5 days ago
Brooke Shields at 60: Her 10 Favorite Roles and Why She'll Never Forget Them
Beautiful Brooke Shields was in show business before she could walk or talk — her mother Teri got her a gig at 11 months old as a model for Ivory Snow. Since then, she's starred in countless film and television projects, making her a household name.
Here are Brooke's 10 favorite roles and what the 60-year-old says they mean to her.
'After Pretty Baby, there was such a firestorm … pitchforks and protests. I always used to say, 'I wonder if I were to play a murderer, would critics be really worried that I was uncomfortable stabbing somebody?''
Brooke was just 14 years old in the controversial film with partial nudity. 'Never again will a movie be made like that. It wouldn't be allowed.'
'Suddenly Susan was a revelation. I used to think I would only be credible if I was a 'thespian.' As I got older, I realized I don't enjoy it. I only enjoy comedy.'
The actress thought nothing of modeling for the provocative jeans campaign. 'I was naive. It didn't come into my sort of psyche as them being anything overtly sexual. I was a virgin!'
Starring as Sally Bowles in the classic production on the Great White Way, she says, 'Broadway welcomed me when nobody else was welcoming me.'
Director Franco Zeffirelli would pinch her toes in order to get a certain reaction from her. 'He wanted some look of ecstasy on my face. And, my first reaction was, how about directing? Here's an idea.'
On playing a movie executive juggling career and family, 'I'm a lot like Wendy in my passion. It was the most like me of anyone I'd ever played. I'm a perfectionist like she is. But I never feel like I'm doing enough.'
'I think a lot of the movies I made could have been better. But then again, I'd also have to say that it didn't matter. I wanted to be liked more than I was worried about delivering a master performance.'
The Hallmark movie and its two sequels 'harkens back to that exact time when I used to watch Charlie's Angels, Jimmy Rockford or Magnum, P.I. And I wanted to do something that my kids could watch. Laughing with them is one of the purest joys I have.'
On her recurring TV role: 'I revert to being a little kid whenever I get a job. I just get so excited that I'm getting a chance to do what I love again. I walk in with the 'Oh, my god, I'm here' feeling. I just feel so excited that I get invited to the party again.'
