Brooke Shield’s girls Rowan and Grier are having a hard time processing their mother’s most popular movie, Pretty Baby, which required her to kiss a co-star nearly three times her age at 11. Grier says she has had enough of the harrowing clip on social media and would rather see other happier scenes.
The 1978 movie was about a pre-teen girl, played by Brooke, who was forced to be a sex worker in the New Orleans brothel where she grew up. There were more distasteful moments in the film, including one where she appeared totally nude and another where her virginity was being auctioned.
Does a stage kiss count?
Unlike Grier, Rowan was a bit more comprising as she assumed a stage kiss was make-believe over reality. Interestingly, that was same idea Brooke’s 29-year-old co-star peddled to her before they kissed. Keith Carradine said it will not count as a first time since they were only doing their job.
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Brooke saw no problem with this at the time, and till now thinks Carradine was also struggling. Interestingly, her daughters have never been intentional about avoiding Pretty Baby since they prefer reality TV, animation or their mom’s Netflix productions such as Mother of the Bride.
Brooke says ‘Pretty Baby’ was her best yet
Ironically, Brooke considers the bizarre movie one of the best of her career, noting that it was a cinematic beauty. Pretty Baby did win a Palm d’OR, but one cannot say the same for her daughters’ hearts. She still receives public criticism for being cast as Violet, but her preference remains unchanged.
Pretty Baby opened doors to more similar roles for Brooke, nearly typecasting her as an underage sex symbol per Blue Lagoon and Endless Love. At 15, her campaign for Calvin Klein’s denim ignited backlash due to her pose and sultry portrayal in the commercial. With Rowan and Grier off to college, she is currently empty-nesting with her producer and screenwriter husband Chris Henchy.