Drew Barrymore and Hilary Duff know a thing or two about rejection from their child star days.
The two stars bonded over losing several roles they auditioned for and the lessons they learned from it when they sat down to talk on Monday’s episode The Drew Barrymore Show.
“There were so many times when I felt like a loser or didn’t get a job or stagnated,” How I met your father the star, 36, recalled. “But I had to fill my life with things that were real and that was enough at that point.”
Barrymore, 48, said of her own experience together: “I had such a bizarre relationship with rejection so early in life that I appreciated what it gave me, which was the idea that there was enough room for everyone and that competition was unnecessary because really there is enough room for everyone.”
“It’s still hard sometimes,” Duff said with a laugh about Barrymore’s claim of competitiveness.
Drew Barrymore sweetly comforts a crying audience member during a taping of her talk show: Look
“And people have a competitive spirit. It’s a healthy thing. I get that,” the talk show host continued. “But it’s weird being a kid when you find out it’s not going to be you and you’re like, ‘OK, I’ve got to figure out how I’m going to function through this.'”
Duff added, “When people ask you, ‘What job didn’t you get?’ I said, ‘There were so many I can’t really remember. I can’t tell you. It wasn’t worth holding on to. So I threw it out there.'”
Echoing her sentiment, Barrymore said: “I will never admit it because I don’t want the person who did it to feel weird.”
“You say, ‘That was mine,’ and you’re still stewing on it.” Lizzie McGuire the alum interjects jokingly.
“Yes exactly! Like I won’t tell you!” Barrymore exclaimed as they both laughed, “But I’ll admit it as the things I auditioned for, and then I guess that’s how they might find out.”
Hilary Duff explains why she ‘didn’t want to be Lizzie McGuire anymore’ after the show ended
“I think the rejection thing is kind of coming full circle for me now because I don’t think I fully realized how much rejection you have to deal with as a child actor, or in this business in general,” Duff said.
The actress then reflected on how her son Luca, 11, is learning the same lesson she learned at that age.
“My son, he plays club sports, and you have to keep going to auditions. It’s not called an ‘audition’ in sports, but that’s my language,” Duff explained. “I say, ‘Are you ready for rehearsal? Okay, it’s practice, I understand. ‘Do you have your costume? Oh, that’s your uniform. Yes Yes Yes.'”
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“He’s so annoyed,” added Duff, who shares Luca with ex Mike Comrie. She is also mother to daughters Mae, 2, and Banks, 5, with husband Matthew Koma.
She recalled the exchange with her son: “But he has to keep making the team every season and he’s always thinking, ‘What if I don’t win?’ What if I don’t get it?’ and I say, ‘You don’t know how many auditions I didn’t get. You don’t know how many times I’ve been told no. Like, we have to just give up. If it doesn’t work, we move on.’”
“I think I have a healthy relationship with rejection because of our work,” Barrymore noted. “Or we’re just beaten,” her guest hilariously replied.
Barrymore then dramatically mocked the downside of their chosen careers, “You’re overworked, you’re ready to quit, you’re beat up, you feel liberated.”
“Turning pain into strength,” Barrymore celebrated as she high-fived Duff.
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Source: HIS Education