Episode 131 – Years in Review: 1990-1991

June 9, 2026
A blonde ’90s hair flip. Cigarette-in-hand red carpet appearances. A supposedly “washed-up” former child star working behind the counter of a coffee shop and living on her own at 15 years old.

It’s time to dive into one of the most pivotal and often overlooked periods of Drew Barrymore’s life. Between 1990 and 1991, a newly sober and newly emancipated teenage Drew was rebuilding from the ground up: attending AA meetings, releasing her bestselling memoir Little Girl Lost, taking odd jobs to pay the bills, and fighting to be taken seriously as an actress again.

Along the way, she collected a few tattoos, a couple boyfriends, a driver’s license she may or may not have immediately lost, and roles in future cult classics like Poison Ivy and Guncrazy. Drew’s big comeback was just around the corner! As she put it in 1991: “I just hope that I make the right choices and get to be an actress for the rest of my life.”

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Links

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Charlize Theron on The Drew Barrymore Show
Drewseum shoutout on Drew’s Instagram
Adore Delano on Feeling Seen podcast
Little Girl Lost Wrap-up episode of How Do You Drew
Year in Review: 1992 episode of How Do You Drew
Poison Ivy episode of How Do You Drew
Guncrazy episode of How Do You Drew
The Arsenio Hall Show
Oprah special In the Name of Self-Esteem
The Wogan Show
Our 1990 magazines
Our 1991 magazines

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