Brooke Shields has opened up about the sensitivity and care her co-star Keith Carradine showed during the filming of their 1978 film Pretty Baby.
In the controversial movie, the actress portrayed a young girl named Violet who was forced into prost*tution by her mother.
The movie sparked controversy because of its theme and Shields was only 11 at that time.
Carradine played E.J. Bellocq, a photographer who took Violet under his wing after her mother left her but eventually had an intimate relationship with her.
The movie also featured a scene in which Shields had to kiss her co-star, who was 29 at the time of the filming.
In an interview on The Drew Barrymore Show, the actress opened up about her difficult role and how Carradine reassured her through that particular scene.
Even though she admitted she felt filmmakers exploited her as a child, she said of her co-star’s professionalism and decency: “Keith Carradine took such good care of me. He looked at me and he said, ‘You know, this doesn’t count as a first kiss.’
“That was gracious and protective and caring on a level that I don’t even think I knew at the time. I’d never kissed a boy before.”
Shields also shared her thoughts about the movie, saying: “It was about these males needing me to be in a certain category [of beauty] to serve their story. And it never was about me. It was never protective of me. It was fun and loving at times, but it was ― I was just there. I was a pawn.”
In Shield’s documentary, also titled Pretty Baby, she revealed more about her struggles and shared how she was reprimanded by director Louis Malle for showing disgust during filming.
The Hulu docomentary’s director, Lana Wilson, stressed the reality of the situation.
Speaking to Rolling Stone, she said: “This is a moment I wanted to feature and unpack because, even if child Brooke was fully cognizant of the role she was playing, and even if she realized that acting was pretend, I can’t help but think: ‘This is an actual 11-year-old girl having to kiss an actual 29-year-old man.’ That inescapably is real. And the impact of that is real, too.”
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