Brooke Shields, 58, discusses being sexualized as a child actor but says she was 'lucky' to have a 'strong mom and community' to protect her: 'Hollywood eats its young'

Brooke Shields discussed being a sexualized as a child actor and the perils of growing up in Hollywood as she marked International Women's Day on Friday by appearing on a panel at SXSW.

Shields, 58, who joined Meghan Markle and longtime news anchor Katie Couric to discuss  'breaking barriers' and 'women's representation, said she was at the 'center' of young women being sexualized in Hollywood and that her mother and team had protected her from predators.

The actress was just 11 when she was forced to seductively kiss Keith Carradine, then 27, in 1978 film Pretty Baby in which she played a prostitute. She also appeared nude in a Playboy shoot aged 10 - with the star confronting her childhood exploitation in documentary Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields.

She said: 'There was this sexualization of young women and I was at the center of it. I was promoting it, I was surrounded by a strong mom, had a community around me, I did not become the type of statistic that Hollywood created.'

Brooke Shields discussed being a sexualized as a child actor and the perils of growing up in Hollywood as she marked International Women's Day on Friday by appearing on a panel at SXSW

The actress was just 11 when she was forced to seductively kiss Keith Carradine, then 27, in 1978 film Pretty Baby in which she played a prostitute (Shields is seen in a promotional shot for the film shared on her documentary)

She added: 'Hollywood is predicated on eating its young.'

Shields reflected on aging in Hollywood and her determination to be the voice for woman over 40, saying: 'At 58 you're too old to be the ingénue but not quite the granny yet.

'I find my reaction is to instead of get angry, find and ferret out the filmmakers who appreciate a woman over 40 and appreciate the life experience

'There are people out there who want to cater their programming to women of that age.

'My entire career has been built on beauty, as I've gotten older I want my message to be appreciative, but beauty as a wellness.... we're not just wrinkle cream

'We need to change the narrative - and say that there is beauty in this age.'

Shields has previously said  she struggled to understand how her mother Teri Shields did not intervene during the filming of Pretty Baby as she revealed her own daughters, Rowan, 19, and Grier, 16, refuse to watch it.

In a clip from the documentary Pretty Baby, Rowan says: 'It's child pornography! Would you have let us [do that] at the age of 11?'

She said: 'There was this sexualization of young women and I was at the center of it. I was promoting it, I was surrounded by a strong mom, had a community around me, I did not become the type of statistic that Hollywood created'

Shields, 58, who joined Meghan Markle and longtime news anchor Katie Couric to discuss 'breaking barriers' and 'women's representation, said she was at the 'center' of young women being sexualized in Hollywood and that her mother and team had protected her from predators 

Shields has previously said she struggled to understand how her mother Teri Shields did not intervene during the filming of Pretty Baby as she revealed her own daughters, Rowan, 19, and Grier, 16, refuse to watch it (pictured)

Shields reflected on aging in Hollywood and her determination to be the voice for woman over 40, saying: 'At 58 you're too old to be the ingénue but not quite the granny yet'

Shields was seen arriving in Austin on Thursday 

Shields replies 'No' as she is overcome with emotion. Recalling the conversation, she told The Sunday Times Magazine: 'That was hard for me, to not justify my mom to them, but when they asked, I thought, ''Oh God, I have to admit this.'' But I don't know why she thought it was all right.'

The star's mother was an alcoholic who died in 2012. Shields, an only child, said she could not be angry at her as her mother was so insecure.

The actress has long deflected the blame faced by her mother - who allowed Shields to pose nude for a Playboy publication at the age of 10, but now Shields has admitted: 'I don't know why she thought it was all right. I don't know.'

Directed by Lana Wilson, the documentary takes its name from Louis Malle's 1978 film 'Pretty Baby,' a drama about a young sex worker, played by Shields, in New Orleans in 1917.

In the film, written by Polly Platt, she kisses Carradine while also appearing naked.

At one point, Shields reportedly gave a repulsed face and was yelled at by the director. Yet, her mother never stepped in.

'That was … that was hard for me, to not justify my mom to them, but when they asked me, I thought, 'Oh God, I have to admit this,' ' Shields told the Times when speaking about the documentary.

'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.'

It wasn't the first, nor would it be the last time she was sexualized by the media. At 15 she shot 'Blue Lagoon,' then came 'Endless Love.' Both featured sex and nudity. And then there were those Calvin Klein denim ads.

When she was 16 and a global star, a family friend and photographer tried to sell nude photos he took of her when she was only 10. Her mother sued and the family went to court but the photographer won.

The actress has long deflected the blame faced by her mother - who allowed Shields to pose nude for a Playboy publication at the age of 10, but now Shields has admitted: 'I don't know why she thought it was all right. I don't know. 

There was more sex and nudity for her the following year in Franco Zeffirelli's romantic drama Endless Love, about two high-school sweethearts who are forbidden to see each other.

And at 15, she appeared — writhing around in figure-hugging denim — in the provocative adverts for Calvin Klein Jeans, which featured the suggestive tagline: 'You want to know what comes between me and my Calvin's? Nothing.'

The films and that ad campaign helped propel her to international stardom.

For years she credited her fiercely defensive mother Teri, who was also her manager. 'If anybody looked at me sideways, she was like: 'I will cut off your b***s and make you eat them,' ' Shields said in 2019.

In the documentary, the actress reveals she was raped in her early 20s in a hotel room by an unnamed man in the film industry.

Aged 14 she began filming the leering teen romance Blue Lagoon — in which her character frequently stripped off and had sex with her fellow shipwrecked sweetheart played by Christopher Atkins, then 18

Shields has previously claimed her mother was 'in love with her' as she immersed herself in her daughter's career - and never dated anyone.

She told Drew Barrymore in a 2023 interview that her mother accompanied her to every single interview she had when she was younger.

Shields said: 'No one's going to get you. I'm going to be there. I'm there first. You're mine. I'm not going to give you to somebody.

'Under the guise of protection, but it was more ownership and fear.'

But at the time, Shields didn't mind how her mother acted because she connected the work she was doing with being able to buy 'stuff' for her mother.

'I did a movie and we got a car. All I knew was keep my mother alive, keep dancing and get stuff,' she recalled.