Drew Barrymore needs no introduction. Born into a family of actors, she has been a staple of the American psyche since she played Gertie in the blockbuster film E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial. She has also played romantic leads in films such as The Wedding Singer and Never Been Kissed.

In 1995, she co-founded the production company Flower Films, which has produced some of her most prolific work including Donnie Darko, both Charlie’s Angels and her latest film and directorial debut, Whip It.

Based on a book of the same title by Shauna Cross, Whip It stars Ellen Page as Bliss, a young girl who takes on the banner of “Babe Ruthless” as she enters the world of roller derby and moves away from her mother’s world of beauty pageants.

The Chronicle sat down with Barrymore at Metro to talk about the other side of making movies, feminism and living a double life.

The Chronicle: Where did the great roller derby names come from?

Drew Barrymore: These really fun, awesome names were one of Shauna’s greatest gifts to the script. That’s such a big part of the derby subculture, picking their name. We had to change a few here and there for legal reasons.

I was always Smashley Simpson and there was no way I was going to change that. There is a real Babe Ruthless and she did a cameo in the movie.  I would not give that name up for Ellen Page’s character, but my name for her was Small Newman.

Now that you are directing, how important is the role of feminism in your films and what’s the difference between Whip It and Charlie’s Angels?

DB: I think they are actually similar in that I love when girls get to do what boys do. I love empowering women and I love women that are capable.

The one thing I’m not crazy about is women who feel like they have to be a man to live in a man’s world, or [who feel] men have the upper hand, or that have this bitter chip on their shoulder. I like girls who’ve got each other’s backs. I don’t like that cattiness either and I hate seeing women be rude to each other.

I just don’t like man-haters and I don’t like backstabbers. I like chicks who can f–king rip it up, pull s–t off and want to go for a beer at the end of the day with each other—or go on a date.

I believe girls can do what boys do without having to be men haters.

What’s it like getting a film made?

DB: It’s always a challenge to get a film made, but if you have a dream, you are the only person who is going to make it happen.

You have to do the homework; you have to have a vision and be able to back it up on every single level. You have to give up your social life and work nonstop with crazy passion and hopefully you will be lucky enough that someone will take a chance on you.

I actually worked on the script with Shauna for over a year because I loved the world and I loved the idea, but I wanted to make the characters more personal.

Is this a movie you would have acted in at Ellen’s age?

DB: I would have loved to have been in this movie at Ellen Page’s age. I related to her journey. The pageant world was a metaphor for me for Hollywood. I f–king hate cookie cutter boxes. I hate that you’re supposed to be this certain thing a certain way, but I also didn’t want to s–t on the world of pageants. It is an absolute way of life for some people, it does open doors.

I see every film parodying pageants like they are the worst thing on the planet and I don’t want to do that.

I don’t think it’s right for Bliss. There are so many great things about Hollywood; I love filmmaking,

I love the creative process, but there’s a lot of crap in there too. I don’t think I’d be a pageant girl, I’m not that certain Hollywood-perfection type, I think I’m more of a derby girl.

I love living a double life where I have to go be a businesswoman by day, but I want to do something raucous and fun and entertaining at night.

How early on did you have Ellen Page in mind to play Bliss?

DB: Right away actually—in fact I asked her to do this before she started filming Juno. So when I watched the whole Juno phenomenon I was there rooting her on.

But I had watched her body of work before that and I thought this is the real deal, this is an actor.

I wanted a no-bull person for this part who is an authentic person and who was timeless and [Page], to me, has this beautiful vulnerability but an incredible strength at the same time.

She’s not this sensationalistic party girl, she’s someone whose really got her priorities straight and has a great head on her shoulders and is incredibly talented.

I wanted someone like that to be the hero of my movie, and she said yes and I was thrilled.

In Juno, she had her vulnerability but she hid it behind wit.

In this, I wanted something more neutral so we could show her range. I wanted to show her joy and buoyancy and enthusiasm.

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