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Book: There Was a Little Girl: The Real Story of My Mother and Me by Brooke Shields
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Authors: Brooke Shields
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time. There were many times we’d hear parents through the elevator door screaming at their kids or even slapping them. We often heard the sound of crying getting fainter as the elevator descended to the first floor. I never understood why moms promised their kids things like bicycles if the kids agreed to go in on a “go see.”
If the kid didn’t want to model, I thought he shouldn’t have to. My mother never bribed me or forced me to audition or work on things or on days I didn’t feel like it. Granted, I was quite young and hardly ever stood up to my mom, but I don’t recollect feeling pressured, like I was being forced to do something I didn’t want to do. Mom made me feel that it was all my choice. She’d say I could stop anytime I wanted to. I, of course, wanted nothing more than to please her, so I rarely refused to do anything. On any particular day, if I ever expressed not wanting to go in for a job, Mom would unplug the phone or we would escape the house and go to Central Park.
This infuriated clients and agencies, but it ironically made me more sought after. No is a powerful word.
Strangely enough, I got only a few jobs in commercials. I was castin a Johnson and Johnson Band-Aid ad and a Holly Hobbie doll commercial, but it quickly seemed that my looks were not considered all-American enough, and I was often turned down and labeled “too European.” Whenever I did get a job, I knew I’d have fun no matter what, and my mom would feel happy. It was a win-win situation.
I learned early on that the sweeter I was to the adults, the nicer they treated me. It was all just for fun during those years, or at least it seemed that way to me.
I stayed at my grade school in Manhattan while working and rarely missed a day to model. On some of the bigger trips, I might miss a Friday. Even as I got older, Mom maintained this rule. If the agency phoned to say I had a shoot for 10:00 A.M. on a Thursday, Mom would respond by saying that was great and we would see them all at 3:00. If they pushed, she’d claim that if they didn’t want me, it was fine to choose another child, but I would not be available until after school let out at 2:40. Basically, while other kids were involved in after-school sports or playdates, I was shooting for various catalogues. I can’t say I minded not playing sports or being forced to spend any time separated from my mother.
I have a lot of great memories from these early years. I was once cast as Jean Shrimpton’s daughter in an ad. Mom always said that I looked more like her than any other model or actress. Mom thought she was beautiful and had a face with perfect symmetry.
Over the next few years I modeled in ads and catalogues for Macy’s, Sears and Roebuck, Bloomingdale’s, Alexander’s, McCall’s, and Butterick. Whenever I had a “go see,” Mom remained in the background. On set, Mom was not one of the moms who made her presence imposing. She never hovered over the creative team or offered unsolicited direction to me. She saw everything and had her opinions about everybody, but during these days, she was more subtle and did not share her judgments with me.
Our life was active and fun. We basically each had a full-blown career. I modeled and Mom managed.
By the time I was ten, it became obvious that I was in need of larger and more credible representation. Mom looked around at the various available children’s agencies for models and was evidently dissatisfied with what she found. Even then, she had high aspirations and was not content settling for anything she deemed commonplace or plebeian.
Because she frequented many photographers’ studios and artists’ lofts socially and had friends who worked at cosmetic and hair care–oriented companies, she knew the best in the business. The models she loved all seemed to be represented by the Ford Modeling Agency and she knew the top ad agencies looked to them for their talent. Ford was an agency with such prestige and power
If the kid didn’t want to model, I thought he shouldn’t have to. My mother never bribed me or forced me to audition or work on things or on days I didn’t feel like it. Granted, I was quite young and hardly ever stood up to my mom, but I don’t recollect feeling pressured, like I was being forced to do something I didn’t want to do. Mom made me feel that it was all my choice. She’d say I could stop anytime I wanted to. I, of course, wanted nothing more than to please her, so I rarely refused to do anything. On any particular day, if I ever expressed not wanting to go in for a job, Mom would unplug the phone or we would escape the house and go to Central Park.
This infuriated clients and agencies, but it ironically made me more sought after. No is a powerful word.
Strangely enough, I got only a few jobs in commercials. I was castin a Johnson and Johnson Band-Aid ad and a Holly Hobbie doll commercial, but it quickly seemed that my looks were not considered all-American enough, and I was often turned down and labeled “too European.” Whenever I did get a job, I knew I’d have fun no matter what, and my mom would feel happy. It was a win-win situation.
I learned early on that the sweeter I was to the adults, the nicer they treated me. It was all just for fun during those years, or at least it seemed that way to me.
I stayed at my grade school in Manhattan while working and rarely missed a day to model. On some of the bigger trips, I might miss a Friday. Even as I got older, Mom maintained this rule. If the agency phoned to say I had a shoot for 10:00 A.M. on a Thursday, Mom would respond by saying that was great and we would see them all at 3:00. If they pushed, she’d claim that if they didn’t want me, it was fine to choose another child, but I would not be available until after school let out at 2:40. Basically, while other kids were involved in after-school sports or playdates, I was shooting for various catalogues. I can’t say I minded not playing sports or being forced to spend any time separated from my mother.
I have a lot of great memories from these early years. I was once cast as Jean Shrimpton’s daughter in an ad. Mom always said that I looked more like her than any other model or actress. Mom thought she was beautiful and had a face with perfect symmetry.
Over the next few years I modeled in ads and catalogues for Macy’s, Sears and Roebuck, Bloomingdale’s, Alexander’s, McCall’s, and Butterick. Whenever I had a “go see,” Mom remained in the background. On set, Mom was not one of the moms who made her presence imposing. She never hovered over the creative team or offered unsolicited direction to me. She saw everything and had her opinions about everybody, but during these days, she was more subtle and did not share her judgments with me.
Our life was active and fun. We basically each had a full-blown career. I modeled and Mom managed.
By the time I was ten, it became obvious that I was in need of larger and more credible representation. Mom looked around at the various available children’s agencies for models and was evidently dissatisfied with what she found. Even then, she had high aspirations and was not content settling for anything she deemed commonplace or plebeian.
Because she frequented many photographers’ studios and artists’ lofts socially and had friends who worked at cosmetic and hair care–oriented companies, she knew the best in the business. The models she loved all seemed to be represented by the Ford Modeling Agency and she knew the top ad agencies looked to them for their talent. Ford was an agency with such prestige and power
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