SZA Tells Drew Barrymore About How She Inspired Her 2017 Song 'Drew Barrymore': 'You're So Special'

Mar. 15, 2025

Drew Barrymoremeans a lot toSZA.

In an interview on the Jan. 13 episode ofThe Drew Barrymore Show, SZA went deep on how theNever Been Kissedactress inspired her 2017 song, “Drew Barrymore.”

Drew Barrymore and SZA.The Drew Barrymore Show/Ash Bean

The Drew Barrymore Show/Ash Bean

“You don’t understand,” added SZA. “I wrote you this letter that I never sent you, but it talked about how, I guess, you know, when you’re younger and you’re a black woman there’s not a lot of examples all the time. And one of the few lovely white women that I looked up to so much on television… because you were so yourself.”

The “Saturn” singer — who stars in the new filmOne of Them Days— explained she loved Barrymore’s “quirky” energy and imperfect smile, which made her feel relatable.

“I have a slight speech impediment, and people laugh all the time, like, ‘What is SZA saying?’ And it’s a running joke. But I love the way you talk and just all the you-ness of you — your laugh, even in the movies and in real life,” she added.

SZA said watching Barrymore, 49, makes her think about some of her own attributes that she’s “nervous” about. “But on you it shines so brightly,” she said. “You gave me permission to be myself and feel like, ‘This is so cool.’”

In response to SZA’s kind words, Barrymore spoke about the “Drew Barrymore” song and recalled a conversation they had while filming its music video — which features a cameo from theCharlie’s Angelsstar — in 2017.

“Maybe it’s humble insecurity or whatever — even though we had that talk in the trailer that night, I think I always still convinced myself, ‘It was just words that she used for the song, and the words were my name,’ and I had not really heard you explain it like this,” she said.

Barrymore continued, “I think maybe what you picked up when you were young, ‘cause it’s no different now, is this lack of assumption. We are looking for permission to be ourselves. We are looking for someone to tell us it will be okay to be exactly who we are, because I experience it almost every day, and I think everybody does.”

source: people.com