When Drew Barrymore signed up for the TV show Santa Clarita Diet in 2016, she was not in the best place of her life. But the 44-year-old actress told https://twitter.com/GMA/status/1112696244541915136 on Monday the series turned out to be a bit of therapy for her after her split from third husband Will Kopelman. 'I just thought, you know: "I'm 20 pounds overweight. My life is totally not where I thought it would be. I wanna put all this into this character,"' the beauty, who wore a red outfit, said. Glowing: Drew Barrymore poured the angst of her own life into her Santa Clarita Diet role of a real estate agent who becomes a zombie A tough time: In 2016 Barrymore divorced her husband Will Kopelman; seen in December 2015 Mommy time: The star with her two children in 2014; two years later she split from her husband She wed Will in 2012 and the divorced in 2016. Santa Clarita Diet started airing in 2017. The ET star continued, 'And I asked the showrunner Victor [Fresco]: “Can I do that?” And I also think in society today, we’re so far out there and it’s so crazy, this world, that if you don’t have a show with a little spine and a little grit, it almost feels like Leave It To Beaver. Like, it doesn’t work anymore!' And she was drawn to her character's personal life. 'So then I liked this sort of tone of this marriage, that although mine wasn’t working, I like to see things that are about a good relationship.' The Charlie's Angels star elaborated: 'Like, we’re all gonna try and practice that in our life, and whatever unconventional forms that is, love is love. 'And I hate seeing people fight. And Victor said: "I will never have this couple fight." And I’m like: "Then I’m in."' Publicity rounds: The 44-year-old actress shared her process on Good Morning America this Monday, modeling an eye-popping scarlet ensemble for her interview