'I had a mid-life crisis at 25': Drew Barrymore talks about her struggles in an interview with This Morning but says she 'couldn't be happier' now she is a mother

By Rebecca Davison for MailOnline

Published: 09:50 EST, 2 November 2015 | Updated: 10:11 EST, 2 November 2015

Drew Barrymore talked about her troublesome childhood in an interview with This Morning on Monday. 

The 40-year-old was on the show to promote her memoirs, Wildflower, and told hosts Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby that she burned out at a young age.

She said: 'I had a mid-life crisis at 25. I write about it in a chapter, called Outward Bound, which was fitting when you start work at 11 months old. 

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'I had a mid-life crisis at 25': Drew Barrymore talked about growing up in an interview with This Morning on Monday

'I had a mid-life crisis at 25': Drew Barrymore talked about growing up in an interview with This Morning on Monday

'At 14, I got emancipated. I walked out of the courts an adult. 

'I had to go and find my first apartment and that chapter was so fun for me to write because I didn't know you had to throw take-out cartons in the trash.' 

She added: 'Laundry saved my life. I didn't understand it. I poured the bleach directly on the jeans and they looked like disintegrated dalmatians. 

She added: 'I had to go and find my first apartment and that chapter was so fun for me to write because I didn't know you had to throw take-out cartons in the trash'

She added: 'I had to go and find my first apartment and that chapter was so fun for me to write because I didn't know you had to throw take-out cartons in the trash'

'I was like, am I going to crumble and wear disintegrated jeans or figure this out. I'm a master of laundry.'

Drew had a troubled past and famously had her first drink at nine years of age, began smoking pot at 10, and took cocaine at 12, but she says becoming a mother has brought her contentment. 

Married to Will Kopelman, 38, they are parents to Olive, three and Frankie, one.  

'I put pressure on myself with everything,' she said. 'But the stakes are higher when it comes to children. 

'I have two girls, which is an amazing thing. I have to raise great women.'

Phillip said: 'Now it seems as though you have everything together.'

But Drew, who looked lovely in a brown kaftan dress and statement necklace, giggled and said: 'If I have fooled you to think that, then I have done something so right. It's such a compliment. 

'As a mother, you always wonder how you can do things better. You just want to do everything perfectly for your kids. 

'I couldn't be happier or more grateful for where my life is at. It's like a cartoon behind the scenes, of how to keep it all in place.' 

Oh dear: She said that becoming emancipated at 14 was a learning curve, 'Laundry saved my life. I didn't understand it. I poured the bleach directly on the jeans and they looked like disintegrated dalmatians'

Oh dear: She said that becoming emancipated at 14 was a learning curve, 'Laundry saved my life. I didn't understand it. I poured the bleach directly on the jeans and they looked like disintegrated dalmatians'

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