In a revealing new interview, Brooke Shields - who turns 44 next month - says her age is making it hard for her to land roles in Hollywood.
“For years, I’ve been the youngest person on the set, and it occurred to me recently that I wasn’t 26!” she tells May’s More Magazine. “I’d read a script and say, ‘Oh, that’s a great character, that’s something I’d love to do.’ And they’d say, ‘Um, no, we’re thinking of you for the mother.’ And then I’d say, ‘Oh, of course! Of course! I knew that.’”
“There aren’t a lot of movies out there for my age,” adds Shields, whose NBC show Lipstick Jungle was canceled last year after two seasons. “They’re still stopping at the mid-30s. Then you’re Diane Keaton or Glenn Close.” (Keaton is 63; Close, 62.)
Shields — who, at age 14, became the youngest fashion model ever to appear on Vogue and went on to be a Calvin Klein model — says she sees ageism in advertising too.
“I always find it funny that so much skin cream advertising features, like, Jessica Alba,” she says. “She’s gorgeous, and 12! Okay? They’re all that age! I don’t care how much La Mer I put on my skin, I’m not going to have Jessica Alba’s face!”
When it comes to her body, Shields says, “I’m proud of my longevity more than anything else. There’s a lot to be said for endurance. I’m trying to find the beauty in the whole picture rather than the crow’s feet.”
She adds, “Sure, I wish I had the face I had a decade ago, but I don’t. People say, ‘I love my wrinkles.’ I don’t love my wrinkles – come on!”
