Since the age of 13, when she played a child prostitute in ”Pretty Woman,”
Brooke Shields has been in the public eye. But always under the watchful gaze of her mother. A conversation with Shields, now 26, becomes a mother-daughter repartee. Shields talks about her mother`s role in her life, her relationships as well as her latest movie (”Brenda Starr”) and her new goal: to learn how to cook. See Cover Story inside.
Talking to Brooke Shields, 26, can be an unnerving experience. She sits looking glossily beautiful: hair, teeth, eyes, makeup, in perfect match.
Then, right alongside her, is her formidable mother, Teri.
She is scrubbed of makeup, grayish hair pulled back, her slightly overweight figure verging on blowsy.
Brooke`s voice is light and fluffy, words delivered through a half-smile. Then, every so often, her mother`s voice cuts across, firm and resonant.
For example, as we discuss Brooke`s new film, ”Brenda Starr” (which was to open June 7 but has been postponed to Labor Day weekend), based on the comic-strip action-adventure newswoman, Brooke says, ”Mom introduced me to Brenda. She said, `Here is this great girl.` But I was always too young to play her until now.”
Then Brooke`s mother cuts in.
”She had the original script, but she was too young. Brenda Starr is a perpetual 23. I wish we could all be like that,” says Teri Shields.
Get the picture?
This Ping-Pong dialogue continues at intervals throughout our talk on the terrace of their hotel in southern France, which overlooks the white sails that glide across a smooth blue sea.
It is the latest stop for Brooke and Teri Shields, who often travel the world in five-star style.
One moment they`re in Paris, where Brooke may be about to appear with Bob Hope in a TV special; the next they`re in London, with Brooke putting in an appearance to open a Harrods sale along with actor Roger Moore.
Such events don`t have much to do with acting, but they do pay well and add to the funds and the reputation of the Brooke Shields Co., of which both daughter and mother are partners.
They have been a highly unusual duo ever since Shields became an adolescent celebrity at age 13, playing a child prostitute in the
controversial film ”Pretty Baby” (1978).
Since then, apart from a role opposite Christopher Atkins in ”The Blue Lagoon” (1980), her movies have opened and closed without much trace.
That Shields is still such an international name is something of a tribute to self-promotional efforts.
”(Mom) is the most important person in my life,” says Shields with a glance at her ever-present chaperone. ”We do everything together.”
But what happens when Shields wants to have a private life?
Despite reports of her romantic link with multimillionaire Dodi Fayed, 35-year-old son of Harrods` boss Mohammed Al Fayed, Shields` mother is rarely far away.
”She`s better at choosing my boyfriends than I am myself,” says Brooke. ”When I see someone I really like I give her the eye that inquires, `What do you think?`
”I can never remember a time when I really liked someone and she did not. There is no type-no `tall, dark and handsome` formula. It is just a feeling I get.”
And where does this rather bizarre ritual take place?
”Oh, anywhere,” says Brooke. ”It could be at a party or at a reception. Usually I try and let them know I would like them to come forward and say hello.
”I just look at them and smile or say, `Hi.` They are often reluctant to come over and introduce themselves. Or at least most of the nice ones are like that.”
Her mother interrupts: ”Remember when you pretended to do your lipstick and looked in the mirror at them?”
Brooke gives a half-embarrassed laugh. ”When I was younger that is what I did. I always thought of scenes from a movie, with Elizabeth Taylor or someone.
”I mean, who has compacts like that in their purses anymore? I would take it out and look over. I don`t think anyone saw me doing it.”
And has this odd pickup system ever worked?
”If it had I would probably be with him now,” says Shields. ”All the guys I have dated have had something different to offer. No one is better than the other.
”The important thing is that I have been able to maintain friendships afterward. Perhaps the reason is that I am spoiled and do not like giving anything up.
”But if you have spent time with someone and really enjoyed it, then why bring it to a total end? I do like to maintain a distance, while preserving what I can.”
Despite such a cool approach to romance, Shields has been in love.
Far from the much-publicized remarks about how rock star George Michael supposedly broke her heart-”I never said that at all”-there was an affair with an unnamed college student during her three years at Princeton University (she graduated in 1987).
”If love is thinking more of the other person than you do of yourself, I was in love,” she says.
”He was a year younger than me and I went out with him for all the time I was there.
”It ended because I started to travel much more and it was harder to maintain any real relationship. Now I don`t think having a serious boyfriend is any sort of priority.
”I am concentrating hard on my work and career. It is not a sacrifice to be without a boyfriend because it is not what I`m thinking about. I am a long way from settling down.”
Her most settled time so far has been spent at college. ”There was a sense of real camaraderie, warmth and protection,” Shields says wistfully.
”The responsibility is nothing like the outside world. I was having the best time possible. Academically and mentally I was being stimulated. I will never have that opportunity again. It`s a freedom I did not really appreciate until it was all over.”
But the press was not universally glowing about her time at Princeton. She recalls one report that ridiculed her academic achievements.
”They said Princeton had been easy for me and my teachers were easy on me,” she says. ”It said, `Brooke Shields graduated with honors because she gave her picture to a professor.`
”It was totally ridiculous, of course, but it was strange to think my life could be written about with such inaccuracy.”
For that reason, she is cautious about who she speaks to these days.
”The press can be as intrusive as I let it. It depends on how weak I feel. If I can take it all with a grain of salt and realize it is a form of flattery that anyone could take the interest, then perhaps I won`t get too hurt.”
But being so constantly on the move, is it possible to have a normal life? Is there anywhere to hide?
”When we check into a place, the secret is not to tell a soul,” her mother says. ”We can and do get away. Just the two of us.”
Otherwise, they share a luxurious home in New Jersey, plus an apartment in New York City. Brooke`s life there revolves around dance classes, exercise classes, pottery and movies.
But she is currently more interested in being watched than doing the watching.
”Brenda Starr,” a comic adventure in which her character chases after a newspaper story in the face of danger and espionage, has the added box-office attraction of British actor Timothy Dalton playing the mysterious character Basil St. John.
”Tim is a shy and private man,” says Shields. ”It was great for the part because he was playing a mystery man and he was mysterious in real life, too.
”The only time I really got to talk to him in eight weeks was when we took a boat ride after work one night. We were in a quiet situation, the day was over and the weekend ahead. He had a couple of beers … ”
” … he likes a couple of beers,” says her mother, interrupting.
” … and he became more relaxed. But he still did not open up a great deal.”
But bachelor Dalton, who has enjoyed a long friendship with actress Vanessa Redgrave, did reveal something about his attitude toward women.
”He told me the way to a man`s heart is through his stomach,” says Shields. ”He said I would have to learn to cook. He really was insistent about getting me to cook.”
She reflects on this memory for some seconds, then says, ”I am going to learn to cook one day-but not because Tim told me I should.”
Her mother lets out a slight whistle of air through her teeth at this point and says, ”She`s great with salads.”
”Yeah, I`m great with salads,” says Brooke.
Bow-tied waiters laden with lunch pick their way along the tables on each side of us on the terrace. One of the yachts moored along the nearby rocky shoreline growls into action.
Mother and daughter discuss their next appointment, cocktails at a hotel. I get the feeling it will be a long time before either of them cooks her own dinner.
