3 Unexpected Reveals From ‘Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields’
Few faces have been more ubiquitous. In the early 1980s, Brooke Shields was the most famous teenager in the country, gracing magazine covers, appearing in ads, starring in movies — and generating controversy.
Even before she declared that nothing came between her and her Calvins, the young star had shocked the world by portraying a 12-year-old prostitute in the 1978 film Pretty Baby (which lends its name to Hulu’s two-part documentary that is being shown in full on ABC on Monday, January 8).
In candid interviews, the eloquent Shields details the ups and downs of life as an icon and reveals painful truths, such as postpartum depression, a sexual assault, and her loving but strained relationship with her alcoholic mother, Teri.
Here are three more of many fascinating stops along the way.
1. Cameras were rolling for her first kiss.
On the set of Pretty Baby, director Louis Malle was frustrated she was scrunching up her face up for her character’s first kiss with the photographer played by Keith Carradine, 29. No wonder: At 11, Shields had never been kissed. Ultimately, she recalls, the actor pulled her aside to reassure her.
“‘Hey,’ he said to me. ‘You know what? This doesn’t count. This is all make-believe.’”
2. Michael Jackson wanted to adopt with her.
Familiar with the challenges of being former child stars, Shields and the King of Pop became friends.
“We both were quite juvenile in some ways,” Shields recalls, but Jackson suggested they adopt and raise a child together. He also gave interviews intimating they were in a relationship.
“I called him and said, ‘What are you doing? I’m actually currently with a boyfriend in New York City!’” The two would eventually lose touch.
3. Her relationship with Andre Agassi began by fax.
Filming in Africa, Shields says she would take a Jeep to a remote radio tower to fax the tennis player “long letters. We talked so openly about our fears and being public figures.”
She credits him with inspiring her to recommit to acting, leading to a Friends spot, then the sitcom Suddenly Susan. Their 1997 marriage ended in divorce less than two years later, but Shields soon found love with writer-producer Chris Henchy: “He made me just feel worth all of it.”
Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields, Monday, January 8/7c, ABC. Also streaming on Hulu.
RAINN offers help for those impacted by sexual assault. Call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800-656-HOPE (4673) or visit the online chat for 24-hour, free, confidential support.
