Drew Barrymore

P or J?

Barrymore: "I don't think I could ever stay with any one thing the rest of my life; I need change all the time. But this [style I'm wearing] is suiting me just peachy right now because I think it goes along with my personality." [Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWxh-pjJaew&list=WL&index=40]
(Pe with Fi combination, needs novelty that is enhanced by self-expression. The need for change is filtered through what 'suits [her] personality,' suggesting that her external actions must align with her internal values, identity, and preferences. So strong FP indications.)

Barbra Walters: "By age 15 Drew Barrymore had lived three lifetimes" [Source: https://youtu.be/0lY5spR1ivk?si=PE3BUo_4t-I9jx7Y&t=87]
(Could be evidence for high Pe. Packing a high volume of actualized experience into a short amount of time because they are constantly engaging with the object sounds very EP on the face of it. Or could be just the hectic business of being a child actor of the Barrymore family. Or a combination of the 2)

Interviewer: "I started writing down one-word things about Drew. Just tell me if they're true. Fun?"

Barrymore:  "I like to have fun."

Interviewer: "Unconventional?"

Barrymore:  "Definitely."

Interviewer: "Your wedding proved that right."

Barrymore:  "Yes."

Interviewer: "Impulsive?"

Barrymore: "Mhm." [Source: https://youtu.be/ThIQUtq5nVY?si=lud5Ge2alEupUQPC&t=82]

(By her own admission, she likes fun and is unconventional and impulsive. Sounds far more Pe than Pi+Je, especially if you consider the quotes before indicating P over J)

Barrymore: "[My father and I] feel awkward with plans." [Source: https://youtu.be/0lY5spR1ivk?si=huHOqAC-GtKaI9MS&t=373]

(Shows a dislike and discomfort in planning, so higher Pe and lower Je/Pi seems even more likely.)

Sensor or Intuitive?

To go straight to the point, she seems to have a focus on actuality (S) rather than conceptualizing (N). For example, she focuses her life "as is" rather than subjecting the facts (whether facts of her life or facts in general) to some abstract idea, association, or hypothetical even if given the opportunity to conceptualize. Preference for S over N more likely:

Interviewer: "You think your life would have been different if you had not been an actress? ... I mean, different, yes, but I mean, do you think you wouldn't have had all the problems you had?"

Barrymore: "I don't know, because my life was what it was and, like I said, no regrets."

[Source: https://youtu.be/kWxh-pjJaew?si=dINXAFKklYa_qGVu&t=251]

Barrymore: "People go, 'What would your life be like if it wasn't like it is?' The truth is, I don't know, 'cause it was like it was. And the truth also is that I wouldn't have it any other way, you know, because I wouldn't be at this very place now—here in the beautiful studio with you, comfortable in my skin, happy about life, and just enthralled, you know?" [Source: https://youtu.be/f_xgyhzD4kQ?si=dNjqKQ_WqoNG4-NB&t=379]

Interviewer: "Are you one of these people that—can you enjoy the minute? Or is it hard? Or are you always looking to the next thing?"

Barrymore: "Yeah [I enjoy the minute], I believe it is those moments that we live for in life, you know? So, I'm definitely going to grab them while I can." [Source: https://youtu.be/ThIQUtq5nVY?si=PP8gxC0wI241KoLb&t=278]

(While one might say that this is more of an indication of P than anything, and I wouldn't fully disagree, the quote seems to me to be more S with P than just P, Se in other words. As you guys said, "Where Extraverted Intuition might see possibilities branching out from a single event, Se stays grounded in what is immediately observable. This can make Se-users appear pragmatic or even opportunistic, as they are inclined to seize opportunities as they arise rather than planning far into the future.")

Taking the evidence together of what was shown this far regarding S and P, it is safe to presume that she is one of the SP types (conscious Se).

Fi?

Well as stated before she was described as very candid (and in interviews, from my view, she is indeed so on the whole) and is self-expressive but I also think there is other evidence for Fi is as shown below:

Barrymore: "I think I have, like, 10 people running around inside me. And so, to put them all to a productive and creative use, I become different people and create characters. But I want it to be as real as possible, and I want to be as free as possible. If I tried to act, I don't think it would work."
[Source: https://youtu.be/fFSgqXLaTmk?si=YvEjpthYhC4x20dS&t=374]
(Very concerned with authenticity and inner alignment with her non-legalistic identity that wants to be experienced to the purest extent.)

Barrymore: "[My character] Holly's like ... just this, like, incredibly beautiful, sensual spirit, you know? ... She loves life, and somehow she's managed to remain oblivious to the ugliness. And I think that that is one of the most beautiful things, you know? Maybe people can take it as naive; I think it's, like, amazing. And that she's so trusting and open, and she believes that everybody has this incredible good side to them, no matter what, you know? Yeah, I mean, what a refreshing change. ... I had a great outlet with this character."
[Source:https://youtu.be/f_xgyhzD4kQ?si=84ZJixko58JtX_j2&t=746]
(Drawn to idiosyncratic qualities, like innocence and nativity, that emotionally resonate with her that are not informed by external input but purified from it, which then becomes a vehicle for personal self-expression)

Barrymore: "Separation is very necessary sometimes when you need to grow and into yourself. You need to separate from the person who you think each of you are, you know, stopping that process. ... I needed to grow in my own direction [from my mother], and the two of us were so close."
Interviewer: "And what was wrong with her direction?"
Barrymore: "Um, it just wasn't my direction, and my direction wasn't her direction, and we couldn't find that happy medium with each other. And so, sometimes, separation is the best way to accomplish, you know, growing as your own individual."
[Source: https://youtu.be/NRHC7qIHMcg?si=5vlDmRR3rjyO17oD&t=591]
(Isn't determined to try and get people on the same page of fellow feeling but prefers to give people space to diverge into their own "differentiated personal affects" as you guys put it for Fi.)

As an aside to step out of the quotes for a moment, based on her manner of expression in interviews overall I don’t think Barrymore filtered everything through the prism of ‘How is this going to affect others? How is this going to make me come across?’ I think she was more just true to herself and let the chips fall where they may. Whether she was being jovial or whatever, it was inner feeling expressed outwardly.

Now, one might point out that her histrionic personality style is a point against conscious Fi's general purity of expression:

Rolling Stone: "While she often talks about her desire for anonymity, Barrymore continually does things to draw attention to herself. Lots and lots of attention. Tales of self-indulgent, look-at-me behavior stalk Barrymore and Erlandson-like a bloodhound with a personal stake in the chase. She admits to the disturbingly contradictory behavior."

But this does not necessarily contradict a preference for conscious Fi at all. As you guys said of the histironic personality style in FPs (especially in EFPs): "Perhaps surprisingly, FP types seem to be overrepresented among Histrionics, but this conflation need not be so strange after all: Being structurally attuned to navigate by unmediated value judgments, the FP types will also, all other things being equal, have an easier time dramatizing their behavior in the way that Histrionics are wont to do."  

SFP?

So with all this evidence Se and Fi seem to be the 2 most prominent functions in her consciousness. Any type can be interested in fashion, but the idea of one's clothes being really indicative of who a person is as a individual in terms of self-expression is a sentiment that SFPs tend to adopt. It is a combination of the "object standing on its own terms" (Se) meeting the "inner emotional self" (Fi), a unique bridge between the material world and the personal heart, which they not only apply to themselves but other people. For an SFP, clothing isn't just a costume; it is a sensory manifestation of one's inner self. Hence we see SFPs saying:

Mads Mikkelsen: "I am incredibly observant of what people are wearing. There really is something about the saying that clothing creates people . ... There's signal-value in all clothing. ... No matter what clothes it is, it does something to you."

Oscar Isaac: "[Clothing] can be such an indicator of so many things. How you feel, how you want others to perceive you. ... [When creating a character] I always try to find something [about their clothing] that is grounding."

Kate Bush: "Clothes are such a strong part of who a human being is."

Pharrell Williams: "Fashion and music are like time and space. Without time there is no space ... without fashion there is no music. What are you going to wear in your video? What are you going to listen to going down the runway? It's the same thing."

Barrymore is no different in this regard:

Barrymore: "I mean, [my character's] wardrobe was just the coolest stuff I've ever seen. It was stuff I'd never wear in a million years, but had the best time wearing in the whole world. And it was great because ... her clothes were very indicative of who she was without saying a word ... I think it's great to get the subliminals of who someone is without having to talk about it incessantly and shove it in your face but you just look at someone and you know who they are, you know? I mean, this is our shell, so I don't know what clothes are for, but they're indicative of something. I know that." [Source: https://youtu.be/tfCu2ZjZTWg?si=rRz16MVFuIblEOvd&t=89]

Taking it together so far, her preference and inclination towards spontaneity and actuality (Se), desire for inner harmony with her personal sentiments and sense of self (Fi) solidifies SFP, but which one is more likely? We'll find out.

The deciding factor: Inferior or Tertiary Te?

If extroversion vs introversion is not yet conclusive so far (as a result of a fleshed out development of both Se and Fi to the point where it's hard to see which one is subordinate to the other), then we can look at the bottom functions as a "cheat code". One general difference between Te in the IFP and EFP is whether the individual is exhibiting a general repulsion/avoidance of the Te world (suggesting it is the Inferior function) or an optimistic, playful engagement with it (suggesting it is the Tertiary function).

Fi dominants, having Inferior Te, often recoil (or if not recoil, then at least shy away) from impersonal real-world systems (typically finding business/logistics "boring" or "soul-crushing"), prioritizing the inner purity of their values over practical adaptation or realization. Examples of multiple famous IFPs (ISFPs and INFPs) showcasing this aversion to this "lesser of two evils" real-world trade-offs type of thinking include:

Jonsi: "It just took a big toll on [me] — that there’s like a business side of the music industry ... and it was really complicated and really boring and had nothing to do with writing songs and creating music. I was a little bit depressed at that time." [Source: https://www.spin.com/2013/06/sigur-ros-kveikur-jonsi-interview-2013/]

Morrissey: "I think I've become a little bit, slightly, negative about the music industry where perhaps five years ago, entering it, I felt very idealistic—that lots of things could be changed and lots of people can be erased from the whole thing. And it isn't necessarily true, really, I find; so, I've become a little bit skeptical." [Source: https://youtu.be/eOls--A6oMM?si=uxMVpGA_1c31vqF0&t=14]

Bjork: "I don't take so much notice of the money thing, it's very boring but I'm very lucky because ... I have ... full artistic control. ... The thing is I can write any song I want, of course, and then I can obviously work with anybody I want and then when I start for example writing my songs there is no master plan when it is coming out, I can just write until I think it's ready." [Source: https://youtu.be/Q-dFRFsQKGQ?si=QcjWryM64Iilgwqv&t=257]

Chris Martin: "I don't really care about EMI. I'm not really concerned about that. I think shareholders are the greatest evil of this modern world. ... It's very strange for us that we spent 18 months in the studio just trying to make songs that make us feel a certain way and then suddenly become part of this corporate machine." [Source: https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/news/coldplay-s-frontman-turns-on-evil-shareholders-491229.html]

Robert Smith: "My whole life I've played music for my own personal enjoyment and the idea of it becoming a machine or a business is just horrible." [Source: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/sep/10/robert-smith-the-cure-bestival]

Dido: "Music had always been my personal thing, no one invaded it, no one bothered me, it was absolutely mine. It was my escape. Whenever anything was bugging me, I'd just go and play my music and it made me happy. And there was something about them giving me money for it that, to me, symbolised it being taken away. I felt like I no longer had the thing that made my life worth living." [Source: https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2001/may/20/features.magazine27]

[Interviewer: "Is there anything to the idea that tech entrepreneurs are the new rock stars?"]

Trent Reznor: "What a load of bullshit that is. ... I’m biased: Music or film or writing or journalism — things that inspire emotional connections are so much more important to me than things that only have utilitarian ends. I’m glad someone figured out a food-delivery service. That’s made my life a little bit better. But that’s not that interesting to me. A good song can become part of my soul. So this whole nonsense about tech rock stars is farce." [Source: https://www.vulture.com/2017/07/trent-reznor-nine-inch-nails.html]

If we compare those IFP quotes with the quotes below by Barrymore that I'm about to show l, there does seem to be a big difference in how she engages with this "Te stuff" compared to them:

Barrymore: "I definitely have another side to me that is business savvy and that loves to be able to get in there—you know, with a bunch of men—and have a group of women that are totally on it, and then have great ideas and are getting things accomplished in this world." [Source: https://youtu.be/ZHSs1vI4e5Q?si=YbYKKwQLIs2Cphpw&t=17]

Barrymore: "[Me and Kim Greitzer] just wanted to, like, go fucking forth with our dream. And our dream was to have a production company. It's two girlies wanting to make good movies, with people who are passionate, and I never thought that I would be into this side of the business, but I've found myself really into it. ... We're very much on the same wavelength in the business sense. We sit down with, like, our iced teas and cigarettes at our desks and we just plow through the day. We do it together, and it's really great. Not every decision has to have the weight of the world on it. Then again, certain decisions do." [Source: https://thedrewseum.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Interview-May-1995_Rev.pdf?hl=en-US]

Sounds like optimistic and aspirational Te than unconscious and repressed, in other words tertiary Te over inferior seems more likely based on the quotes. As you guys said of the tertiary, "The tertiary function ... remains free to dream ... arising again with a new and impossible impetus ... in the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities." Whilst the inferior is repressed, so it “is [like] a horse that cannot be educated." As John Barnes put it, ISFPs "much like the INFP, often shy away from positions where they are forced to make effectual decisions."

Furthermore, she doesn't seem to be as averse to this "lesser of two evils" type of thinking with regard to real-world trade-offs that IFPs (as explimified by the IFP quotes that I already shown) often evince as a result of their repressed Te. The higher Fi is in someone, the more they tend to not find it natural to align with real-world change that involves compromises and trade-offs that don’t line up with their internal sentiment. This doesn't seem to apply to Barrymore: 

Barrymore: "I love Hollywood, and it’s a great place, and I love working in it, and it's just my favorite. In fact, I wanna get more involved in the game than ever—trying to produce and stuff—but it's a mortal, created entity. ... I love this business; it has its downfalls, [but] if you just stay away from the downfalls, you literally can. And sometimes that means staying at home, but that's okay. If that's the trade-off, I'll take it." [Source: https://youtu.be/UuosC8iSaz8?t=396&si=UodmMNdDU0_BSgth]

All in all, while Barrymore clearly prefers Fi, she doesn't seem to repress Te.

More evidence for E over I:

Interviewer: "When does the wall come down, though?"

Barrymore: "I don't have a wall up."

Interviewer: "I know you don't. ... Is there ever a time when you say, 'Okay, that's enough pictures. That's enough talk. That's enough of me being the public person. I'm going to be my private self now'?"

Barrymore: "I think it gets to a point where you have to accept that you're not really entitled to do that in public because you are a public person, and your job actually becomes a 24-hour-a-day thing. And once you willingly accept that, then it's actually quite okay. And if you like being able to interact with people, you know, then it's a gift. And if you're not acting like that, you're being rude to people. And I don't believe in that method of acting." [Source: https://youtu.be/NRHC7qIHMcg?si=E22PFkDKhHnpXvyf&t=1138]

(This quote could be an indication that she lacks an extra layer between herself and the object, an introvert all else being equal fears the influence of the object. This is relative and not absolute, but it is a good pointer considering all the other evidence.)

Interviewer: "There is a kind of larger-than-life quality to them all, even to quiet Ethel, who in some ways was the dominant one. Does that teach you something, maybe growing up, that not to be afraid to assert yourself?"

Barrymore: "I don't think I've ever been afraid of that, you know, to assert myself. What does that mean exactly?"

Interviewer: "Yeah, I don't think you would know what it would not mean, somehow."

Barrymore: Okay, well, if it's a good thing, then cool."

Interviewer: "Well, to just—to be outward."

Barrymore: "Exactly; I am outward." [Source: https://youtu.be/dAA3mn3dv0Y?si=il1qKfKIQnLGNGua&t=188]

(In the exchange above, it seems to indicate a more assertive and outward pattern towards the object, which in Jungian is typically more indicative of higher extroversion. When someone's relation to the object is *habitual*, they're an extravert.)

Addressing the counter arguments:

One might say that the quote below doesn't fit the stereotypical ESFP:

Barrymore: “I had a different childhood from anyone I knew. I listened to Jim Morrison rather than Sesame Street, and I read Charles Bukowski. I thought that it was normal, until I was ten years old, talking about Bukowski to a thirty-five-year-old, who reacted, ‘How the hell do you know that?’ It was just me and my mom. She didn’t have many friends, and neither did I.”

In a sense it doesn't sound stereotypically ESFP but one can't type someone using stereotypes deterministically. For example, if someone is Se-Fi-Te-Ni, then they're an ESFP no matter what their upbringing or ideas are like. Typology is about cognition, not behaviour. But (and it is a big "but") the stereotypes exist (except when they're straight-up nonsense) because, yes, the functions in a certain order often manifest in certain recognizable ways. The keyword there is "often." I'm sure you and I can think of examples of people you believe to be a certain type who don't line up with its stereotype. This stuff seems to be more about content than cognition.

One might say that the following quotes are indicative of introversion over extroversion:

Barrymore: "[My father] and I are very alike, we spend a lot of time alone." [Source: https://youtu.be/0lY5spR1ivk?si=qJNNEbv9AJukzxpB&t=367]

[Interviewer: Do you regret anything that you wrote in that book? Because I recently reread the book and, uh, it's so candid. But then, you're very candid; I've always found you to be extremely candid.]

Barrymore: Well, you know, I think there are certain aspects where you open yourself up in this world... I don't believe in regrets. I think that it makes life uneasy, you know, to feel that way. But I do maintain a certain reclusiveness now that I much more enjoy than being open, you know, for everyone to look inside. Unfortunately, in this profession, you have to deal with that; it comes with the territory, and you have to be understanding of that. But I don't want my life to be an open book. I need to maintain something for myself, absolutely. [Source: https://youtu.be/kWxh-pjJaew?si=mGtnird9pHvtmKV5&t=192]

To preface again, typology is cognition, not behavior but the thing is that while Jungian introverts can be behaviorally extraverted for periods and vice versa - to a point that's even surprising - at some point, they're going to have to relate back to the subject. They are going to be burned out by the object at some point. One who might say that the quotes here could be an indication that she is an introvert needing to revert back to her own subject may have a point. But the quotes overall seem to be more about boundary setting and living home alone with her dogs (at that time) than anything E vs I in a typological sense. Boundary-setting and living alone with your dogs does not equate to being an introvert. And even if one did view it through that lens, no one is a complete introvert or extrovert.

Conclusion

Overall, ESFP seems for Drew Barrymore seems like the best fit from my view.

, along with an optimistic and engaging relation to being enterprising and practically mobilizing people and resources toward concrete defineable real-world goals (Te).