Why Drew Barrymore Doesn't Want To Return To Acting

After more than a century, could the Barrymore acting dynasty be coming to an end? Drew Barrymore is the most famous of the clan these days, but her family has been in show business since the 19th century when her great-grandfather, Maurice Barrymore, joined an acting troupe (via Biography).

Lesser known is that Barrymore actually comes from another, even older line of actors, the Drews, and can trace her lineage to her great-great-great-great grandparents Thomas Haycraft Lane and Louisa Rouse Lane, who were actors in 18th century Great Britain.

Acting is in Barrymore's blood, and she's been famous since she was a child. Per IMDb, she got her first (uncredited) role in the 1978 TV movie Suddenly, Love when she was just 3 years old. She's starred in dozens of projects over the years, including E.T., Never Been Kissed, and Ever After, but now she's ready to call it quits.

While Barrymore has had a handful of credits in recent years, notably the Netflix series Santa Clarita Diet which she starred in from 2017 to 2019, her resume has been sparse and has included few films. As she explained on Radio Andy (via People), she doesn't see herself returning to her acting career any time soon.

"I don't want to be on a film set right now, but that could change when my kids are older," she said. She added that she took a break after the birth of her kids, Olive and Frankie, "because I've done it since I was in diapers at 11 months old when I started." She continued, "And it was a no brainer to me to put making movies on a back burner so that I could be present and raise my kids myself. I didn't want to be on a film set asking the nanny how the kids were. I was like, that is not my journey."

Barrymore has still been plenty busy, though, as the host of the talk show The Drew Barrymore Show. She added, "I've started brands. I was able to write a book."