Drew Barrymore and Keke Palmer shared an emotional conversation about growing up in the industry when the Nope star visited The Drew Barrymore Show Friday (Nov. 22) to promote her new book, Master of Me: The Secret to Controlling Your Narrative.

Barrymore praised Palmer, noting that she was sharing the “wisdom” she “earned” from being in the industry since the age of 12.

“I think you are ahead of schedule but also you started ahead of schedule,” she told Palmer, before adding of herself, “Because I didn’t know what the hell age I was growing up, I was like, ‘Please don’t treat me like a child. I pay all the bills and I work all day long.’”

Barrymore famously began acting at the age of five. By the time she was 13 years old, she was receiving treatment for substance abuse problems before later emancipating from her parents by the time she was 14.

Palmer agreed with Barrymore’s point, noting they had a “unique” experience as child entertainers who were effectively parentified, or forced to take on adult responsibilities and stressors at a young age.

“For me, which you probably had to do too, I had to take myself out of it in order to get past the fact that I didn’t have that innocence as a child,” Palmer said. “But guess what? It made me who I am today and I like that person. I do like her.”

Barrymore added that Palmer’s parents, like her own, were supportive by allowing them to follow their passion for acting.

“But then they end up getting swept up in it too,” Barrymore said. “And all of a sudden you’re in this family industry, you’re supposed to have a parent-child dynamic, but… You’re being treated like an adult because you have adult responsibilities but you’re still a child.”

The conversation took an emotional turn as Palmer candidly discussed how “overwhelming” and “traumatizing” that dynamic became for her growing up.

Palmer could not hold back her tears as she told Barrymore, “When you become a celebrity child, when you make more money than your parents, it’s traumatizing. When other people tell you that your parents are worthless because you make all the money, it’s traumatizing.”

She continued, “Growing up in a small town where my parents made $40,000 a year, and then I’m making that a movie. And people are judging my parents and these people gave up everything for me to be who I am today.”

“It has taken me so much for me to get to the point of saying you don’t get to tell my story and you don’t get to tell their story,” she confessed through tears. “The truth is my family drove four days and three nights to help their daughter pursue her dreams and she became a generational talent. I’m not a victim, I’m a victor.”

She added that she explores this in her new book. “I’m not an innocent bystander,” she stated. “I’m a part of this.”

The Drew Barrymore Show airs on weekdays on CBS. You can check the website for local airtimes.