Play Audio Story The Original “It” Girl – Drew Barrymore
My history with Drew is one of shared creativity, pushing limits, collaboration, and true exchanges.
Early in my career, she was one of the first Hollywood actresses I photographed. This first shoot, in 1994, was taken for Us magazine, which, at the time, was a coveted monthly with primary emphasis on portraiture. The editor handed me his blessing. “Just come back with a set of pictures,” he told me.
After talking to Drew, I conceived a series of ideas that complemented her sensual and strong persona, including Alice in Wonderland the boxer. It is incredibly rare for a subject to be so liberated and trusting. From our first conversation, there were no rules, no concerns.
Drew is always in the moment, not trying to figure out what’s next. It is this type of freedom that allows one to take these kinds of photographs. A dozen shoots later and I can honestly say Drew is what makes these images speak for themselves. To call her simply a muse is an understatement. She is an artist and creative force to be reckoned with.
Transcript
I’ve had a very incredibly long history working with Drew Barrymore. She’s like the perfect ingenue. And when I met her back in the ’90s, I remember talking to her on the phone. I was explaining a couple of the characters that I was very interested in introducing. And one of them was a prize fighter, and the other one was a naughty Alice in Wonderland. And I was waiting for her to respond, and she gave me that perfect Drew giggle and said to me, “I totally trust you. Let’s just do whatever you think will work best.” And that’s how we started out. And worked with a wonderful crew to create the costumes, found the perfect boxing gym, and built our Alice characters and an oversize deck of cards. And at the very last minute, she popped a cigarette in her mouth and started to blow these perfect smoke rings. And that’s really how our collaboration started with some real gems. From there, we went on to do several other shoots. And I would say she is probably the ultimate muse of all the people that I’ve photographed.