Drew Barrymore Recalls How Her 'Dream Family Was Falling Apart' amid Divorce from Will Kopelman

Mar. 15, 2025

(L-R) Drew Barrymore, Will Kopelman.Photo:Taylor Hill/WireImage; Sylvain Gaboury/Patrick McMullan via Getty

Taylor Hill/WireImage; Sylvain Gaboury/Patrick McMullan via Getty

Drew Barrymoreis getting candid about her divorce fromWill Kopelman.

In a cover story forAARP The Magazine’s February/March 2025 issue, Barrymore, 49, opened up about how she navigatedher spit from Kopelman in 2016,following four years of marriage.

The television personality said she knew she needed to get through the divorce to be a better mother fortheir two daughters,Olive, 12, andFrankie, 10.

“My dream family was falling apart and I didn’t know how to put one foot in front of the other," recalled Barrymore. “And I had grown up so fast but now I didn’t know what age to feel—I just knew that my life was heavy, and painful and sad—and I sat in that for a while.”

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Will Kopelman and Drew Barrymore.Stephen Lovekin/Variety/Penske Media via Getty

Stephen Lovekin/Variety/Penske Media via Getty

“Eventually, thank goodness, I lifted myself out of it,” she said. “I had two kids and I had to figure it out.”

Although Kopelman went on to getmarried again in August 2021to Alexandra Michler, he and Barrymorehave maintained a good co-parenting relationship.

Stefanie Keenan/Getty

“We’ve got an awesome family dynamic that proves that life goes on. Allie is my favorite person. I love her. I love us all being together,” Barrymore told PEOPLE in December 2022.

“These kids have an example of one of the parents moving on and rebuilding another life for themselves,” she continued. “I’m like, ‘Oh, I don’t have to do that now? Perfect.'”

Drew Barrymore for AARP Magazine.courtesy of AARP The Magazine

courtesy of AARP The Magazine

While she shared with AARP that her kids encourage her to date, Barrymore said finding a new partner is not a top priority right now.

“My girls say I should go on dates, but I also know how I felt when men were around when I was little—it didn’t feel safe to me, so I’m probably overcautious from those experiences,” said Barrymore.

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“I was in my early 40s, and not learning how to be my own healthy, independent individual, how to be the parent I dream to be. Being other people doesn’t help me figure that out right now,” she told AARP.

“And the long hours of doing films were hours I wouldn’t have with my kids,” continued Barrymore. “I wasn’t going to do that.”

source: people.com