Drew Barrymore opens up about letting her kids be in the public eye, entertainment business

Drew Barrymore says the answer to when she will let her kids enter the public eye is a more about a "feeling" than any specific age.

In an interview with People for the magazine's 50th anniversary issue, the actress said her kids ask about being in the public eye often.

"My kids ask me all the time," she said. "They would love to be in film or on social media or sing, and I always just say, 'School plays, theater camp, everything, [yes]. But [no to] being out there in the public eye until….'"

Barrymore, 49, said the decision to let her kids be public will be based on a "feeling" rather than an age.

"And then they say, 'Well, what's the number?' And I always say, 'I know you want an answer, and I know the fact that I can't give you one that's so specific isn't satisfying, but it's going to be a feeling and it's going to be when I think you're ready.' [Then] I would so support them," she said.

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"It's not 13 and it's probably not 14," she added. "It's up there, but your kid will present themselves in a way where you've got to listen to them and support them and trust them. I don't know what number that is, but it's probably north of 14, 15!"

As for people who ask whether she would let her kids enter show business, Barrymore said she disagrees with the idea that it's a "toxic" industry.

"I just thought, that's not how I feel about this business at all. It has given me every opportunity under the sun and I couldn't appreciate my life more," she said.

Barrymore, who shares two children with ex-husband Will Kopelman, has spoken extensively and publicly about her own childhood in the entertainment business previously.

The actress and talk show host, whose father is the late actor John Drew Barrymore, began her career in film at a young age, starring in "E.T." at just 7 years old and in the sci-fi horror film "Firestarter" two years later in 1984. She went on to star in a number of other projects through her teens and early 20s, including the popular comedy film "The Wedding Singer" in 1998 and the historical drama "Ever After" that same year, and the romantic comedy "Never Been Kissed" in 1999.