Drew Barrymore: Nothing Hotter Than a Girl Fight

Training for Whip It left actress and first-time director with some ugly bruises, but she's not complaining

Forget the injuries on Dancing With the Stars. Try going one-on-one with a roller derby girl.

That's exactly what Drew Barrymore did for Whip It, her directorial debut about a high schooler (Ellen Page) who secretly joins a roller derby team.

Barrymore, who also plays Smashley Simpson in the movie, trained with real-life Detroit Derby Girls star Racer McChasHer.

"We were wrestling and rolling around on the track, and both of us feel one of our skates and both our body weights on my thigh," Barrymore said last night while promoting the flick at the Tough Cookies vs. Varsity Brawlers match in L.A. "I had a bruise that was a foot long and a foot wide. My entire leg was covered."

But she isn't complaining…

"That's a merit badge," Barrymore said of her bruise. "That's cool."

Besides, she added, "I don't think there's anything hotter or more fun to do than a girl fight."

Jimmy Fallon, who plays derby MC Johnny Rocket, admits to being, well, scared of the derby girls.

"They're badass people," he recently told me. "They're athletes and they're tough. I couldn't even drink with them, let alone hang out with them. If we went drinking, they drank me under the table. They're the real deal."

—Reporting by Brett Malec