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Drew Barrymore Talks Motherhood, Says She Will Act “Less and Less”: Watch

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Drew Barrymore has spent her whole life in front of cameras, but with new business ventures and a growing family, the veteran star may become a rare appearance on the big screen. 

The Blended star, 39, opened up about her plans to slow down her acting career and focus on her family in a new Today show interview with Savannah Guthrie on Friday, Nov. 7. 

“I think I will act less and less,” Barrymore revealed. “It’s hard to be present when you wake up before [the kids] and come home after they’ve gone to bed. That’s just not the way I want to have this journey with my kids at this point in their life. But maybe when they’re older, I will feel differently. At this point, I think that it has to be few and far between.”

Related: PHOTOS: Drew Barrymore's Love Life

The award-winning actress, who became a household name in 1982’s E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial at just 7 years old, added a new role to her bio in September 2012 when she became a mother. Barrymore and her husband Will Kopelman first welcomed daughter Olive, 2, going on to expand their family with the birth of their second daughter Frankie, 6 months, this past April. Barrymore, who was previously married to bar owner Jeremy Thomas in the early 1990s and actor Tom Green in the early 2000s, wed art consultant Kopelman in June 2012.

“[I’m a] very traditional [mother]. I’m not organized in my life, like, I lose everything and I’m a complete disaster,” she added. “With my kids, I really don’t accept that for myself because I think kids learn from example of the way you live your life.”

Drew Barrymore and Billy

Barrymore’s own childhood was famously rocky, as her parents divorced when she was 9 and her child stardom quickly transitioned to troublesome teenage years, which included struggles with addiction, rehab stints that began at age 13, and legal emancipation from her mother Jaid Barrymore at age 15. 

Related: PHOTOS: Child Stars Gone Bad

“I had a very untraditional upbringing, so i looked at it from afar and just thought, ‘Well that’s the exact opposite of how I’d want to raise my kids,'” explained the star, who is a part of a famed Hollywood lineage, including father John Drew Barrymore and grandfather John Barrymore. “But it doesn’t make me bummed out that I didn’t have parents. It’s like, well thank god then that I didn’t because maybe I wouldn’t be this aggressively excited about traditions and values and Christmas cards or Halloween costumes… and being so present.”

The flourishing businesswoman, who has been working on her Flower cosmetics line, commented on the shift that she has seen in herself since she has become a mother and is approaching 40. 

“The old you is just gone forever,” she said. “When you’re not with them, you’re thinking, ‘I should be with them.’ When you’re with them, it’s ‘How do I keep you safe?’… I’m so relieved to be 40. I’ve already started saying I’m 40 and my husband’s like, ‘Honey, you’re still 39. Why are you saying you’re 40?’… I’m just so excited! It feels good. It feels right.”

Related: PHOTOS: Drew Barrymore's Wild Style

Watch Barrymore talk motherhood and acting in the video above!

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