Brooke Shields on her enduring battle with family and fame: ‘I had to keep my mom alive’

Of all the labels that Hollywood has stuck on Brooke Shields, perhaps none is more accurate than this one: fighter.    

The actress, model and beauty icon, synonymous with some of the biggest films of the 1980s and ’90s, has been in the spotlight since she was barely a teenager. Her first appearance on screen was when she was 11 months old, and her star has kept rising since.

Her films, such as Pretty Baby (1978) and The Blue Lagoon (1980), were celebrated – although her choice to act in them was debated. Brooke was the most wanted woman in Hollywood who had to answer for every action.   

The hard-fought battle for You’re Killing Me

Brooke, now 61, seems to have emerged relatively unscathed from the glare of the spotlight. But, as she enters a new chapter with comedy crime drama You’re Killing Me on Stan, she’s still fighting the good fight.

Brooke leads the series as mystery writer Allie Chandler, who joins forces with a Gen Z true-crime podcaster to solve the murder of a close friend. Generation-gap fun, snappy banter and crime chaos ensues. But it wasn’t always going to be that way.

“We pitched the show and I fought for it to be a comedy,” Brooke tells TV WEEK.

“They wanted to take out the comedy and make it a mystery show. But I wanted to do something families can watch together because I’m from an era where we did that. I want this to be an escape from the world. And those comedic moments allow for the dramatic moments to be believable.”

With huge viewing numbers internationally, the show has already been signed up for another season. It’s validation for her vision, but also a personal highlight for Brooke.

“At my age, I’ve been doing this a long time and I’m just so thankful I’m still getting opportunities to do what I love.”

How Brooke’s cameo in Friends led to Suddenly Susan

Comedy has always been prominent in her career, but Brooke wasn’t always known for it.

“If you look a certain way, like I did, and get labelled the ‘Lolita’ or the one in the Calvin Klein ads, that perception was what people wanted me to fulfil,” she says.

“While I was much more comfortable doing comedy!”

It was her turn as a delirious fan in Friends that caught the attention of Hollywood executives.

It’s now 30 years since that 1996 cameo, but Brooke still remembers her shock when she was asked to do it: “I couldn’t believe it,” she says.

“I was a big fan of the show.”

Brooke’s vision was to up the antics on her character, but she was met with resistance.

“I didn’t want to play myself and my instinct was to make the character a bit crazy. But [Friends co-creator and showrunner] Marta Kauffman kept saying no,” she recalls. “We did the first pass and then, on the second take, Marta screamed: ‘Shields, put it back in!’ So I was able to do what I wanted – this wild laugh to make her a little nutty.”

The very next day “I was offered my own TV show,” Brooke says. She went on to star in Suddenly Susan, which ran from 1996–2000 and earned her two Golden Globe nominations.

An unexpected phone call

Away from her on-screen triumphs, the actress was still in a pressure-cooker environment. The press scrutinised her looks and complicated relationship with her mother, Teri, whom many refer to as the original ‘Momager’. Teri, who battled alcoholism for much of her life, had a co-dependant relationship with daughter Brooke which became strained over the years.

“Hollywood had a hard time defining me because I wasn’t one thing, so it was sort of unprecedented back then,” Brooke says of her intense fame in so many areas.

“But I just kept trying to work. Going to university was the best thing I ever did because I didn’t have to talk to anyone. I just had to stay steady and keep my mum alive because I loved her. She made me feel lovable, whatever the industry said.”

An entity unto herself, Brooke had no one else to share her experience with. But then, out of the blue, she received a call.

“Jane Fonda called me!” Brooke says. “And it was so interesting to talk to a woman who’s had such experience and is so talented. And she had these questions and asked if I was ok, and I didn’t really have any answers. I just knew I loved my mother and that set me on the right path.

“I try to meet people with empathy because I don’t know what they are going through. There’s a lot to be said for just listening.”

Lessons learned

Brooke tries to instill that approach in her daughters, Rowan and Grier, whom she shares with husband Chris Henchy. “I try to teach my girls to meet people with an open heart and kill them with kindness – because the world can be tough.”

So, for all the pressure and media glare over her six-decade career, did Brooke ever consider leaving acting behind?

Not even for a second. “I enjoy it too much,” she smiles. “It’s worth fighting for.”

You’re Killing Me is available August 17 on Stan