Drew Barrymore has a Hollywood career spanning over 28 years. She has proved herself to be a Hollywood survivor, a canny business woman and a woman with a joie de vivre. She spoke to the Irish press about her current movie "Going the Distance" and her plans for the future.

Barrymore is now 35 and it is incredible how much she has already packed into her life. At the age of seven she had already starred in "E.T," was hosting "Saturday Night Live" and she knew the bouncers at Studio 54.

By the age of thirteen Barrymore had started to use cocaine. At 14 she has become a regular in rehab and by 15 she wrote her autobiography "Little Girl Lost". The very same year she was emancipated from her mother who she claimed was a bad influence.
When she was 17 she posed naked for Interview magazine and the for Playboy at 19.

It's amazing that these days, fifteen years on from her Playboy shoot, she's a workaholic running her own film company, Flower Films, as well as having starred in some serious blockbusters including "Charlie's Angels", "Donnie Darko", "50 First Dates", "He's Just Not That Into You", "Grey Gardens", and her directorial debut, "Whip It".

Back in 2001 Barrymore spent two weeks driving around Ireland. Her great great grandfather hails from Ireland. When asked if she would return she said "I cannot wait to go back to Ireland…I loved it so much, and being a workaholic, I almost never get to go anywhere for a couple of weeks, but I just had the most extraordinary experience there.

"Really, just getting to drive, and pull over to run through these great parks and fields, and find secret beaches after a three-hour walk through the woods. I love Ireland. I love the people. It's just a wonderful place, and I'll be fortunate to return.

"I ran through fields naked, totally . . ."

Right now, Barrymore is promoting her movie "Going the Distance" where she acts alongside her former boyfriend, Justin Long.

Speaking to the Evening Herald she spoke about the fact that she was playing a romantic role alongside and exboyfriend. She said "Yeah, him and I have a history together…so, I thought it was kind of a cool opportunity for someone watching the film to actually believe in it more, and relate to it more. Because we've actually been through this.

"And I just thought the chemistry would be more real, and he really genuinely makes me laugh. So, that sort of joy would be more authentic, and the emotionality. So, I thought it was a kind of a rare opportunity."

The rom com doesn't stick to the by the book plotline of the genre but shows the characters frustrated and enraged by their awkward situations.

Barrymore said "For sure. First of all, I like my character. I got to put a lot of myself into her. I go out and have a drink at the end of a bad day, and I swear, and I talk dirty with my friends . . ."

"Totally, I know. The term 'romantic comedy', in some ways, I feel that's unfair to the movie. I love those movies. I've done those movies, but this is much more kinda true to what we go through in real life, but it's really funny."

"Going the Distance" will be released in the U.S. on September 3.