DREW BARRYMORE: "I HAVE A FEAR OF CRACKS"

New York, NY – Nov. 1, 2009 – Award-winning actress Drew Barrymore made the startling admission last week that she suffers from "a lifelong fear of cracks" – and even sleeps in a "round bed" to help
combat the phobia.

The actress publicly confessed the unusual phobia to Today Show co-host Ann Curry, stating that the phobia first occurred while she was working with director Steven Spielberg on the movie “E.T.” as a child -- a role for which she was paid the paltry sum of $80,000.

Barrymore told Curry that she first turned to tattoos as a way of combating her phobia – an approach that “did not work.”

The solution?

“On the advice of my psychiatrist, I began to sleep in a series of large round beds, each a little smaller than the last," confided Barrymore, "until now I can sleep in a normal-size round bed and the nightmares are gone."

According to sources, defeating the phobia took Barrymore over two years of sleeping in progressively smaller beds each costing over $60,000 to manufacture. According to Barrymore, the beds were all manufactured "in Italy." Barrymore says she plans to have a tattoo stating "I am not afraid of cracks" removed from her right ankle sometime later this year. "It was useless," says the curvy  blonde actress, who has also become a noted film producer.

The actress also confessed to a lifelong fear of fruitcakes and in-flight movies. Those phobias are still unresolved, said a spokesperson.

The actress, film producer and film director is the youngest member of
the Barrymore family of American actors. She first appeared in an
advertisement when she was eleven months old. Barrymore made her film
debut in Altered States in 1980. Afterwards, she starred in her
breakout role in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. She quickly became one of
Hollywood's most recognized child actresses, going on to establish
herself in mainly comic roles.

Following a turbulent childhood which was marked by drug and alcohol
abuse and two stints in rehab, Barrymore wrote the 1990 autobiography,
Little Girl Lost. She successfully made the transition from child star
to adult actress with a number of films including the unsuccessful
Poison Ivy, Bad Girls, Boys on the Side, and Everyone Says I Love You.
Subsequently, she established herself in romantic comedies such as The
Wedding Singer and Lucky You.

In 1995, she and partner Nancy Juvonen formed the production company
Flower Films, with its first production the 1999 Barrymore film Never
Been Kissed. Flower Films has gone on to produce the Barrymore vehicle
films Charlie's Angels, 50 First Dates, and Music and Lyrics, as well
as the cult film Donnie Darko. Barrymore's more recent projects
include He's Just Not That into You, Beverly Hills Chihuahua, and
Everybody's Fine. A recipient of a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame,
Barrymore appeared on the cover of the 2007 People magazine's 100 Most
Beautiful issue.

Barrymore was named Ambassador Against Hunger for the United Nations
World Food Programme (WFP). Since then, she has donated over $1
million to the program. In 2007, she became both CoverGirl's newest
model and spokeswoman, along with "Milk" actor James  Franco, for the cosmetic and the face for Gucci's newest jewelry line.

Barrymore's career began when she auditioned for a dog food commercial
at eleven months old. When she was bitten by her canine co-star, the
producers were afraid she would cry, but she merely laughed, and was
hired for the job. She made her film debut in Altered States (1980),
in which she got a small part. A year later, she landed the role of
Gertie, the younger sister of Elliott, in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,
which made her famous. She received a Golden Globe nomination for Best
Supporting Actress in 1984 for her role in Irreconcilable Differences,
in which she starred as a young girl divorcing her parents. In a
review in the Chicago Sun-Times, Roger Ebert states: "Barrymore is the
right actress for this role precisely because she approaches it with
such grave calm." He concludes with saying that "The Drew Barrymore
character sees right through all of this. She doesn't care about
careers, she wants to be given a happy home and her minimum daily
requirement of love, and, in a way, the movie is about how Hollywood
(and American success in general) tends to cut adults off from the
natural functions of parents."

Barrymore's more recent projects include Beverly Hills Chihuahua in
2008, and 2009's He's Just Not That into You, Grey Gardens and
Everybody's Fine.

Barrymore was reportedly in talks to direct the third movie in the
Twilight film series, Eclipse.

Drew Barrymore's directorial debut film Whip It! was released to strong reviews in
October of this year. Whip It! stars Ellen Page and Marcia Gay Harden and
centers around an obsession with beauty pageants and the Austin, Texas
Hurl Girls roller derby team. Barrymore co-stars in the film as well as directing it. Most recently, Barrymore was seen dating actor Matt Damon, but the two split over the past summer.

"We're still good friends," says Barrymore.