Donato Sardella/Getty ImagesDrew Barrymore was in high spirits at the Pebble Beach Food & Wine Festival.
Based on her demeanor, few would assume that she and Will Kopelman had recently split. Less than 24 hours earlier, E! News confirmed that Drew and Will had called it quits after nearly four years of marriage. The exes—who are parents to daughters Olive, 3, and Frankie, 23 months—later issued a statement, saying, "Sadly our family is separating legally, although we do not feel this takes away from us being a family. Divorce might make one feel like a failure, but eventually you start to find grace in the idea that life goes on. Our children are our universe, and we look forward to living the rest of our lives with them as the first priority."
Drew gave her first post-split interview to PopSugar Saturday to promote Barrymore Wines' new rosé. Though she didn't reference Will by name, she hinted at their recent ups and downs. "I had a really hard time a couple of months ago and kind of knew life was heading in a new direction," she recalled. "I called someone that I really trust, respect, and believe in, because he has always been the conductor of grace. I said, 'What's your advice?' And he said, 'You put one foot in front of the other.' I hung up the phone and I thought, 'That is why I call this person.' It's not only succinct, but it's almost physically productive and life-choice productive. It's just great advice. It's a kind of way in which to live, and I want to be like him. I want to be like that. I want to put one foot in front of the other."
Similar to what she and Will said in their joint statement, the Miss You Already actress explained that her focus will remain on her two girls. "The only thing I care about, my life's mission and the only thing that matters as of now is that my daughters know what our lives were like, how we lived, and how much I love them," Drew, 41, said. "For them to know that they were not just loved, but, like, ridiculously, utterly, life-alteringly loved. That's the only reason I'm here now!"
Olive, in particular, needs that reassurance. Referencing a passage in her memoir, Wildflower, a teary-eyed Drew told PopSugar, "She doesn't want the worry. She needs to know it's going to be OK. It's the only way she will allow herself to be vulnerable...She's mad when something hurts her. She doesn't go to a weak place. Every little girl can only be made to feel safe if they know the parent is solid."