Drew Barrymore speaks out about why she was 'worried' about damaging Kamala Harris' presidential career

Drew Barrymore is known for her effusive and emotional interviews but the talk show host admitted her segment with Kamala Harris is one of the 'scariest' she's ever done - revealing she was worried she had tarnished her career.

The actress confessed she felt 'sick to her stomach' over the idea of potentially ruining Harris' career after the presidential nominee's interview made headlines on The Drew Barrymore Show in April. 

The now-viral interview saw Barrymore, 49, and Harris, 59, discussing the Vice-President's role as a stepmom to husband Doug Emhoff's two children as well as the upcoming election.

The interview had mixed reviews online, with some criticizing the style of interview, particularly her comment about Harris being the 'Momala of the country.'

Barrymore admitted she wanted the interview to be a more 'personal experience,' and was wracked with nerves before.

'I want to disarm. I want to take the armor off. This isn't about talking about issues like that. This is not the place for that,' she shared in a conversation at the Paley Center on Monday with moderator Nate Burleson. 

While at that point, no one knew that Harris would replace President Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee for president, Barrymore was still nervous she could be damaging the politician's career. 

'All I kept thinking was, if you do one thing to screw up this woman's path — and you are the clown to do it — and if you do one thing that makes her look bad, or becomes a gap, or just does something to… [interviewing] is such an art,' the actress explained on the panel. 

'How do you get so personal? I've never… that's the scariest conversation I've done on the entire show's history,' she declared. 

Barrymore added she kept thinking about the possibility of her interview tarnishing Harris' career but at the same time wanted the public to see her in a more relaxed way.

'I wanted to see her be fun and disarmed, but I was like, what if I do one thing that's goofy and she plays along, and I've led her down a bad path?' the ET actress stressed.

'That was making me so sick to my stomach, but I wasn't going to give up trying to [do it].'

Moderator Nate Burleson chimed in, 'As we say, she came to play.'

'She really did,' Barrymore agreed, adding it was an 'electric connection.'

'It was one of the most ignited, exciting experiences of my life,' she gushed. 'And it was about something that she lives every day, which is how to not get it wrong.'

Barrymore's interview was criticized online by many, including Meghan Kelly who slammed the talk show host for her 'demeaning' interview.

'I feel like Secret Service is probably like "a little farther away, madam." And the, "Ah!" When [Harris] is like, she's got her mother's laugh,' Kelly said on The Meghan Kelly Show.

The duo had discussed Harris' laugh in the interview, which had been the subject of online ridicule.  

'I have my mother's laugh,' the vice president detailed to Barrymore. 'And I grew up around a bunch of women, in particular, who laughed from the belly. They laughed, they would sit around the kitchen and drinking their coffee, telling big stories with big laughs.'

'You know, I'm never gonna be like,' Harris said before faking a dainty chuckle into her hand.

The presidential nominee continued her story: 'It's just I'm not that person. And I think it's really important for us to remind each other and our younger ones: don't be confined to other people's perception about what this looks like, and who you should – how you should act in order to be right.'

'It's really important. It's, it's important,' she concluded.