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Drew Barrymore doesn't even have time to eat.
Yesterday the actress and filmmaker was trying to grab a few pieces of fruit between interviews for her new movie, Whip It, but she barely had time to chew. Whip It, which is her directorial debut, premieres tonight at the Ryerson theatre, bringing Barrymore and her cast -- which includes Canada's Ellen Page, Marcia Gay Harden, Kristen Wiig, Juliette Lewis, Eve and Alia Shawkat -- to the red carpet.
Whip It is a coming-of-age story set in small-town Texas. It concerns a teenage girl (Page) who rejects the genteel world of beauty pageants for the action and camaraderie of a roller derby team. This is a movie about a young woman finding her way in the world, and Barrymore knew as soon as she read it that this was the movie she wanted to direct.
As she put it, "It felt like something I was practicing for my whole life."
Literally, almost. As someone who made her debut in the acting community before her first birthday, Barrymore is a bit taken aback by how surprised some people are over her move to directing. "I've been directing for 15 years now. I started Flower Films when I was 19, and I'm 34 now. This is our 10th film! It's all been, for me, a slow and steady wins the race experience, in order to direct one day.
"I've wanted to direct since I was a kid."
Incredibly, she had to fight for the right to direct the film. Barrymore is Hollywood royalty, has a global box office gross that's moving toward $3 billion, is the beloved star of such films as Charlie's Angels, 50 First Dates and He's Just Not That Into You, voices a character on The Simpsons and has an Emmy nomination for her work in the TV movie Grey Gardens, but she still had to work hard to be the one to direct Whip It.
"I definitely had to pitch myself," she concedes. "For me, it was a fun challenge. I don't like anything that comes too easy, I don't trust it. So, I was excited to have to prove that I was capable of doing this. For me, it was just a great place to put all my education and experience, and you do have to be so prepared."
On top of all her responsibilities as director, Barrymore organized the music and executive produced the soundtrack for the film. She calls everyone at Flower Films "music nuts"; the soundtrack will be released near the end of September and features everyone from The Ramones and Dolly Parton to Little Joy, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and The Ettes.
And she also has a role in the movie as one of the roller derby regulars.
"I trained for the derby with the girls. Here I am having a great time with the girls, and hurting yourself, but I learned from the Charlie's Angels movies the importance of training camp. Because you want to see the actresses doing this, and the camaraderie is the chemistry you can't fake." Barrymore had her actresses do their own stunts, for the most part, which means that every one of those women had to learn to rollerskate like a pro.
"Ellen (Page) trained the hardest and the longest, and she was better than a lot of the derby girls," said Barrymore. "She's a toughie. She has always been athletic. She played soccer growing up. She has a beautiful vulnerability about her, on the other hand, which I love."
Barrymore has been so obsessed with making Whip It that she hasn't given much thought to the upcoming Emmy Awards.
"I've just been working consistently through it, and I haven't taken a break, so it's been hard to relish all the positivity. Having said that, maybe it's best to just keep my head down and stay focused and keep working. I think feeding the ego is never a positive thing. I'm just excited everyone was nominated so it could feel like a big party and it's not about winning or losing but that we all get to go to this place and celebrate together. So the tone of it is perfect."
One last thing: Any chance of another Charlie's Angels?
"I would love to do one!" said Barrymore.
"Even if we're all in wheelchairs by the time it gets done."