Lucy Liu Says She Still Has the Nude Photos She Took of Drew Barrymore on the Set of ‘Charlie’s Angels.’
“I was trying to find the nude photographs you took of me on the set of Charlie’s in my dressing room,” Barrymore said. “I have them,” Liu answered. “You do?” “I do, of course.”
Lucy Liu still has the nude photos of Drew Barrymore she took on the set of Charlie’s Angels, and when Barrymore asked to “borrow” them back, Liu answered with a compliment. “And you look gorgeous as you still do,” Liu told her. “And you’re so natural and playful and having a great time.”
The exchange happened on The Drew Barrymore Show, where Liu is now a recurring guest and where the two friends slip easily between promo mode and 25 years of inside jokes. Barrymore has called Liu “my sister from another mother.” Liu has called Barrymore’s soul big. They met when Barrymore, producing the 2000 Charlie’s Angels, was casting Alex Munday opposite herself and Cameron Diaz. Liu’s audition clicked so fast she nearly forgot she was auditioning. “When I met Lucy, I knew I found my sister,” Barrymore has said of that day.
The shoot wasn’t a one-off. “I have a series of portraits of so many people, with and without clothes on, guys,” Liu said, describing a whole collection of co-stars she’s photographed over the years.
The making of Charlie’s Angels came with its own pain. Their legs had to be wired up to hold the stunt poses, and she and Barrymore scaled a fence in heels. “Eight hours a day training, five days a week,” Liu said of the prep, adding that she and co-star Chris were the dedicated ones while Barrymore and Diaz were “so naughty.” “I’m just a naughty girl,” Barrymore agreed.
The friendship has outlasted the franchise. Barrymore publicly backed Liu after her on-set clash with Bill Murray during the first film, praising her for telling him “I do not accept that kind of behavior from you.” When Barrymore launched her talk show in 2020, Liu and Diaz were her first guests. “I carry both of you in my heart,” Barrymore told them. In 2024, Liu shared the story of Barrymore turning up at her gate mid-breakup and hiding in the bushes to avoid her ex, leaves in her hair, until Liu coaxed her inside. Last December the two arrived on set in matching khaki pantsuits with burgundy ties, Barrymore introducing Liu as “2/3 of the elite crime-fighting team.”
Liu also looked back at Ally McBeal, crediting creator David E. Kelley for writing women well and for the weekly musical guests, from Barry White to Elton John. “That show was such a phenomenon,” she said, noting it was one of the first to lead with a woman.
She closed on a Sex and the City set memory: the Birkin bag was so coveted the props team kept a stunt version out for rehearsal and only pulled the real one from a safe when the cameras rolled.
Enjoyed this story? Give us a follow on Facebook, and find plenty more on the Thought Catalog website.
