John Malkovich recalls shock at meeting 12-year-old Drew Barrymore in a club
Synopsis
John Malkovich told Drew Barrymore to her face what many in Hollywood quietly knew — that seeing a 12-year-old in an LA nightclub in the late '80s was deeply wrong. Barrymore's breezy 'I was a club kid' reply says everything about how normalised the chaos of her childhood had become, and why she now speaks about it as a source of hard-won strength rather than shame.
Key Takeaways
John Malkovich recalled meeting a then- 12-year-old Drew Barrymore at a nightclub in Los Angeles around 1987 .
The anecdote resurfaced during Malkovich's appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show .
Barrymore rose to fame at age seven in E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial and reportedly frequented adult clubs including Studio 54 and Limelight as a child.
She became legally emancipated from her parents at age 14 ; her father died in 2004 from multiple myeloma .
Barrymore quit alcohol in 2019 and announced her sobriety publicly in 2021 .
Hollywood actor John Malkovich has revealed he was deeply unsettled to encounter a then-12-year-old Drew Barrymore inside a Los Angeles nightclub in the late 1980s — a candid recollection that surfaced during a recent appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show. The 72-year-old actor described a brief but memorable exchange that left him simultaneously flattered and alarmed.
What Malkovich Remembered
Recounting the encounter, Malkovich said the meeting took place at a club in Los Angeles around 1987, when he was in his 30s. According to him, Barrymore approached him and offered a compliment on his work. 'My memory is this. It was a club in Los Angeles. It was the late '80s, and you came over to me. And you complimented me on some work that I had done,' he said on the show.
His reaction, he explained, was split between gratitude and concern. 'The first one, I said, 'Well, if I'm ever half as good as you were in E.T., I'll feel self-actualised'. Then the second thing I was thinking is, 'What are you doing in this club?' You were like 12 years old,' Malkovich said. Barrymore responded simply: 'I was a club kid.'
Drew Barrymore's Turbulent Childhood
Drew Barrymore, now 51, shot to global fame at age seven in Steven Spielberg's 1982 science-fiction classic E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial. The sudden stardom set off a years-long spiral, with the child actress frequenting adult venues including the now-iconic clubs Studio 54 and Limelight. Spielberg has previously admitted he wished he could have done more to protect her, though he acknowledged the limits of his role.
At 14, Barrymore became legally emancipated from her parents. Her father, John Barrymore Jr., passed away in 2004 after being diagnosed with multiple myeloma.
Sobriety and Speaking Out
Barrymore has long been open about the personal cost of her early fame. She quit alcohol for good in 2019 and publicly announced her sobriety in 2021 on her own talk show. Reflecting on that period, she said: 'I was a real wild child and I just got so out of control that no one knew what to do with me. They drove me here in the middle of the night and they walked me through those two doors and when you go through those two doors you do not come out. And I was there for a year-and-a-half.'
She added a message of resilience: 'I will never lose sight of this part of my story... It has to be our strengths, it has to be something that we can be proud of because we overcame it and we look back with honour and humour.'
Why This Moment Resonates
The exchange between Malkovich and Barrymore, though brief, encapsulates a broader conversation about child stardom, inadequate safeguards in the entertainment industry, and the long shadow cast by unchecked early fame. Barrymore's willingness to revisit these moments publicly — including on her own platform — has made her a prominent voice in discussions around mental health and recovery. Her story continues to draw renewed attention each time she surfaces a new detail from those formative years.
Point of View
Not personal. Barrymore was not an anomaly in 1980s Hollywood; she was a symptom of an era when child stars were handed adult access with little institutional protection. The fact that she now hosts her own show and openly narrates these memories as badges of survival is a testament to her resilience, but it should not obscure the structural negligence that made those stories possible. The entertainment industry has since introduced some safeguards, but child performer protections in the US remain patchwork — and Barrymore's account is a reminder of what that gap once cost one of its most recognisable faces.
NationPress
11 Nov 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
When did John Malkovich meet Drew Barrymore at a club?
John Malkovich says the encounter took place around 1987 at a nightclub in Los Angeles, when he was in his 30s and Barrymore was approximately 12 years old. He recounted the moment on The Drew Barrymore Show.
What did John Malkovich say when he saw Drew Barrymore at the club?
Malkovich said his first thought was to compliment her work in E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, telling her he would feel self-actualised if he were ever half as good. His immediate second thought was alarm at her age, saying 'What are you doing in this club? You were like 12 years old.'
Why was Drew Barrymore frequenting adult clubs as a child?
Barrymore has spoken openly about losing control after achieving sudden fame at age seven. She reportedly attended venues including Studio 54 and Limelight during her childhood, a period she has described as deeply chaotic and unchecked.
When did Drew Barrymore get sober?
Drew Barrymore stopped drinking in 2019 and publicly announced her sobriety in 2021 on her own talk show. She has spoken candidly about spending a year-and-a-half in rehabilitation and views that chapter as a source of strength rather than shame.
What happened to Drew Barrymore's father?
Drew Barrymore's father, John Barrymore Jr., died in 2004 following a diagnosis of multiple myeloma. She had become legally emancipated from both her parents at the age of 14.
