My niece meets Drew Barrymore!

[Michael]

My niece Maddie's wildest dream came true earlier this month when she got to meet her idol, Drew Barrymore. Long story short, Robert Smigel (voice of Triumph The Insult Comic Dog, writer for SNL's TV Funhouse) belongs to the same autism organization my sister belongs to and they met at a fundraiser. My sister pointed out Robert to Maddie and the rest is Maddie's doing. She's totally fearless. She walks right up to Smigel knowing only that he's in showbiz and says, "Hi, do you know Drew Barrymore." He said yes and that as a matter of fact he's friends with her. Without missing a beat Maddie says, "So when do I get to meet her." Well, Robert (thankfully) loved her chutzpa and said tell you what the next time she hosts Saturday Night Live I'll arrange a meeting. Cut to a few months later, the TV promo comes on saying Drew is hosting. My sister contacts him and boom, it's a done deal. Here's the pictures from the happy event. Drew could not have been sweeter and more down to earth. She asked my niece what was her favorite movie that she's done (Music & Lyrics was the answer) accepted a picture Maddie made for her it reads "I love Drew Barrymore" with Drew holding a dove. LOL (Drew had done a photoshoot where she was holding a dove and got it asking, "Is that a dove?"). She then asked if Maddie would let her know how she likes her directorial debut, Whip It, and asked Maddie to write her after she saw it. It just doesn't get any cooler than that. I've always enjoyed Drew but now I am convinced she is the coolest celeb on the planet. Maddie is still floating on cloud nine. Pretty amazing story, am I right?

Me & Maddie (@ Sardies) in NYC the day after the meeting.











Dreams do come true.

[BarbaraWalters]

Your niece is awesome! Does she have a fan club? Can I join? She's super cool.

(ps I love her hair)

[lgbisacougar]

What a great story. It's so nice to hear cool stories about celebrities interacting with their fans. What an experience your niece will never forget. She looks so happy and cute in the pics.

[kelc_x3]

I've never really felt one way or the other towards Drew Barrymore, but wow. she just gained a lot of points with me.
what an awesome experience.

[featmom]

That is so awesome, Michael. I am very happy to hear that!!

I love Drew and have respected her for a very long time. This just adds to that.

Great news. Thanks for the uplifting story.

[unndunn]

That is a beautiful story. It's so cool that Drew took the time to meet her. I love the pics. Your niece sounds like a great kid. I've always thought that Drew Barrymore seemed like a genuine person, and it's nice to know that it's true. She's also on my celebrities-I-have-crushes-on list along with Kathy Griffin, Paula Deen, Frances McDormand, Kathy Bates and a few others. (yeah, my tastes are eclectic)

Thanks for posting the story and pics, Michael.

[Lolita]

Omg that's so incredible! That must have been an insane experience for her. Something she'll remember forever, I'm sure.

[bhoneycutt]

That is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!! Your niece is so cute! I love her dimples!!!

Like some others said, I've never really had an opinion about Drew Barrymore but after reading your story, I think she's pretty fricking awesome to make a young fan's dream come true like that. Thanks for sharing!

[Cookie]

Really an adorable, sweet story and the pix say it all!

Thanks for sharing that.

[Michael]

Awwww. Thanks for all the Maddie love. She really is sweetness personified - truly. I am trying to encourage her to become an artist since drawing pictures is her obsession. I have to get her some canvas and paint and let her go to town. I set this bare bones web site for her and hopefully she'll be selling some of her art there in the future. Gotta get that trust fund set up somehow!

http://maddiehalston.com

And yes, Drew truly does rock. I'm still so....what's the word -- enchanted -- that she was so cool to my niece. It really made a huge, positive impression on her that's too large for words. The whole meeting sort of reminds me of a more innocent version of the movie "My Date With Drew" - that doc where this guy is obsessed with Drew and finally gets to meet her at the end. I call Maddie's encounter "My Playdate With Drew."

To give you some perseptictive of how much of a Drew Barrymore fan my niece is, check out this video I shot in 2007, when Maddie thought meeting Drew was just a pipe dream.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkmOgV1mB6A

[concordnh]

What a great story!

[Cookie]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkmOgV1mB6A

Aww! That is too sweet.

A friend of the family is a huge fan of Gene Hackman. All her life. Back in the '90s I heard he was doing a book signing. I made sure I was last in line. I was so nervous. I had brought my video camera, fully expecting a polite no from his handler or something. But before I even finished asking Mr. Hackman agreed, and he made a greeting for her on video tape and we gave the tape to her for Christmas. That was pretty cool.

I love when stars do things like that.