Drew Barrymore Reflects on “Bad Girls” Changing Her Life at Age 16: ‘I Can Trace It Back to That Experience’

Drew Barrymore is reflecting on a life-changing movie role.

“When we did Bad Girls, I was 16. I was such a dumbass,” The Drew Barrymore Show host told guest and Bad Girls costar Andie MacDowell during the Jan. 23 episode. MacDowell, 66, responded, “Oh my God, you were so beautiful and so good.”

Barrymore, 49, then emphasized the importance of that role in the mid-’90s, saying, “I always talk about how much it changed my life. If I hadn't done that film, there's no way I'd be sitting here right now.”

Bad Girls, released in 1994 and directed by Jonathan Kaplan, is a western that follows four prostitutes: Cody (Madeleine Stowe), Anita (Mary Stuart Masterson), Eileen (MacDowell) and Lilly (Barrymore).

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The group of four, known as the “Honky-Tonk Harlots,” makes a plan to leave for a better life before two detectives are hired to hunt them down.

“It was that film that showed me if you care about something, be involved,” Barrymore explained. “I had not been on a film like that, which was really my school. Those film sets were very educational to me about how it all works even though it was so skewed and bizarre and sort of surreal.”

“I feel like my whole life changed the most dramatically — I can trace it back to that experience with you,” Barrymore told her former costar.

Barrymore described the moving sets as “little traveling circuses” — and the Groundhog Day star agreed.

“My family used to tease me and tell me that I was gonna join the circus, and I did. I joined the circus,” MacDowell said with a laugh.

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This is not the first time Barrymore has reunited with her Bad Girls costars on the set of her talk show. Last year, the host welcomed MacDowell and Masterson in January, but another surprise guest tagged along for the reunion. The studio doors opened to reveal Dermot Mulroney.

After sharing a sweet embrace, Mulroney whispered to the host, “I’m so happy to see you, I might cry.” And he did. The two shared a tissue to wipe away their tears.

"You were so good to me. I really was, like, a lost 17-year-old," she said. "I was having so much fun, but I didn’t know how to take care of myself. And you took such good care of me. You were so kind to me."

Mulroney shared how proud he was of Barrymore, calling her an “incredible survivor.”

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He then apologized to the audience for the emotions, "Sorry guys, I cry now," he said. "I knew I was gonna and I came anyway. I decided I’m gonna go ahead and cry in public!"

Barrymore added: "It is so nice to see a man cry, by the way.”

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