.

The loony mother-daughter duo lived at ‘Grey Gardens,’ an East Hampton mansion that became overrun with cats, raccoons, trash…and a serious case of co-dependency.

And they weren’t just any formerly glamorous socialites living in squalor—they were relatives of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

So the Edies’ pedigree only added to the intrigue of their unusual story, and in this interview, Barrymore tells us just how far she went–including putting herself in seclusion and doing a year’s worth of vocal training–to become the iconic character “Little Edie Beale.”

“Katharine Hepburn was my guide.”

“When we were filming in Toronto, I would treat myself on Sundays and watch on old movie that was of Edie’s liking. Movies like ‘GiGi’ with Leslie Caron and ‘Peyton Place,’ Joan Crawford movies, and I watched a lot of Katharine Hepburn…I felt that Little Edie had, especially when she was younger, big elements of Katharine Hepburn. Because I could watch her in films when she was 18, like ‘A Bill of Divorcement,’ and then I could watch her in ‘The African Queen,’ so it helped me understand how the voice of a person goes from 18 to 60. Little Edie wasn’t going to talk all garish at 18, but you still have to believe it’s the same human being. So Katharine Hepburn was my vocal guide.”

On proving herself worthy of the role:
“I could see how Michael [Sucsy, the director] would not know I was capable of that. I didn’t know I was capable of that…but that fear drove me to go to my vocal coach every day for a year and a half and work my ass off to do this because I didn’t want to screw up the best opportunity that ever came my way.”

How did you prepare for the role?
“I didn’t talk on a cell phone or watch television or read anything or listen to anything that she didn’t do. I read The Marble Faun. I only listened to her music. I only watched old movies that she loved. I didn’t speak to one friend for three months. Which was very hard to come out of, I went a little insane because I just lived and breathed her.”

“The thing that really changed my life was not having anything to watch or listen to, and just sort of be in the head of someone all the time, like living in a crazy monastery.”

“I did not speak to one person for three months.”

“Not even my best friend, Nancy Juvonen [married to Jimmy Fallon], who I’ve spoken to every day for the last 14 years.

And it was hard, it was very lonely, but so was Little Edie. And I wasn’t going to be one of those actresses that was on the set, with the cell phone, reading the newspaper and talking smack with one of my friends, and then have them say, ‘Rolling…’ and then pretend I was Little Edie. I WAS Little Edie!

I only spoke to people as her–I wouldn’t let them call me Drew–and I isolated myself because she was isolated. So I just tried to be her in every way I could. And I realized what a great, dramatic person she was, she had great highs, great lows. She acts like a woman but she talks like a little girl. She says she wants to get the hell out of here but she never leaves.

She is a walking contradiction on every level.”

Had you watched the ‘Grey Gardens’ documentary before you took the part?
“Yeah, I really liked the documentary, I thought it was wonderful, but I was not like my friends who put head scarves on and danced around my closet and quoted her.

“But I watched it every single day of making the film. And every single day of voice training for a year and a half before filming.

I just really loved the movie and I think that one of my favorite things growing up has been unorthodox love stories…’Captain’s Courageous,’ ‘Paper Moon,’ ‘Planes, Trains & Automobiles’—that’s a great love story—’The Champ,’ movies that aren’t necessarily the dynamic of a man and a woman. So what really spoke to me is that I’ve always been in love with love stories, and not necessarily of the romantic kind, and to me, this [mother-daughter relationship] is epic on that level.”

What did you make of the two, uh, eccentric Edies when you first saw them?
“Are you kidding…I think they’re madder than a hatter! But the thing about portraying them for Jessica [Lange] and I was that they were not just crazy. They were not just depressed. They were not just angry. They had a real point of view. Real love for each other. It was a decision to close out the world.”

You’ve lost some weight…was that for the part?
“I lost a lot of weight because I was so nervous. Michael [the director] was chasing me around with quiche. But I was so nervous being her, I just couldn’t eat. I lost like 10 lbs, and when I try to lose 10 lbs, I can’t, and ironically he needed me to gain 10 lbs and I could not get food down my throat; I was so uptight and freaked out all the time.”

So how was it re-engaging with your life and becoming Drew Barrymore again?
“I was depressed for a while to be honest, I really was. I had a difficult time adjusting to it; I thought it would be harder to leave the world, but it was sort of harder to get back into it.

“I had to take some vacations. But the truth was I had to go straight into directing ‘Whip It,’ which is the first film that I directed, and also the biggest challenge I’ve ever had—it’s been the years of fears.”

So what do you do when you’re stressed out?
“I LOVE watching television! I have a big old tube television…I hate flat screens, I love VHS, I will not have a television that does not have a VHS player. I freak out, I’m like ‘Hi-def what?’ I have no digital cameras. I did just get an iPhone, but I don’t know how to work it at all. I’m really old school.”

What are your favorite shows?
“I love ‘Project Runway’ and ‘Top Chef.’ But I never would want to be on something I love because it would take away from it for me.”

How do you feel about carrying on the Barrymore family acting legacy?
“I watch TCM every night, I go to sleep to it. Yes, I’ve seen all their films…I walk into my room and they’re on and I’m like, ‘Hey Guys!’ All I want to do is honor them, and we’re a wild and crazy bunch, so I don’t have to act like Miss Perfect, which is a real relief, but I would give anything to honor their talent, as well as their legacy.”

What’s next for you?
“Well, I have ‘Whip It’ starring Ellen Page, which I directed. And then ‘Everybody’s Fine,’ where I got to act with Robert FREAKING de Niro! It’s a road-trip movie and I play one of his daughters.”

Little Edie had a distinct ‘fashion sense.’ Your own fashion sense seems to be evolving…
”I love fashion…yesterday I was rock-n-roll, today I’m this, tomorrow I could be a hippie, I don’t know where it’s going next.”

What was your worst red carpet moment?
“Oh, that Gucci green dress where my boobs looked like watermelons! Never wear a high neck dress with a belt, it makes your t*ts look like they’re at your waist. It’s a big mistake. I’m so sorry Gucci, I have tarnished your name!”

‘Grey Gardens’ premieres Saturday, April 18th, at 8 p.m. on HBO.