Happy Drew Year

After her father's death and her 30th birthday, Drew Barrymore talks about growing up, slimming down and (finally) finding love

Originally posted Thursday April 14, 2005 12:00 PM EDT

Now that she's 30, "I'm starting for the first time in my life to feel like a woman," says Barrymore (in L.A.). Photo by: Kenneth Willardt

Not long ago, when Drew Barrymore went out to a Sunset Strip restaurant, a woman stopped her and said, "If you were a little fatter, you'd look like Drew Barrymore." It wasn't an altogether unfamiliar encounter. Before the 5'4" star dropped 20 lbs. last year, "I always used to hear, 'I can't believe how short you are,' " she says. "Now it's, 'Hey, you're not as heavy.' I was like, 'Wow, what kind of a butterball was I?' "