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"I have daisy and butterfly tattoos and incorporate butterflies and daisies into my wardrobe. And I always wear some glitter in my makeup.
"These are not just my fashion crutches. They give me a kick and they are an expression of how alive I feel these days," explains the 23-year-old star of such films as E.T. The Extraterrestrial, The Wedding Singer and Scream.
A decade ago, Barrymore was so depressed, she contemplated suicide.
She wrote the book Little Girl Lost about her lost innocence.
"I love my life so much these days that I don't want to die. I'm not afraid of dying.
"I just don't want to go just yet."
Tomorrow, Barrymore stars as the orphan Danielle in Ever After, a lush retelling of the Cinderella fable.
She freely admits that love has played a big hand in turning her own life into a fairy tale. She has been living with actor Luke Wilson for almost two years.
They met shortly before they began working on the film Home Fries. Wilson and his two brothers created and starred together in the independent film Bottle Rocket.
"These days, my life is all about love and laughter. Luke and I laugh our butts off about everything. I wish everyone could have this much love and laughter in their lives."
Happy as they are, Barrymore and Wilson have no immediate plans to get married.
"As long as we're this happy, I don't care if we ever get married," she says.
Barrymore says there was talk about having Wilson play the prince in Ever After, but they both agreed it was too soon to pair again after Home Fries, which will be released this fall.
"It's enough that Luke and I are a couple in real life. We don't need to be a screen couple as well. Also, Luke didn't have as much passion for Ever After as I did."
Barrymore says she was drawn to the film because "it's about the desperate need to be accepted by one's family.
"It's all about what we'll do to get that love we seek, or to walk away from those members of our family who refuse to give it to us."
Barrymore is the daughter of John Barrymore Jr. and granddaughter of legendary stage and silent screen star John Barrymore.
"My grandfather is my guardian angel. I feel his presence."
When her parents split up, Drew lived with her mother Jade Barrymore, who introduced the young child to the fast life of Hollywood.
Drew was drinking and taking drugs before she was a teenager and was eventually sent to a substance rehabilitation clinic.
"I speak to my dad occasionally. As far as my mom is concerned, we've agreed to give our relationship more breathing time.
"As Danielle learns in Ever After, you can pick your friends but not your family, but when your family becomes friends, it's nirvana."
Though it was Steven Spielberg who gave Barrymore her big screen break in E.T., director and star have never worked together since.
"Steven and I are still good friends. I talked to him recently because of the biography A&E just did on him. I am one of the guests in the show, just as he spoke about me when A&E did my biography."
Barrymore has begun shooting Never Been Kissed, a teen comedy set in Chicago. She plays a reporter who has to go undercover as a high school student.
"I'm producing the film as well as starring in it. It's about the hamster-wheel we all run on to be popular in school. It's a totally light and fun movie."
Barrymore's boyfriend may not be joining her in front of the cameras for Never Been Kissed, but his younger brother Andrew Wilson is.