Drew Barrymore Unveils Original ’50 First Dates’ Ending

Drew Barrymore reminisced about her romcom days, particularly the movie 50 First Dates, revealing that the film originally had a completely different ending.

The 49-year-old actress is famously known for her wide range of roles, from Gertie in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial to Casey Becker in Scream to Lucy Whitmore in the iconic film with Adam Sandler. The rom-com, which aired in 2004 and was set in Hawaii, tells the story of Henry Roth, played by the 57-year-old actor, who has commitment issues until he meets Drew’s character, Lucy, who suffers from short-term memory loss due to a past car accident. Henry does everything he can to help her remember him and acknowledge their relationship.

The well-known film originally ended with Lucy regaining her memory after watching a videotape made by Henry, and the two eventually get back together. However, this was not the original storyline.

On an episode of The Drew Barrymore Show, the actress revealed that the original ending was supposed to be more dramatic: “It was a drama set in Seattle, and the original ending was her saying, ‘You should go and live your life because this is no life here.’ And he goes away, as he does, but he comes back, walks into the restaurant, and just sits down and says, ‘Hi, I’m Henry.’ And the film ends.” She also mentioned that the movie was initially going to be called ’50 First Kisses.’

As the live audience gasped, her co-host Ross Matthews expressed his gratitude, saying, “Honestly, can I just tell you: Thank you. Thank you for changing it.”

50 First Dates now marks two decades since its release in February 2004 and has become a movie cherished by multiple generations. The director, Peter Segal, told Entertainment Weekly in 2019, “The hardest thing in movies is to come up with a strong beginning and a strong end, and if you have that, you’ve got a shot. I think, to this day, it’s the best ending to any movie that I’ve done.”