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Drew Barrymore: ‘I will never let my children act’

Drew Barrymore: ‘I will never let my children act’

Drew Barrymore was only seven when she got her big break in "E.T.," but she won't let her kids go down the same path. In a new interview, the "Whip It" star said she would not allow her two daughters, Olive and Frankie, to follow in her footsteps.

"I will never let my children act," she told The Mail on Sunday's You Magazine. "When they're 18, if they want to, but not before."

Though she didn't explain why she didn't want them to be child stars, she did say that while "E.T." gave her life structure she didn't have, they wouldn't need that. "They are going to have everything they need," she said.

Barrymore is one of a growing number of celebrities who have come out to say they won't let their kids have the same life that they did. Here are the top three reasons they are against their kids going into showbiz:

They want them to have a normal life
Back in 2012, Jennifer Lopez told Women's Wear Daily she would prefer that her twins, Max and Emme, have some normalcy until they're old enough to decide on careers for themselves. “They should have a normal life – go to school, play, grow up. They should have a family life, as solid a foundation as I can give them," she said. "If they want to go off and be artists or singers or dancers or pilots or architects or anything – then they have my full support. “

"How I Met Your Mother" star Alyson Hannigan, who started acting in her mid-teens, said the same thing in 2009 of her daughter, Satyana. "I really want her to have a childhood that is about climbing trees, playing in the grass," she told Celebrity Baby Scoop, adding, "I really would like her to have a normal childhood, whatever that means. But if she wants to go into showbiz when she is an adult, I’ll support her.”

Since then, Hannigan has had another daughter, Keeva.

It's too much pressure
Brooke Shields started acting in "Pretty Baby" at age 12, but wouldn't want that for her own daughters, Rowan and Grier. "I just don’t think they need that burden, that pressure,” she told Life & Style in 2009. "There’s a lot of pressure. As long as they get an education, they can do whatever they want. If they need my help, I’ll try, but I hope they find other interests.” Nick Cannon, who has twins with Mariah Carey, has also spoken out about the pressure of being a child star. "As a parent, and maybe because I’m a new parent, I am so protective and so sensitive and would never want anyone to judge my child," he told Parade in 2012.

It's too stressful for the parents
In her new interview with ELLE, Angelina Jolie, who has six children with Brad Pitt, admitted that having daughter Vivienne play opposite her in "Maleficent" made her question whether she wanted her children to pursue a showbiz career. "Brad and I made the decision that we wouldn't keep them from sets and the fun of making movies, but we wouldn't [glorify it either] — we wouldn't make it a good thing or a bad thing," she said. "But I would really prefer they do something else. After two days of it, Brad and I were so stressed we never wanted to do it again."