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Drew Barrymore reveals she doesn't relate to people who 'glide through' parenting

Drew Barrymore has opened up about embracing the
Drew Barrymore has opened up about embracing the 'messiness' of being a mother. (Getty Images)

While many A-list mothers seem to present a perfect life, Drew Barrymore has insisted she doesn't relate to people who "glide" through parenting.

The actress, 46, has opened up about the "messiness" of life, and how she doesn't want to "relate" to "fakeness".

Speaking to the Mail on Sunday's You magazine, she said: "I'm unguarded because I don’t want to come across as someone who has their s*** together. I’m not a total clown but I don't relate to people who glide through life or parenting.

"I relate to struggle, conquering it, the humour, the messiness of life. I can’t stand fakeness."

Barrymore – who is mother to daughter Olive, nine, and seven-year-old Frankie – also acknowledged the "pressures" that come with parenting.

She said: "There is so much pressure in life, particularly on mothers, to get it right, to get it perfect. It confuses me when people get so righteous about parenting. It makes me feel defensive and small."

The star, who rose to fame aged seven after being cast in the film ET: The Extra-Terrestrial, spoke about how she had to "parent" her own actor parents, John and Jaid Barrymore, during a chaotic childhood.

This meant that she "didn't know what I was doing" and initially felt like an "outcast" when it came to raising her own daughters.

The actress split with ex-husband Will Kopelman in 2016. (Getty Images)
The actress split with ex-husband Will Kopelman in 2016. (Getty Images)

Barrymore is raising her children with their father, the art consultant Will Kopelman, who she divorced in 2016.

She has previously spoken about how her unstable upbringing saw her develop a drink and drug problem by the time she was 12, which saw her go to rehab for 18 months.

At the age of 14 she legally divorced her parents, and by her 20s she had been twice married and divorced.

Speaking previously to The Guardian, the actress admitted: "I really had a fear that I was going to die at 25."

After rebuilding her Hollywood career – starring in the likes of Poison Ivy, The Wedding Singer and Charlie's Angels – she said her priorities shifted away from acting.

She added: "It was my whole world. Now it's kids, friends, marriage, work, health. I don't want my girls to grow up saying, ‘Oh wow, yeah, she really worked hard, but I didn’t see her.'"

Watch: Celebrities who look eerily like their children