Yahoo Lifestyle SZA Tells Drew Barrymore About How She Inspired Her 2017 Song 'Drew Barrymore': 'You're So Special'
The Grammy winner revealed she once expressed her admiration for Barrymore in a letter she wrote to the actress but "never sent"
Drew Barrymore means a lot to SZA.
In an interview on the Jan. 13 episode of The Drew Barrymore Show, SZA went deep on how the Never Been Kissed actress inspired her 2017 song, "Drew Barrymore."
"It was inspired by you. It wasn't just titled after you," said the Grammy winner, 35, of the single from her Ctrl album. "The energy that you carry — even my outfit is inspired by the way you've made me feel my entire life, like, carefree."
The Drew Barrymore Show/Ash Bean
Drew Barrymore and SZA"You don't understand," added SZA. "I wrote you this letter that I never sent you, but it talked about how, I guess, you know, when you're younger and you're a black woman there's not a lot of examples all the time. And one of the few lovely white women that I looked up to so much on television… because you were so yourself."
The "Saturn" singer — who stars in the new film One of Them Days — explained she loved Barrymore's "quirky" energy and imperfect smile, which made her feel relatable.
"I have a slight speech impediment, and people laugh all the time, like, ‘What is SZA saying?’ And it's a running joke. But I love the way you talk and just all the you-ness of you — your laugh, even in the movies and in real life," she added.
SZA said watching Barrymore, 49, makes her think about some of her own attributes that she's "nervous" about. "But on you it shines so brightly," she said. "You gave me permission to be myself and feel like, ‘This is so cool.’”
In response to SZA's kind words, Barrymore spoke about the "Drew Barrymore" song and recalled a conversation they had while filming its music video — which features a cameo from the Charlie's Angels star — in 2017.
The Drew Barrymore Show/Ash Bean
Drew Barrymore and SZA"Maybe it’s humble insecurity or whatever — even though we had that talk in the trailer that night, I think I always still convinced myself, ‘It was just words that she used for the song, and the words were my name,’ and I had not really heard you explain it like this," she said.
Barrymore continued, "I think maybe what you picked up when you were young, ‘cause it’s no different now, is this lack of assumption. We are looking for permission to be ourselves. We are looking for someone to tell us it will be okay to be exactly who we are, because I experience it almost every day, and I think everybody does.”
Read the original article on People
