“Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old.”
That’s the title of Shields’ new memoir, and it’s also something a man felt comfortable saying to her at a party, the actor shared during a recent appearance on “The Kelly Clarkson Show.”
“I was at a cocktail party and I was having a nice conversation with a gentleman, and he was sort of impressing me with his knowledge of wine, so I decided to talk about my vintage,” she told Clarkson.
“And I said, ‘Oh, I’m 59,’ and he said, ‘I wish you didn’t tell me that.’”
Shields said she was “shocked” at the time and realized the man had had “a knee-jerk reaction.”
“In that one moment, he had to understand his age, he had to understand that I was no longer ‘Blue Lagoon,’ and all of it got put on its head,” she said, referring to her 1980 movie, “The Blue Lagoon,” which came out when she was 15.
She said this moment reminded her that some people struggle to accept that she is no longer the teenager who rose to fame for her Calvin Klein ads, as well as for her controversial sensual early roles in movies including “Pretty Baby” and “Endless Love.”
“Unless you are a figure that sadly dies early, you don’t stay frozen. And so it made me really start thinking of what we do, especially in this country, to women,” she said. “And then, for me, to be around this long but not be 15, and have people imprint on me at age 15, or maybe I was in their locker or their posters.”
Shields said she received a similar comment from a stranger while recording a recent Instagram Live video.
“I got one of the little notes that said, ‘Wow, I wish you looked like the way you used to look,’” she said. “And I was like, read the title of my book. Do you understand what you’re doing culturally?”
The actor and model said she is not personally offended by these comments, but said she feels “offended for women who are not allowed to age gracefully.”
“You’re either the sexy girl at the bar or you’re in Depends, and there’s no middle ground,” she said. “I love this middle ground because I’ve earned it.”
She added that at this point in her life, she no longer cares what other people think about her age.