Brooke Shields has shared the one 'gracious' remark that made her feel safe kissing a man when she was just 11-years-old. She says a co-star had taken care of her at a time when she didn't feel particularly protected by Hollywood.
Shields, 57, is reflecting on how she was sexualised during her early years of fame in a new documentary, Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields on Disney Plus.
Billed as a 'galvanizing look' at the actor, model, and global superstar, Pretty Baby explores how she has regained power after being exploited, during her formative years in the film industry.
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While promoting the documentary on The Drew Barrymore Show, Shields recalled what it was like working on 1978 film Pretty Baby, when she played young working girl, Violet. She was just 11 at the time.
She performed alongside Keith Carradine – then in his twenties – as he played a photographer called, Ernest Bellocq, who ends up marrying Violet.
Shields said Carradine, now 73, took care of her while they worked on the film, at a time when she didn’t feel she was being nurtured by Hollywood.
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“It was about these males needing me to be in a certain category [of beauty] to serve their story,” she told Drew Barrymore.
“And it never was about me.
“It was never protective of me. It was fun and loving at times, but it was ― I was just there. I was a pawn.”
But Shields said there was one man who looked after her during those early days.
“Keith Carradine took such good care of me,” she said, going on to recall a remark he gave her before they started shooting their kissing scene.
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“He looked at me and he said, ‘You know, this doesn’t count as a first kiss.'” the actor explained, noting how she had ‘never kissed a boy before’.
“That was gracious and protective and caring on a level that I don’t even think I knew at the time.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Shields told Barrymore that her own mother Teri was ‘in love’ with her, claiming she never dated as she was solely focused on her daughter’s career.
When asked if her mum had dated any of her partners, like Barrymore's own mother had done, Shields said: "No, because she was in love with me. I was her main focus. Both of us were cut off from our sexuality."
Barrymore then revealed that her mother had actually tried it on with her boyfriend.
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"My mom was so enamoured with me that she wanted to be with the people I was with," she said, to which Shields said: "I get it. It's so needy and weird.
"No one's going to get you. I'm going to be there. I'm there first. You're mine. I'm not going to give you to somebody.
"Under the guise of protection, but it was more ownership and fear."
However, despite the strange nature of their relationship, Shields said she just kept going.
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She said: "I did a movie and we got a car. All I knew was keep my mother alive, keep dancing and get stuff.
"But to emerge from it not angry or jaded… it's something in your character. It's in my character."
Featured Image Credit: PA Images/colaimages/Alamy Stock PhotoTopics: Brooke Shields, Celebrity, TV And Film, Drew Barrymore, Disney Plus