Drew Barrymore Writes in New Memoir She Grew Up with 'Zero Protection, Zero Consistency' but Thanks Mom for Her Life

Drew Barrymore spoke about the release of her collection of autobiographical essays, Wildflower, on Today

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Updated on December 1, 2020 09:29 PM

Drew Barrymore has never been shy about discussing her Hollywood upbringing, and often shares tales of her non-traditional childhood with the public.

The actress writes about her youth, again, in her newly released book Wildflower, a collection of autobiographical essays that she says her mother will read, despite Barrymore’s in-text revelations.

“Our lifestyle together was not traditional,” Barrymore, 40, said of her mother Jai, now 69, during an appearance on Today, Wednesday.

In Wildflower, Barrymore writes that her mother provided “zero protection, zero consistency” during her youth, a line that stuck with Today host Savannah Guthrie.

“We’ve talked about, you know, the book, and she’s gonna read it,” Barrymore revealed. “But I think she’ll understand and, you know, she’ll read in the next sentence that I give her a compliment.”

Barrymore, who spoke about her unusual life in PEOPLE’s Nov. 2 issue, became an emancipated minor by the age of 15.

“Like, walking away from my mom and shaking hands, and saying, ‘We need to emancipate,’ those were just the facts,” she shared. “That was where our journey had led us to, and we were actually okay with – that that’s where we needed to go at that point.”

The actress, who is a mother herself to Olive, 3, and Frankie, 18 months, with husband Will Kopelman, said she felt it was important to share her story with her children.

“I do think I have a responsibility to tell my daughters why I feel the way I feel about things, why I’ve become this person, how I became the person I am,” she told Guthrie. “The truth and nothing but the truth.”

Barrymore, who hits the big screen next in Miss You Already, said she doesn’t worry her daughters will “end up” like her because, in her “later years,” she got it all together.

“And in the younger years, like, they’re not gonna have my life, you know,” she said. “Not going to Studio 54 at 7 years old will probably make them a lot more normal than I was.”

The star paid tribute to her mother just one day earlier, sharing an old photo with Jaid to Instagram.

“Today I wrote a book. And as I thank and celebrate many women this week, I must say a huge thank you to my mother. As I say in the acknowledgements, ‘thank you for my life. I am ever so pleased to be here,’ ” she wrote. “We have had quite a road, but it is paved with gratitude.”