Brooke Shields’ crazed fans tried to cut pieces of her hair off at the peak of her fame.
The actress, 61, made the admission as she reflected on the extraordinary and unsettling fan reaction that followed the release of Pretty Baby, revealing people literally wanted “a piece” of her when they saw in her public, after she was swept into international fame at just 11 years old.
The 61-year-old discussed the aftermath of the controversial 1978 film during an appearance on The Bossticks podcast on 1 June, with the movie seeing her star as a child prostitute in the film directed by Louis Malle.
She said about the production transforming her life overnight: “And then we went to the Cannes Film Festival with the film. And there was such a frenzy about me and it was crowds of people and them trying to cut off my hair and it was insane.”
Brooke added fans “wanted a piece of me” and branded the experience “ridiculous.”
Recalling the production itself, Brooke explained filming on Pretty Baby took place in New Orleans over several months and required balancing work commitments with her education.
She said: “And it was such a difficult shoot to do because we were in New Orleans for almost five months and it was just a period movie, and the hours were really long and it was during summer.”
Brooke added: “So I only worked the three months and then I had to work, like, on weekends so I didn't miss school.”
The actress also said the experience left such an impression on her and her mother, Teri Shields, they initially considered stepping away from filmmaking.
Brooke said: “And my mom and I were like, ‘Nope, never again. No more movies for us. Go back to modeling’.”
She also reflected on the controversy that surrounded Pretty Baby after its release, admitting neither she nor her mother anticipated the public response.
Brooke said: “It was a French director's first American film.”
She added: “And so we were so proud cause my mom always just, like, took me to Fellini movies and took me to all these art films.”
Brooke continued: “We'd see Disney cartoons and stuff too, but she was taking me to these real art house movies from the time I was a little girl.”
She added: “And so I had this appreciation of cinema and then was so happy to be a part of a film that was really cinematic and then it just, like, wrecked our whole life our lives and we just refused to do anything for years.”
Brooke’s comments come amid continuing discussion of her early career following the 2023 documentary Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields, which re-examined her childhood stardom and the scrutiny she faced as a young performer.
Brooke remains best known for films including Pretty Baby and The Blue Lagoon, as well as television series such as Suddenly Susan, while her Calvin Klein advertising campaign became one of the most talked-about celebrity endorsements of its era.
Following Pretty Baby, Brooke starred in 1980’s The Blue Lagoon, another role that generated intense public discussion. She later stepped away from Hollywood to focus on her studies before graduating from Princeton University with a degree in French literature.
In the decades that followed, Brooke returned to film and television, starring in productions including Running Wild, The Midnight Meat Train, Lipstick Jungle and You’re Killing Me.
More recently, she has become an outspoken advocate for discussions surrounding child stardom, media scrutiny and the treatment of young performers in the entertainment industry.
