Drew Barrymore talks playing a cannibal zombie in new Netflix series Santa Clarita Diet
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Santa Clarita Diet Netflix
She’s Hollywood royalty and has been famous since she was six, so for Drew Barrymore to be starring in their new comedy series is quite the coup for Netflix.
She plays wife, mother and estate agent Sheila, who leads a suburban Californian life – until she suddenly becomes ‘undead’, with a voracious appetite for human flesh.
“I was hesitant to work because I wanted to stay at home to raise my kids, but the script just made me laugh,” says the mum of two. “I wasn’t planning on liking something so much.
It’s funny, touching and really gritty.”
It’s also pretty disgusting, as Sheila tucks into raw beef and chicken and… people.
“I’m not going to lie, it was gross,” laughs Drew.
“And I had to eat it all so passionately. I never knew what was coming. The raw chicken was made of this weird wet cake, sometimes it was dehydrated apple slices to give it a human fleshy feel, and entrails were this edible rubber stuff.
“One day it was tuna – that was good. But the [pretend] raw beef was so disgusting I almost puked
it up. The special-effects team are so amazing. Everything is so lifelike – I almost said ‘hello’
to one of the dead bodies!”
Sheila is helped in her killing spree by husband Joel (Justified’s Timothy Olyphant) and daughter Abby (Liv Hewson) – but if you think zombies and gore aren’t your thing, don’t worry.
“The show is really about this family and a marriage and banding together,” explains Drew.
“I think you can have vampires, aliens, time travel – as long as it takes place in suburbia where there’s humanity to it. The world is so hard right now, people could do with getting lost in content and laughing and feeling transported, and entertainment can do that.
"This is really fun and I think people need fun right now.”
Of course, Drew’s daughters – Olive, four, and two-year-old Frankie – won’t be able to watch her in action in this series. But she’s keen to pass on to them her wisdom from 40 years in showbiz.
“It’s my job to teach them to have a good work ethic,” she explains. “Supporting themselves is important. Being kind is everything.
"And standing up for people, but in a peaceful way. Roar like a lion, but please don’t bite.
“I worry about everything, from them growing up in a social-media environment to protecting our rights and not going back in time. Olive shocks me with her capacity, she’s very complex and intense.
"I love having profound discussions with her and she’s capable of having them, it’s great.”
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