Drew Barrymore Is Pulling Off Miracles in Daytime TV

This is a preview of our pop culture newsletter The Daily Beast’s Obsessed, written by editor Kevin Fallon. To receive the full newsletter in your inbox each week, sign up for it here.

This week:

• Why you should pay attention to The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

• Drew Barrymore may save us all.

• Ariana DeBose is still doing the thing.

• I watched Jake Gyllenhaal eat hot wings and now I’m pregnant.

• A very tall boy.

We Should All Be Watching Drew

You know when Drew Barrymore sits crossed-legged, things are about to get serious.

Videos keep going viral of Barrymore sitting with her guests, and talking about the most intense issues a person could talk about.

That is not, for the record, how daytime TV works. I don’t want to shock anyone who is still operating under delusions, but celebrities’ publicists usually prep their clients with a fun anecdote—often something wild happened while on vacation in the Bahamas!—and the host knows to prompt for that story.

The hosts don’t usually sit criss-cross-apple-sauce and stare deeply into your soul.

Interviews conducted by Barrymore keep being shared because of how aggressively they don’t subscribe to that usual model.

This week, it was Barrymore connecting on a real level that, I don’t think, most journalists have done, with Brooke Shields. The two were discussing their uncomfortable relationship to the #MeToo movement, as actresses who were sexualized so young. It was a beautiful conversation, and proof that no one is doing interviews like Barrymore: to be able to, in a short segment on daytime TV, connect in a way that is so filled with empathy and curiosity. It just doesn’t happen! Well, it does. Drew does it. But it shouldn’t work this well.

There’s another recent clip that went viral—saying that is gross, like it’s a 22-year-old singing a song and is silly. In reality, these conversations are gorgeous and informative.

It was Barrymore interviewing Melanie Lynskey, whom she’s known for decades after starring together in Ever After, and her husband, Jason Ritter. Jason spoke about his sobriety, which was incredibly touching. And while the conversation wasn’t centered around her, it was impossible not to watch Barrymore, and the way in which she offered the space for that conversation to happen.

To do what she’s doing in these drive-by celebrity interactions is outrageous. Maybe because she has this reputation, stars go into her interviews feeling more vulnerable and more comfortable. But at a time when the curse of daytime television is that it feels so produced, the spontaneity and realness of these conversations are providing a value in celebrity news that no one else is—or, frankly, could.

She also gave Kathryn Hahn a lap dance to celebrate shaving her legs.

She’s Doing the Thing

Ariana DeBose hosted shows before she went viral. She “did the thing” before it was cool. Specifically, she was a Tony Awards host—and a great one. She used the opportunity to sit on Andrew Garfield’s lap and cradle his face. Relatable!

She’s been announced as the Tony host again this year, after her bizarre rap in a musical number for the BAFTAs became a meme—“Angela Bassett did the thing”—and the news set off a new round of jokes. Specifically, about which theater star might “do the thing” at this year’s Tonys, and which, like Jamie Lee Curtis, is “all of us.”

Here are some of my favorite posts. (Apparently, Annaleigh Ashford is doing the thing):

Jake Gyllenhaal Is Hot While Eating Wings

This week, I learned just how many people have an exact fetish for Jake Gyllenhaal eating chicken wings. I don’t judge. Like Jamie Lee, you are all of us.

That said, Gyllenhaal’s appearance on “Hot Ones,” the show where celebrities discuss their careers while eating spicy chicken wings, seemed to unlock a ferality like I’ve rarely seen. I get it. But also, are you all OK?

The Biggest Interview of the Week

Here is Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler’s reaction to a very tall boy.

I can’t stop watching this clip. (Watch it here.)

What to watch this week

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel: Or at least let it inspire you to go coat shopping. (Now on Prime Video)

The Last Thing He Told Me: If there’s a Jennifer Garner star vehicle, we’re watching. (Now on Apple TV+)

Barry: My god, this final season is so good. Book therapy for right after you watch. (Sunday on HBO)

What to skip this week:

Renfield: It turns out that Nicolas Cage as a vampire is only so entertaining. (Now in theater)

Mafia Mamma: Toni Collette deserves better. (Now in theaters)

‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ Final Season Deserves Your Attention

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