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Drew Barrymore on trying to stay 'hot' in Hollywood: 'It's exhausting'

She's a successful actress, producer, writer and entrepreneur, but according to Drew Barrymore, she's not red hot right now — at least not by Hollywood standards.
/ Source: TODAY

She's a successful actress, producer, writer and entrepreneur, but according to Drew Barrymore, she's not red hot right now — at least not by Hollywood standards.

And that's just fine by her.

"I don't think I'm hot right now necessarily, because I have all my irons in a bunch of different fires," Barrymore told Harper's Bazaar magazine. "I'm writing. I'm doing makeup. I'm doing design. I'm expanding [my beauty line] Flower into different categories. ... I think it's a huge mistake to think you have to burn bright for your whole life. You cannot sustain it. It's exhausting, and it's not very realistic."

Instead, she sees the Hollywood heat as something that has ebbed and flowed throughout her career.

MORE: Drew Barrymore opens up about how her 'odd childhood' made her a better mom

"It's been at different intervals: 'E.T.' was a really exciting time; when I was doing 'The Wedding Singer' and starting Flower Films; making 'Never Been Kissed' and 'Charlie's Angels'; when I directed 'Whip It' and did 'Grey Gardens' in the same year. Those were times when I really pushed myself and I didn't care about my sleep, my health," she recalled.

"I didn't have relationships or children that would be a priority over my work."

But now she's married and a mother of two, and feels confident about defining what hot means to her.

MORE: Drew Barrymore on life with her daughters: 'You can't do it all'

"Hot is a state of mind," she said. "It's an energy. You're hot when you're motivated. It means you want it and you're going after it."

And she knows what's not hot.

"Hot isn't about being on the A-list or having a hot body," she added.

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