Brooke Shields Discusses Being Sexualized During Early Career in Pretty Baby Doc Trailer: 'I Survived'

Kimberlee Speakman
·3 min read

Brooke Shields is revealing more about her life in the full trailer for her new documentary.

In the latest trailer for her Hulu documentary Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields, the model and actress gives the public further insight into how she felt being sexualized as a young person.

"The entirety of my life it was, 'she's a pretty face,' over and over and over and over again, and that always seared me," the 57-year-old says in the first few minutes of the trailer over footage of her getting ready for a modeling shoot.

The two-part documentary will reflect on her career working as a child model at 11 months old and the impact of being cast in Louis Malle's film Pretty Baby at the age of 12, before going on to star in The Blue Lagoon and Endless Love and becoming the face of Calvin Klein jeans in the 1980s.

Brooke Shield's new Hulu documentary called "Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields."
Brooke Shield's new Hulu documentary called "Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields."

Hulu

RELATED: Brooke Shields Says She 'Spent My Life Owing People Things' in Teaser for Her New Doc 'Pretty Baby'

The trailer shows two polarizing sides of her image early on in her career with voiceovers calling her an "iconic American beauty" and "object of desire," as well as a "sexualized child model" who was "vulnerable" due to "exploitation."

"She was catapulted into the world of adult sexuality," a voiceover in the trailer says, going on to describe her as a "young girl in an all adult world."

In one shot, Shields tearfully admits: "I'm amazed that I survived any of it."

Close-up of American actor and model Brooke Shields as she promotes her movie 'Blue Lagoon' at the St Moritz Hotel, New York, New York, June 1, 1980.
Close-up of American actor and model Brooke Shields as she promotes her movie 'Blue Lagoon' at the St Moritz Hotel, New York, New York, June 1, 1980.

Sonia Moskowitz/Getty Brooke Shields in 1980

"I was struggling to find my own voice," she adds. "I wasn't told it was important to have agency."

Shields broke free from Hollywood by attending college at Princeton, and later returned to the entertainment industry after finding her identity and voice.

"I found my confidence and thought I can have my own opinion," she says in the trailer. "Aw hell no, you're not taking this away from me… Now it's like I'm allowed to be a human being."

RELATED Video: Brooke Shields Reveals She Was Sexually Assaulted 30 Years Ago: 'I Blamed Myself'

Shields told PEOPLE last week for her cover story that she will also shed light on some of her own harrowing experiences in the documentary including being sexually assaulted by a powerful Hollywood executive.

"It's taken me a long time to process it," Shields said of the assault that occurred in her 20s. "I'm more angry now than I was able to be then. If you're afraid, you're rightfully so. They are scary situations. They don't have to be violent to be scary."

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She said that now she's sharing her experience "with the hopes of helping people not feel alone.

"Everybody processes their own trauma on a different timeline. I want to be an advocate for women to be able to speak their truth," she said.

Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields will stream on Hulu on April 3.

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