"I would have never guessed that I would feel peace."
While turning 50 can feel like a daunting milestone for some, Drew Barrymore, on the other hand, is embracing her age. In a new interview with AARP The Magazine, the actress opened up about her upcoming birthday and why she isn’t afraid of aging.
“It can’t come soon enough,” Barrymore said of her 50th birthday, which is on February 22. “I feel like Frodo [in The Lord of the Rings]: I see that brass ring and I’m so excited! I have no issues with aging—this is the happiest I’ve been in my life.” As for her actual birthday plans, she revealed that she wants to celebrate by hanging out with her two daughters—Olive, 12, and Frankie 10—and cooking with friends while doing “some real middle-aged woman shit.”
In a separate video interview with the outlet, Barrymore got visibly emotional while discussing her perspective on getting older and her plans for the future. "You just realize you're gonna live X amount of years, if you're lucky, and I would like to live the second half of my life like the B side a record, not the same way as the A side," she said.
"My whole life I've been worried and stressed and, like, happy and having the best time ever. I would have never guessed that I would feel peace," Barrymore continued while fighting back tears. "This last decade has been the most ass-kicking and furthering of my life, and it is finally bringing peace."
Back in March 2024, the talk show host partnered with Dove for the beauty brand’s #TheFaceof10 campaign to encourage young girls to also embrace the natural aging process. “I know that girls are really obsessed with skincare and I think that’s totally well and good,” she said in a video message shared to Instagram. “I think when it comes to anything that is anti-aging, I don’t even know if that’s the exact messaging for adults because you’ll never anti-age.”
She added, "If you are lucky, you will actually get to age, but young girls don’t need anything anti-aging…Let’s never fear getting older because that is a privilege."