Brooke Shields was forced to learn ‘how to protect herself’ from her alcoholic mother
Topics: Celebrity, Parenting, Brooke Shields
Claire Reid
Featured Image Credit: Hulu / PictureLux / The Hollywood Archive / Alamy
Topics: Celebrity, Parenting, Brooke Shields
Brooke Shields was forced to learn ‘how to protect herself’ from her mother Teri Shields, who struggled with alcohol addiction.
The 57-year-old actor found fame at a young age, playing an underage sex worker in the film Pretty Baby when she was just 11.
In a new Hulu documentary about her life, also called Pretty Baby, Brooke opened up about being forced to kiss her 27-year-old co-star during filming.
Advert
In an interview with the Sunday Times, Brooke admitted that she found it difficult to understand why her mum didn't intervene and said having her own daughters Rowan, 19, and Grier, 16, gave her a new perspective on the situation.
When asked if she'd allow her children to perform similar roles, Brooke said: "No. That was... that was hard for me, to not justify my mom to them, but when they asked me, I thought, 'Oh God, I have to admit this'.
"I mean, I could say, 'Oh, it was the time back then,' or 'Oh, it was art.' But I don’t know why she thought it was all right. I don’t know."
And away from the cameras, Brooke was dealing with a lot in her home life as Teri, who was also an actor and model, battled alcoholism.
Speaking in Pretty Baby, Brooke says: "You never know what to expect with an alcoholic.
"It wasn't abusive, but it was emotionally abusive because I felt sort of abandoned every time she wasn't herself."
While Hollywood star Laura Linney, who was a childhood friend of Brooke, told the documentary that they would ‘duck and cover’ when they came across Teri drunk.
"When Teri was sober she was raucous and fun and loud and big and took up space. And when she was not in a good way it was duck and cover," she revealed.
Recalling one particular occasion when the two friends had been playing and Teri had returned home drunk, Laura said Brooke always knew how to avoid conflict.
She went on: "I would follow her lead, she would know what to do, how to do it, how to protect herself, what room to go into, what doors to lock.
"We could both hear the keys would rattle, we would go to a room, we would make sure we were safe.
“Teri would come home very drunk and then we would wait until it got quiet, and then we would come out."