Drew Barrymore is making her next acting wish painfully clear: she wants Rob Reiner to cast her against type — ideally as a sharp-edged dangerous lead.
During Reiner’s visit to The Drew Barrymore Show in September 2025, Barrymore brought up a clip of Jennifer Aniston talking about working with Reiner on Rumor Has It and floated a direct ask: if Aniston makes another movie with him, could Barrymore be in it too? She didn’t play coy about how badly she wants the job, telling Reiner, “I will be your clay, mold me,” and adding that she’d love to learn from his “wisdoms” and insights as a director.
Reiner didn’t dismiss it. Instead, he pushed the conversation into specifics — essentially asking what kind of role Barrymore sees herself taking that she hasn’t done before.
That’s when Barrymore leaned into the contrast between her public persona and what she wants to try on screen. In her own words, she said she’d love to play “a tough character,” then clarified the vibe: something like “a classic noir role,” the kind of character she described as “something I’m so not.”
The pitch landed because it wasn’t just shock-value phrasing — it was a creative direction. Barrymore was basically asking for a classic noir energy: magnetic, dangerous, morally complicated. Reiner seemed intrigued enough to entertain a genre idea on the spot, suggesting a “film noir” project and responding, “Well, I’ll try.”
It also tracks with how Barrymore’s career has been framed for years. She’s widely associated with warmer, more open-hearted leads — romantic comedies, upbeat ensemble movies, and approachable characters.
But she has done darker material before (including earlier “bad-girl” turns), which makes her request less random than it sounds: it’s more like a deliberate return to a side of her range that audiences don’t get as often anymore.
One more layer makes the segment feel especially notable now: Reiner died on December 14, 2025, and his death is being investigated as a homicide, with major outlets reporting that his son was taken into custody.
That means Barrymore’s on-air plea — “mold me” — now plays like a time-capsule moment from just a few months earlier, when a future collaboration still felt possible.
