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Topics: Film and TV
Ben Thompson
Topics: Film and TV
Brooke Shields' early years in the spotlight are being examined in a new documentary - and her 'first kiss' has come under particular scrutiny.
Shields' first kiss took place when she was 11-years-old and with an actor nearly three times her age.
It happened while she was filming 1978's Pretty Baby, which sees a young Shields playing a child prostitute who is later auctioned and bought by Ernest Belloqc, played by Keith Carradine.
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Speaking of the moment in her new documentary, Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields, director Lana Wilson reflected on the significance of the kiss.
Wilson said: "This is a moment I wanted to feature and unpack because, even if child Brooke was fully cognisant 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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"Eleven-year-old Brooke expressed discomfort during the filming of this moment, but that discomfort was not taken seriously by the director."
Shields, now 57, also questioned why her late mother allowed her to appear in the film and pose nude for a magazine at the age of 10.
Reflecting on her mother's decisions, the Jane the Virgin star said: "I mean, I could say, "Oh, it was the time back then," or, "Oh, it was art," but I don't know why she thought it was all right. I don't know."
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She later told The Sunday Times: "I had to contend with so much at such an early age, and there was resilience, but also I put on blinders as a defense mechanism.
"But now I can look at that little girl and think, 'She did it, she pulled through'."
Shields has also revealed that her own daughters refuse to watch her earlier work, as they have branded it 'child pornography'.
When hearing about her early scenes, eldest daughter Rowan exclaimed: "It’s child pornography," before asking: "Would you have let us [do that] at the age of 11?"
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Shields empathically replied: "No."
The documentary also touches on other areas of Shields' life, including her experience with sexual assault in her twenties, her falling out with Tom Cruise and her relationship with Michael Jackson.
The model has previously stated that her 1980 film, The Blue Lagoon, would not be made today, as it contained 'underage nudity'.
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Shields said: "Never again will a movie be made like that.
"It wouldn’t be allowed."
"Animals were hurt in the movie. We were spearing fish and all kinds of crazy things. Children are naked running down a beach."
Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields is now available to stream on Disney+.