Brooke Shields on What She Wants All Young Women to Know at Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields Sundance Premiere

The subject of the new Hulu documentary shared her advice for girls and her younger self

From the LifeMinute.TV Team

January 23, 2023

Model and ’80s icon Brooke Shields received a standing ovation for Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on Friday in Park City, Utah. In the two-part documentary, director Lana Wilson (Miss Americana, 2020 Sundance Film Festival) reveals Shields’ story through media appearances and archival footage, bringing full context to the time when Shields was coming of age in public.

Starting as a child model, then coming to prominence in the controversial Louis Malle film Pretty Baby at age 12, the early career of the young star was defined by sexuality that she could neither claim nor comprehend. She continued to be objectified in a series of provocative Calvin Klein jeans ads and leading roles in 1980s teensploitation hits The Blue Lagoon and Endless Love.

We asked the now mother of two teen girls for advice for younger women and her younger self. “First of all, try to surround yourself with good people. It's hard to find your own agency," said Shields. "Do the work on yourself. Never underestimate yourself…I think I thought I just never wanted to be a victim to an industry, to culture. To anything.”

Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields will premiere later this year on Hulu.