Drew Barrymore is thinking back on the original response to Never Been Kissed from 20th Century Fox.
Hey, Dude joined the actress-producer and talk-show host. Christine Taylor, host of the '90s Called! segment with David Lascher on Friday's Drew Barrymore Show, talked about how the romantic comedy was the actress's first production under her own production company, Flower Films, and how it was a significant turning point in her career.
There was a lot of pressure on Barrymore to make the movie work because she was the lead actor and was also taking on the role of director.
“Never Been Kissed was very interesting because it was our first official film for Flower Films. And at that time, people were very weary of actors being producers,” she explained. “A lot of it wasn’t necessarily working and it didn’t mean because you’re an actor, you knew how to produce a film and it was about the economics. So if you didn’t make the film work and you produced it as an actor, you were likely to not be able to do it again. And I was very stressed throughout the movie.”
Barrymore told Christine Taylor and David Lascher on Hey, Dude that she was "so scared" during the production process because she knew Flower Films wouldn't "get another chance" if it didn't work out. Barrymore claimed that this was the "first time" she had acknowledged something so openly.
She said that while making the movie was “the best time ever,” she had to “clench [her] stomach the whole time” because of 20th Century Fox’s reactions to Josie. “I would get these calls from the studio and they were like, ‘I’m sorry, but you’re just looking too unattractive.’ And I was like, ‘good.’ And they were like, ‘no, no, no, no, no, no.’ They were like, ‘it’s, it’s too far,'” recalled Barrymore.