During the Nov. 3 episode of ‘The Drew Barrymore Show,” the talk-show host engaged in a deeply personal conversation with guest Tig Notaro.
Drew Barrymore got candid about a recent breast cancer scare, revealing on her talk show that a “bad mammogram” led to an “emergency biopsy” and a tense five-day wait for results.
The 50-year-old actress and host opened up during the Nov. 3 episode of The Drew Barrymore Show in a deeply personal conversation with guest Tig Notaro, a comedian and breast cancer survivor.
Barrymore explained that she was inspired to share her experience after watching Notaro’s documentary, Come See Me in the Good Light, which follows poet Andrea Gibson’s journey with terminal cancer.
“I have been wanting to discuss a certain subject on this show, and I did not know how. It is a very tough one to approach,” Barrymore told Notaro. “But, having seen your documentary, I feel like I might be able to start scratching the surface here because of what you guys were brave enough, bold enough and smart enough to put out into the world, which is clearly being embraced, so I think that also gives us a little more confidence.”
The host then disclosed her own frightening ordeal. “This is the thing I’ve wanted to risk talking about on this show because — I recently had a scare,” Barrymore shared, before immediately assuring her audience of her current health. “I’m completely fine, but I did get a bad mammogram and I got taken into that room and then I had an emergency biopsy and I waited those five days.”
After revealing her scare, Barrymore turned to Notaro, who underwent a double mastectomy in 2016, for wisdom on coping with such news.
“How did you calm yourself? How did you make peace with it?” Barrymore asked the comic, praising her for speaking about her own diagnosis “humorously, eloquently, fiercely, and brilliantly yourself.”
Notaro, 54, reflected on how her diagnosis fundamentally altered her life and forced her to confront her independence. “It cracked me open completely,” she said, explaining that the experience required her to finally ask for help. “I went from being somebody that held everything to myself. I was gonna do it on my own.”
She concluded that the experience was ultimately a positive shift, compelling her to lean on others. “I mean, it forces you to get over any sort of feeling that you can’t ask for help or to act like you don’t need anybody, like I was doing,” Notaro said. “It is the greatest gift you can give yourself and the people that love you because people want to help. People want to do good and it, it changed my life.”
Come See Me in the Good Light will be in select theaters and streams on Apple TV+ on Nov. 14.
