As anyone that pays even a small amount of attention to the movie industry should already know, it is incredibly difficult to survive the competitive acting industry for a long time. With that in mind, it is downright amazing that Drew Barrymore has managed to have such a lengthy career.
Of course, just because Drew has managed to remain gainfully employed in the studio system for years doesn’t mean Barrymore has come out completely unscathed. For example, it has never been a secret that at various points she was coping with addiction issues. Thankfully, she now seems to be so at peace with herself that most people have to envy her.
Considering that Drew Barrymore is a Hollywood heavyweight and a gorgeous woman who seems to be an awesome person, Tom Green had to be overjoyed when he met and later married her. However, when you look back at Barrymore and Green’s short-lived relationship and the way his career went after their divorce, it begs the question, did their marriage hurt Tom’s career?
An Incredible Career
Even though some current fans forget Drew Barrymore is a former child star, she is among the most successful of all-time. First made famous when she starred in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Drew Barrymore was so adorable in that film that she quickly became a bankable star. Going on to headline a slew of other movies before she became an adult, Barrymore starred in movies like Firestarter, Cat’s Eye, and Poison Ivy during that era.
After spending some time landing mostly supporting roles during her early adulthood years, Drew Barrymore would again take the world by storm after appearing in Scream. Arguably more famous during that timeframe than at any other time in her life, Barrymore starred in movies like the Charlie’s Angels series, The Wedding Singer, and Never Been Kissed.
Eventually opting to become a producer who has sheparded many projects to fruition over the last 20 years, it often seems like there isn’t anything that Drew Barrymore can’t do in Hollywood. For another example of that, look at the fact that Drew has become a bonafide TV star due to appearing in Santa Clarita Diet and her upcoming series The Drew Barrymore Show.
A Different Kind Of Star
For most people that want to become a star, there are several career paths they can attempt to take. For example, performing music, becoming a TV star, headlining movies, or standup comedy all are viable options. Then you have Tom Green, a Canadian who tried all of those things in his own unique way and managed to become famous against all the odds.
Starting out as a standup comedian at the age of 15, Tom Green would go on to host an overnight radio call-in show before joining the rap group Organized Rhyme under his alias “MC Bones”. Unfortunately for him, none of those things turned him into a star. However, during the mid-‘90s he starting working on the first version of The Tom Green Show, the series that would make him an unlikely star.
A variety show of sorts, the series featured guests that were interviewed in front of an in-studio audience but it was The Tom Green Show's crazy stunts that made it a hit. Often seen pranking his parents, strangers, and security guards, The Tom Green Show took shock comedy mainstream and featured some segments that weren’t for the faint of heart. While there is no doubt that The Tom Green Show deeply offended a lot of viewers that came across it, the show helped him to develop an extremely devoted fan base.
Surprise Marriage
After Tom Green was hired to play a small but memorable role in the first Charlie’s Angels movie, he went on a date with one of the film’s producers and stars, Drew Barrymore. While the Hollywood heavyweight seemed like an odd mate for a Canadian shock comedy figure, the pair started dating in 1999, got engaged in 2000, and walked down the aisle a year later. Unfortunately for Barrymore and Green, their union would be short-lived as he filed for divorce less than a year after they were wed.
At first blush, it may seem like marrying a huge star like Drew Barrymore would do wonders for Tom Green’s career. After all, the media regularly covered the ups and downs of their relationship so his profile rose at that time. However, up until that point, Tom Green had been seen as more of a counter-cultural entity so marrying Drew Barrymore may have lessened his appeal with some of his fans. On top of that, during a 2018 interview on The Alan Cox Show, Tom Green joked about how marrying and divorcing Drew Barrymore ensured that he didn’t appear in Charlie’s Angels 2.
If you look at his career around the time of his marriage to Drew Barrymore, it could easily be argued that something else irreparably damaged Tom Green's career, Freddy Got Fingered. A movie that Green starred in, wrote, and directed, Freddy Got Fingered was released a few months before he married Barrymore. Considered to be one of the worst movies ever made by many people, Freddy Got Fingered was even nominated for a Worst Picture of the Decade at the Golden Raspberry Awards. Retroactively praised by some viewers in recent years, the movie was box office poison at the time of its release.