Drew Barrymore Recalls ‘Dream Family Falling Apart’ amid Will Kopelman Divorce

Drew Barrymore is getting candid about her divorce from Will Kopelman.

In a cover story for AARP The Magazine‘s February/March 2025 issue, Barrymore, 49, opened up about how she navigated her spit from Kopelman in 2016, following four years of marriage.

The television personality said she knew she needed to get through the divorce to be a better mother for their two daughters, Olive, 12, and Frankie, 10.

“My dream family was falling apart and I didn’t know how to put one foot in front of the other,” recalled Barrymore. “And I had grown up so fast but now I didn’t know what age to feel—I just knew that my life was heavy, and painful and sad—and I sat in that for a while.”

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“Eventually, thank goodness, I lifted myself out of it,” she said. “I had two kids and I had to figure it out.”

Although Kopelman went on to get married again in August 2021 to Alexandra Michler, he and Barrymore have maintained a good co-parenting relationship.

“We’ve got an awesome family dynamic that proves that life goes on. Allie is my favorite person. I love her. I love us all being together,” Barrymore told PEOPLE in December 2022.

“These kids have an example of one of the parents moving on and rebuilding another life for themselves,” she continued. “I’m like, ‘Oh, I don’t have to do that now? Perfect.’”

While she shared with AARP that her kids encourage her to date, Barrymore said finding a new partner is not a top priority right now.

“My girls say I should go on dates, but I also know how I felt when men were around when I was little—it didn’t feel safe to me, so I’m probably overcautious from those experiences,” said Barrymore.

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The mom of two is instead focused on being a “dream” parent, as evidenced by her slowly stepping away from acting when she had kids.

“I was in my early 40s, and not learning how to be my own healthy, independent individual, how to be the parent I dream to be. Being other people doesn’t help me figure that out right now,” she told AARP.

“And the long hours of doing films were hours I wouldn’t have with my kids,” continued Barrymore. “I wasn’t going to do that.”