I think I was poised to love men named Stephen,
first of all.
Steven Spielberg and you, you both set me up for the life
I have.
It was mine to screw up.
I think I've come full circle.
Everything seems okay relatively speaking.
But you were such an important person to me
when I was a kid, because we did "Firestarter" together.
This little picture says, "To Stephen, I love you dearly.
Drew Barrymore."
And your it's hung on my office wall for well over 40 years.
Yeah
It was 1982 that we did "Firestarter."
We actually made two movies.
That's right.
We made- There's "Firestarter"
and- "Cat's Eye."
"Cat's Eye."
That's right.
Those years with you and meeting Tabitha
and your whole family and being in your family home
and in your world, was very important to me
and it made important lifelong impressions
that I hold so dearly in my heart.
That's good.
And not only were you a great actress, very, very young.
You were a good person and you're still a good person.
And having written a book, "Wild Flowers"
you should go get it now.
(Stephen chuckles)
Oh goodness.
I'm sorry.
(audience laughs)
The fact that you've heard of my book,
the one and only the greatest, most important writer.
I'm just now thinking of Jane Fonda's speech
at the Golden Globes and I thought not only
was she the most eloquent human to ever speak,
but she talked about the importance
of storytelling and how it isn't fantasy.
It's a way to bring in our human connectivity.
Stories are great.
And I love them and I love to tell them.
And I love when people say, you know,
your story meant something to me.
My favorite story of all times, I was
in a public market down in Florida
and I came around the corner and there was a lady
in one of those little scooter carts that they have.
And she said, "I know who you are.
You're Stephen King.
You write those horror stories.
Well, I don't like horror stories very much
but I respect your right to tell them man."
I said, "Well, I also wrote a," she said,
"I like stories like the "Shawshank Redemption."
(Drew laughs)
You're like, I wrote that.
I said that I wrote that
and she said, "No, you didn't."
I've been thinking a lot about in "The Stand"
you predicted a pandemic and we're a year into this one.
And I am wondering what your opinion is
on the fact that we have called it social distancing.
Was that a mistake?
Should we have called it physical distancing.
Have we created a monster of fear amongst us humans?
Well, you know, that's a really good question.
And there are things about, I understand social distancing
in the sense that, you know if you're with a bunch
of people, try to stay as far away
so that the germs don't spread and all that.
But boy, I miss being able to shake somebody's hands.
I mean, there's something cool about giving them an elbow
and all that, but you know, we can do this in person
if it wasn't for this thing and Drew,
I could give you a hug.
We can't do that anymore.
You know, that's not something that's happening.
Hopefully it will again.
I'm interested to see how books, novels
and movies will handle the pandemic.
It's very tough to tell for instance, a love story
like what are these guys gonna do?
The boy and the girl, when they finally get together.
Do they sort of rip off their masks and kiss
or do they kiss through the masks
or exactly what do they do?
It's gonna be tough and they're gonna have
to be some changes.
The anxiety is everywhere.
I think we're gonna need to find through storytellers
like you guides of how we will refind romance,
how we will refind connectivity,
how we will be able to overcome the fears and anxieties.
And we're gonna need smart, brilliant minds
like yours to guide us out of this.
Well, you don't wanna stay inside too long.
Think about Jack Nicholson in "The Shining."
You know, people get a little bit freaky
when they spend too much time by themselves.
(upbeat music)