Roller derby is “scary as s**t” to Drew Barrymore

The 34-year-old actress’ new movie Whip It, which she directs and stars in, is about the roller skating contact sport, and she admits she had no idea how brutal the sport could be.

She told Time Out New York, “What I love about the sport is that it’s real and high stakes. And by the way, it’s scary as s**t to do. I wouldn’t have guessed that the first film I directed would have a sports element, but then again it doesn’t surprise me, because I love girls getting to do what boys do. I love when women get to be women and not feel like they have to become a man in order to play in a man’s world.”

Roller derby involves a team of players skating around an oval track and attempting to lap each other, although they often bump and jostle one another out of the way. Drew decided to star in the movie as well as direct it—she plays skater Smashley Simpson—as she wanted to ensure she was fully involved in the entire creative process.

“Well, I’ve always found that I tend to rebel against authority. I wanted to throw myself in there so I could really go through what the girls were going through. I didn’t want to be that guy who said, ‘Just get in there.’ I hate that—I hate dictatorship, I hate hierarchy, I hate sidelines.”

Drew reunited with ex-boyfriend Justin Long earlier this year, but refused to be drawn on their relationship: “We’re friends, and we love each other, and that’s all we know.”