Drew Barrymore admits her divorce from Will Kopelman left her in a "very dark and fearful place".
The 43-year-old year-old actress split from the actor in 2016 and has revealed she only came out of her slump after being offered a role in the Netflix series 'Santa Clarita Diet'.
Drew - who has daughters Olive, five, and Frankie, three, with her ex-husband - said: "I was not looking for a job.
"I had actually stopped acting for several years because I wanted to raise my kids. But then a shift happened in my life and I was separating from their father and it was just a very difficult time.
"I definitely personally was in a very dark and fearful place and then this script came along and I was like, 'Yeah I don't think this is a good time' and ironically, I think it taught me a valuable life lesson."
Drew admitted that her role on the series has helped to give her a new spark.
The veteran Hollywood star - who has had two other marriages, to comedian Tom Green and producer Jeremy Thomas - told NBC: "Sometimes when you think something is the worst timing and the worst idea, it can actually become the thing that saves you and pulls you out and gives you a new focus, and empowerment, and switches your constant stuck way of thinking and feeling and puts it into something else that might actually get you to a healthier place faster."
Earlier this week, meanwhile, Drew revealed that her daughters want to follow her into acting.
She said: "They've got the Barrymore gene! We went to 'The Sound of Music', they're like, 'I just want up on the stage.' We go to the Amazing Bubble Show, they're like, 'I just want on the stage.'"