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Happy birthday, Drew Barrymore!
Today the California native turns 44 years old and boy does time fly. Barrymore has been acting since she was a child beginning in the late ’70s and officially winning over hearts as Gertie in 1982’s E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial and now she’s in her 40s? Seriously, we can barely wrap our heads around this one.
After four decades in the entertainment industry the birthday girl has also managed to make a name for herself as a producer and director. Plus, she has her own beauty brand and is raising two adorable little girls.
Even though Barrymore is basically a modern-day superhero and entertainment guru, it’s her acting gigs that continue to hold a special place in our hearts. That’s why we are honoring the actress by looking back at her greatest roles ever on her birthday.
Throughout her career there have been a ton of standout roles including E.T. but that was only really the beginning.
Barrymore wowed fans in movies like Never Been Kissed, Riding in Cars With Boys and Charlie’s Angels. She has also become a rom-com queen with roles including The Wedding Singer, 50 First Dates, He’s Just Not That Into You and Fever Pitch among others.
While we could go on for days about all of the star’s best roles and why we continue to watch them years later, we’re going to let the movies speak for themselves in our gallery below.
Check out all of Barrymore’s iconic roles below and vote for your favorite as we toast to the birthday girl all day long!
Universal Pictures
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Drew Barrymore caught everyone’s attention in 1982’s E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial as the adorable Gertie. Seriously, we know this was about an alien trying to go home, but Barrymore really stole the show with her cuteness.
Warner Bros. Pictures
Boys on the Side
When three women take a road trip together to California, their different lives become connected and they find the friends they never knew they needed in Boys on the Side.
Warner Bros. Pictures
Batman Forever
The mother of two plays Sugar, Edward Nygma AKA The Riddler’s (Jim Carrey) employee and arm candy in Batman Forever as Nygma tries to take down Batman.
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Dimension FIlms
Scream
Barrymore nailed her scream in the 1996 horror film that started the now-iconic thriller franchise.
New Line Cinema
The Wedding Singer
The Wedding Singer marked the first film that Barrymore and Adam Sandler played love interests and we are forever grateful. In the film, Julia (Barrymore) is a waitress who is engaged to the wrong guy, luckily she meets Robbie (Sandler), a wedding singer, who is also engaged and the two end up right where they belong.
20th Century Fox
Ever After: A Cinderella Story
This 1998 romance film takes a fresh approach to the tale of Cinderella. In the movie, Barrymore plays Danielle (the Cinderella of the movie), who is left to the hands of her evil stepmother and stepsisters after her father dies. What’s different about this version of the fairy tale is that Danielle rescues herself and still manages to find her prince…with the help of Leonardo da Vinci, her fairy godmother.
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20th Century Fox
Never Been Kissed
Josie grossy AKA Josie Geller (Barrymore) goes back to high school to research a big newspaper story and discovers that it’s pretty much the same, even if this time around she’s more popular and finds romance.
Charlie’s Angels
Hello, Charlie! Barrymore, Cameron Diaz and Lucy Liu team up as detectives with a mysterious boss in this 2000 movie reboot of the iconic Charlie’s Angels TV series from the 1970s. Together they kick butt, solve crimes and look good doing it.
Columbia Pictures
Riding in Cars With Boys
In Riding in Cars With Boys, Barrymore portrays a single mother in the 1960s who always wanted to be a writer, but her life gets complicated when she gets pregnant at 15 with a baby boy. Throughout the film you see her push through a failed marriage, a troubled family and being a mom with a career.
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Columbia Pictures
Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle
In 2003, the Angels reunited to investigate a series of murders that took place after the witness protection profile database was stolen.
Columbia Pictures
50 First Dates
Lucy (Barrymore) is the girl of Henry’s (Sandler) dreams in this romantic comedy, but there is one major problem…she has short-term memory loss and never remembers him, even after 50 first dates!
Darren Michaels/20th Century Fox
Fever Pitch
All is fair in love and baseball in this 2005 rom-com starring Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon. Despite being in love, Lindsay (Barrymore) must decide whether or not she can handle her boyfriend Ben’s (Fallon) other love…the Boston Red Sox.
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Warner Bros. Pictures
Music and Lyrics
When a washed-up singer (played by Hugh Grant) needs to compose a hit for a teen sensation in a matter of days he teams up with the quirky wordsmith Sophie (Barrymore) and hilarity ensues.
New Line Cinema
He’s Just Not That Into You
The 44-year-old actress plays Mary, a single woman trying to find love in a time where people get dumped on social media, over the phone, via email and so many more terrible ways. Her character is only one of the many storylines followed in this romantic comedy which connects arcs based on friendships and love.
Darren Michaels/Fox Searchlight
Whip It
The California native both directed and starred in this 2009 film, which followed the lives of a group of badass roller derby chicks in Austin, Texas.
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Warner Bros. Pictures
Blended
In 2014, Barrymore teamed up with Sandler once again for Blended, which tells the tale of what happens after a bad blind date somehow leads to being stuck together at a resort for families. With the help of their kids, their attraction grows and love could be on the table after all.
Lionsgate
Miss You Already
Barrymore and Toni Collette play lifelong friends in Miss You Already and as their lives change—one gets ill and the other starts a family—their friendship is really put to the test.
Netflix
Santa Clarita Diet
Beginning in 2017, Barrymore took on the role of Sheila in Netflix’s Santa Clarita Diet. On the series, which has a third season coming out March 2019, Sheila and her husband Joel (Timothy Olyphant) are real estate agents in Santa Clarita, California whose lives take a dark turn after Shelia dies and comes back as a zombie who eats people.
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