Drew Barrymore Calls Drug Rehab at 14 Years Old “Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me’

“I mean, I know that you were a wayward teen — as was I, and I was in rehab and stuff — but I didn’t know that you were at one of those places,” Martin told Barrymore on Friday’s episode of the latter’s eponymous talk show, as covered by Us Weekly.

Barrymore talked about how she “got taken away and put in a place for two years” amid her out-of-control youth, and how she now looks back at that tough chapter in her life as “the best thing that ever happened to me.”

But that’s also why she was able to connect so viscerally with Martin’s new series, which is partly inspired by one of Martin’s childhood friends, Nicole, who lived in a program similar to what Barrymore went through and agreed to consult on the series. Wayward explores the friendship and bond forged by two teens attending a school/program like this.

Barrymore, too, admitted that she didn’t know about Martin’s first-hand experiences with programs like that for help wayward teens, but recognized that lived experience in the film. “Watching the show there was way too much accuracy,” she said. “It was too real for me in that element where I knew there was no way you weren’t telling an authentic perspective.”

While praising the show for its accuracy in portraying those difficult teen years, Barrymore opened up about how that’s just one piece of what is ultimately a lifelong journey. She shared her own breakdown of sorts she said she went through at 40, adding that she’s in a much better place now.

“We pull ourselves up, hopefully, and we find people that encourage us to tell the truth and to finally have the opposite of shame, which is what comes with any type of erratic behavior or society telling you ‘that’s not appropriate at this age’ or ‘what you’re doing is out of control,'” she explained. “That is shame. And when you live with shame, it is crippling.”

Despite how difficult it was, Barrymore said that she was able to find levity and even joy in the experience. “I know that sounds wild, but it was encouragement to say your truths, to be brave, to find humor and heroism in your journey,” she explained.

“And I hold a lot of it sacrosanct, but it wasn’t easy,” Barrymore added. “It was hard as hell and I found that the tone that you brought to the show was true to a life experience when you gotta be broken and get fixed.”

This isn’t the first time Barrymore has opened up about her tumultuous youth. You can see what else the former child star has had to say about it below.