Last Sunday, Demi Moore accepted her first major acting award at the Golden Globes. Brooke Shields was watching from home, saying, “My kids will be like, ‘Oh, it’s Golden Globes night.’ Get a bottle of wine for mom! Get tequila!” Shields laughed. “It’s very interesting, these awards shows, isn’t it? They could be torturous if you sat there and said, Why am I not good enough to have this, or do that, or whatever?“
I said: Did you feel that?
“I’ve felt that way my whole life.”
It may come as a surprise to hear that a veteran actress like Shields craves acceptance. Turns out she’s completely human. “I was listening to Demi, ‘It’s never been us who got the awards.’ Like no. I got the People’s Choice Awards! People loved me.”
“So, you got the People’s Choice Award, but you wanted an Emmy, or an Oscar?”
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“You just wanted to be part of the group of cool kids,” Shields said. “This is where the insecure little girl comes out.”
At this point in her six-decade career, the comedian has earned the right to laugh at herself.
Shields, now 59, said she feels 38 years old. “I definitely feel younger than I did in my younger years,” she said.
She started modeling while wearing diapers. Later, she caught attention wearing Calvin Klein jeans. Shields was expected to sell products and say her lines, all while looking cool. I delivered.
But as she approached 60, she found a cultural script that she strongly rejected.
“When you get to 50, they have completely written you off,” she said. “You’re out to pasture. Society says, ‘Oh, if you’re not in your 20s at the bar, you’re an old lady.'” There’s this whole demo in the middle that just gets ignored.
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These are the neglected women for whom Shields wrote her fourth book: “Brooke Shields is not allowed to grow old.” (It will be published Tuesday by Flatiron.) “When you’re someone who’s known for looking a certain way, because you’re getting older, you become a disappointment in some way,” she said. “I’ve watched people feel personally insulted that I dare to be 60!”
“What do you tell them?”
“I kind of feel bad for them,” Shields said. “And I’m part of the problem, because I was that symbol, you know, maybe unwittingly. But I didn’t set out to do it.”
Nearly 44 years after being named the face of a decade, Shields hopes to be a voice for her generation — and empower women by sharing their personal and sometimes vulnerable experiences.
In her book, she reveals that a doctor performed a surgery on her that she did not consent to. “The gynecologist asked me if I felt discomfort, and I said yes.”
In the late 2000s, Shields went to a surgeon to help reduce some of the discomfort in her labia. But after the procedure, she says she discovered he had had an additional procedure: unwanted vaginal rejuvenation. “He literally looked at me and said, ‘I got you a little tight,’” Shields said. “And I was like, ‘What?’ “And he was kind of bragging about giving me a little reward. I was in such shock that I became numb. I didn’t even know what to do.”
“What did you say?”
“I didn’t say that, I didn’t say anything. Because it seemed like he wanted me to to thank Shields answered. “I didn’t say anything then, and this is the first time I said anything.”
The so-called additional surgery had lasting side effects. The actress and model says sex can be painful.
“This was, you know, a long time ago. We didn’t know what to fight or complain about. I finally had a life and kids, and it was like, ‘Dear God, I don’t want this kind of attention,'” she said.
Why are you talking now? “Because I have daughters. And there’s no shame around it. And the more we have those conversations with them, conversations I’ve never had before, the more progress we’ll make as women.”
Shields is looking to make progress in other ways as well. In May, she was elected president of the Actors’ Equity Association, the union that represents 51,000 actors and stage managers across the country. As a five-time Broadway star, she felt a responsibility to give back to the community that embraced her.
She has already taken her fight to Washington for more funding and to change tax policy. “It’s been a learning curve,” she said. “It’s a trial by fire. I’ve never been to the Hill and met with congressmen and senators. But you know, producers need to take care of the people who bleed for them every day.”
Besides being president of the union, Shields is now CEO. She founded the beauty brand Cummins, after hearing concerns from older women about their hair. “They felt ignored, and that’s the truth,” she said. “It’s not marketed to them.”
When asked what the hardest part of being a CEO was, Shields replied: “Raising money. Keeping the money flowing, because you have to put it back directly into the company. And, you know, no one’s getting paid yet. At least I’m not!” She laughed.
Don’t ask Brooke Shields if she’s ready to slow down. Age has brought wisdom, and it’s just beginning.
“You know, I’ll be 60,” she said. “I’m still here. I feel like I’m at the beginning of a really new and exciting phase. The more confident you become – isn’t that interesting – the more opportunities you get. However, you couldn’t have achieved said confidence without going through all the time to get here.
Read an excerpt: “Brooke Shields is not allowed to grow old.”
Extra online: Watch an extended interview with Brooke Shields
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The story was produced by Michelle Kissel. Editor: George Bozderick.