The 2023 MTV Movie & TV Awards on Sunday, May 7 were supposed to be hosted by Drew Barrymore. And despite pulling out of the show at the last minute to support the writers’ strike, the iconic actress kicked things off with a bang! Drew began the festivities with a prerecorded skit — as her geeky character Josie from Never Been Kissed!
Josie Grossie's first kiss went a little like this 💋🐻 #MTVAwards pic.twitter.com/tO4JdYC9gs
— Movie & TV Awards (@MTVAwards) May 8, 2023
In the skit, Drew revisited her iconic pink silk prom dress-clad character from the 1999 comedy hit. In one clip, she hilariously danced with Jenna Ortega, spoofing the viral Wednesday dance. In another, she faced off against newly christened horror icon M3gan, and in yet another riotous clip she frolicked with “Cocaine Bear.” Thanks to the magic of moviemaking, she was able to pop into Top Gun and hang out with Jennifer Coolidge in The White Lotus.
In another skit, Drew popped into the highly anticipated Barbie Movie, taking on the role of Skipper. While noting in the funny video that she wasn’t “technically” cast as skipper, she “just showed up like this, every day, in case they needed me!” Drew wore a long, blonde wig with bangs and a pink pair of overalls for the clip.
HI SKIPPER 💖 #MTVAwards pic.twitter.com/NHUdxacNjE
— MTV (@MTV) May 8, 2023
In another hilarious skit, the talk show host inserted herself into a super rainy and atmospheric clip from Wednesday. Drew mocked the viral rain moment from the Netflix hit, dancing and at one point shouting as Wednesday seemingly looked on. “Hey Wednesday, come on, you look like you love the rain! Join me! Don’t worry about that hair. Braids look great in the rain!”
Do NOT give up the opportunity to dance in the rain with #Wednesday herself, @DrewBarrymore 🖤 #MTVAwards pic.twitter.com/PC1zSJrLNp
— MTV (@MTV) May 8, 2023
Drew had previously teased the big show and even hinted that she “manifested” the high profile gig. “I am so thrilled, I wonder if I oddly manifested this,” the mom of two told Entertainment Tonight during an on-set interview in May. “I had been thinking about award shows and, you know, you used to kind of only see people when they would hit the carpet or come out on the stage and now, with the digital age, we are with everybody all the time.”
“I want to put on a really dynamic show and I want it to have an arc, a beginning, middle and end,” she said. “I can tell you this, I definitely will playing different characters [from] the films that I’ve been in and I will definitely be inserted into other films and we will create a lot of really fun set pieces and scenarios. And, so far, the people I do know that are coming… are so awesome and totally in keeping with the all-ages party, the love of different genres, the love of different mediums. It’s a really well-balanced show, I’m really excited about it.”
Heading up a parade of big names peers including Sarah Michelle Gellar and Riley Keough, both of whom presented at the big show, Drew represented the perfect intersection of Hollywood films and television — she began her career as a tot in films like E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial and now hosts her own eponymous talk show on CBS. It may well have been her epic turn in the original Scream that put her in touch with the MTV generation in 1996, and she’s been been right there with them ever since.
And it’s no surprise the Charlie’s Angels beauty came up with such a hilarious moment — she’s known for viral stunts and gags on the show, which regularly create viral moments, quotes, and soundbites. In January, the Santa Clarita Diet actress transformed into the doll from horror hit M3GAN, expertly interviewing Allison Williams and then performing a viral TikTok dance. Fans couldn’t unsee the terrifying, and hilarious, sight.