Drew Barrymore Talks Best Coast Music Video and How She Pushed the Limit (Video)

Following her 2009 directorial debut, Whip It, Drew Barrymore is back in the game with her MTV “Supervideo” for “Our Deal” from the surf-pop indie band, Best Coast.  

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In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Barrymore opened up about the opportunity to work with MTV and why she chose a West Side Story theme for the video.

“I’ve never done a music video and I’ve always wanted to. The format is dying!” Barrymore explained of her decision try a new creative outlet. “What I love about music videos are the stories in them.”  

A fan of romance, action, and tragic love stories, Barrymore opted to draw on Romeo and Juliet, West Side Story, The Warriors and The Outsiders – all while keeping actress Chloe Moretz in mind for the lead. As for Tyler Posey, Barrymore discovered the Teen Wolf star along the way.

“I didn’t want to do a period piece, per se. For this, I thought, stick with the timeless,” she explained. “Take a jean jacket, its ‘50s, ‘70s, ‘90s, now… And I never met a graffiti I didn’t like! That’s how it all started.”

What started out as a small 2-minute project quickly escalated to an 11-minute video as Barrymore realized her ambitions. After asking MTV for permission to expand the project, the short was filmed in downtown LA on a shoestring budget and in only two days. Barrymore called in “every favor on the planet” to make it happen.  

“MTV Networks finally decided they would let us make and air the 11-minute version.  That, for me, is the greatest lesson in all of this,” she recalled. “If you really push yourself, you could create an opportunity for yourself that wouldn’t have happened otherwise. You have to earn it, and you gotta go out there and make it happen. How could I push the limit? Went outside the traditional lines on this one, I feel really lucky, just another side to me to not sit with your dreams, and try to make them manifest.”

Adding, “I spent three years on Whip It, and to do this in two days – wow. It gave me hope that you don’t have to take yourself so seriously.”


Watch the full, extended version of the music video below.