Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu are both veteran actresses who starred in the 2000s Charlie’s Angels film franchise alongside Cameron Diaz. Since then, it appears that they’ve gone their separate ways. Over the years, Barrymore has starred in several films and tv series, including the Netflix comedy-horror Santa Clarita Diet. Meanwhile, Liu starred in Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill movies before going on to voice for the Kung Fu Panda franchise and play a lead character in the hit series Elementary.
At the moment, it doesn’t appear that Barrymore and Liu would be working together again anytime soon although they have had a reunion of sorts recently. This only made fans wonder what there is really like in real life.
Drew Barrymore Cast Lucy Liu In Charlie’s Angels
Since she also served as a producer for the 2000 and 2003 Charlie’s Angels films, Barrymore was essentially the first person to get cast. She then went about putting the band together, starting with director McG. From there, they recruited the other two Angels. The first one they approached was Diaz and once she committed, they knew the third Angel had to be able to “stand up next to those two star powerhouses.” “You can't just grab any actor and throw them in the shot with Cameron Diaz and Drew Barrymore and expect them to hold their own,” McG told Digitally Obsessed. “You need someone with a lot of presence, who is very powerful on-screen.”
They considered several actors at that time – Jennifer Lopez, Angelina Jolie, Thandie Newton, and Salma Hayek. They also became interested in Liu. At that time, however, the actress was busy starring in the hit sitcom Ally McBeal. Luckily, Ally McBeal creator David Kelley was supportive about getting Liu to do the film. “So I knew Lucy Liu was out there, but I knew she had some scheduling problems with her TV show,” MCG said. “And we didn't know if we could make it work out or not, but David Kelley was gracious enough to help us out.” The director added, “We knew the second she met with Drew and Cameron that it had to be her.” Barrymore also told The Morning Call, “When I met Lucy, I knew I found my sister.”
When The Bill Murray Problems Happened, Drew Barrymore Remained In Lucy Liu’s Corner
As a trio, Barrymore, Liu, and Diaz had incredible chemistry. They’ve also developed a closed bond behind the scenes. Liu, for one, was very comfortable working with Barrymore and Diaz. “Drew and Cameron saw me for who I am. I felt so liberated,” the actress explained. “Then we embarked on this journey together and it was pretty incredible and pretty intense.”
There were certainly a lot of fighting choreography to get through but the women enjoyed each other’s company so much. “We all shared the same make-up trailer and it was different from any other make-up trailer ever,” Barrymore recalled. “We would order in tons of food and eat like pigs. We played AC/DC records. We would talk about boys.”
As fun as it was shooting their first Charlie’s Angels film together though, there was also some tension on the set, specifically between Liu and their co-star Bill Murray. “As we’re doing the scene, Bill starts to sort of hurl insults, and I won’t get into the specifics, but it kept going on and on. I was, like, ‘Wow, he seems like he’s looking straight at me,'” Liu recalled while speaking on Los Angeles Times’ Asian Enough podcast. “I say, ‘I’m so sorry, are you talking to me?’ And clearly, he was, because then it started to become a one-on-one communication. Some of the language was inexcusable and unacceptable, and I was not going to just sit there and take it.” The actress later added, “I’m not going to sit there and be attacked. … I don’t want to be that person that is not going to speak up for myself and stand by the only thing that I have, which is my dignity and self-respect.”
Barrymore has also since spoken out about that incident on her own daytime talk show, The Drew Barrymore Show. The actress and producer recalled that Murray was a “bad mood” at that time. “What you have to know is how much Lucy stood up for herself, and that was the great thing that came out of an unfortunate circumstance,” Barrymore said. “She literally said, 'I do not accept that kind of behavior from you.' And we all supported her and backed her up, and we moved forward.” Murray didn’t reprise his role in the film’s sequel. Instead, the late Bernie Mac stepped in as the new Bosley and the women couldn’t be happier. In an interview with Mike Pingel, producer Leonard Goldberg also remarked, “He is so easy to work with, so funny, and so warm with them. They just loved him.”
Since working on the franchise together, Barrymore, Diaz, and Liu have also had a reunion on Barrymore’s show. While on the show, Liu told her former co-star, “You have a big soul and a big heart. And doing this show is really special and wonderful because you have something to share.” Meanwhile, Barrymore told both Liu and Diaz, “I'm going to be thinking tonight in bed, wondering how I got so lucky to live a life with you guys.”
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTErZ%2Bippeoe6S7zGiroZ1dqb%2B2wMdmmJunpal6pb7EsGSbmaKnxq670Z5kmqaUYrm2r9hmo6Kto2K%2FprjAraCopqOdtrF7