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Brooke Shields Has the Best Life Advice

Preview: humility is overrated and your gums need more attention

Many things come to mind when thinking of Brooke Shields. There are the brows, of course, arguably some of the most luxuriant arches ever spotted north of anyone’s pupils. There are the movies, starting with her first leading role at just 12 in Pretty Baby, the controversial story of a child prostitute. (The film was actually banned in Ontario.) There are sitcoms (Suddenly Susan, Lipstick Jungle) and iconic fashion moments (that Calvin Klein commercial), dancing at Studio 54 at 14 and attending Princeton University.

It’s been a full and fascinating life, and at 55, it continues to be. “I think I’m just starting,” she told People last year. Even a broken femur isn’t enough to get in her way. When I speak to her over the phone, Shields is in her first day of rehabbing the injury, the result of a balance board accident. “I feel good,” she says. “I’m glad to have something like this to focus on.” 

 

“This” is her latest partnership with Colgate. She first appeared in an ad for the brand as a smiling 9-year-old extolling the importance of cavity prevention. Now, 46 years later, she’s promoting its new Renewal toothpaste, which helps reverse early gum damage. It’s a testament to not only the longevity of her career but also her philosophy about aging. “This is the one life that you get and you really should take care of all that you’re given,” she says. Here, Shields shares how she looks after herself and what she wishes she’d known earlier.

How has your approach to health changed over time?

“I think you take it for granted when you’re younger because you recover quickly. You burn the candle at both ends and you just think you’re invincible and it’s not so. Your body’s been really working hard for you for a number of years. Now, I realize it’s even more important for me to focus on preventative health, whether it’s my gums or my bones or whatever. ” 

You’ve said in the past that you wouldn’t go back to 25. What are you loving about this phase of life?

“I think I’m loving it because I have it. I feel as if you don’t realize that—and again, that’s a product of youth—and you just keep going and you don’t think about how lucky you are to be able to be in your body. If COVID has taught us anything it’s that we have very little control over anything, but we do have control of our health, our gum health, our mental health, our physical health, and it’s up to us to take the initiative.”

brooke shields
Getty ImagesBrooke Shields in the legendary 1980 film, The Blue Lagoon.

How are you looking after your mental health these days?

“I think I’ve gone back a bit more to rituals, whether it’s a beauty routine or baths or reading or just spending time in the same room with my kids without grilling them for some information, which I’m known to do. [laughs] Those things remind me to not lose sight of where I am right now, in the present. I race around in my head, I multitask. To me, I’m a product of my ability to do the most and I’ve learned over this last year in particular that none of it really matters the same way, with the same value that I put on it prior.” 

“The minute you start comparing, you fail”

You mentioned control, which is such a central part of aging; feeling like we’re losing control over our physical self. How do you deal with that? 

“I think the minute you start comparing, you fail. If you think in terms of being on the cover of a magazine, or being a face of an entire decade, there’s no way you can maintain that. If I let myself find value in that, I start thinking, ‘Oh my God, maybe I’m just a disappointment.’ We hold ourselves up to these unrealistic expectations and that just sets us up for failure. So the only way that I can deal with it is by not thinking in terms of what was, but in terms of what is and what I’m still working toward.”

“Confidence does not equal arrogance”

This question is a bit cliché, but I really want to know the answer: What advice would you give your younger self?

“I would absolutely say have more confidence. You deserve to have so much more confidence, and confidence does not equal arrogance. It doesn’t have to, anyway. I think I feared it. I feared arrogance so I would constantly diminish my inner self just to stay less than, stay humble, and really never spent much time celebrating anything and that’s not fair.”

brooke shields
Getty ImagesA 14-year-old Brooke Shields dancing in Studio 54 at Andy Warhol’s book launch party

Well, in the spirit of celebrating your achievements, what are your proudest accomplishments?

“After starting [my career] when I was 11 months old, that I’m still doing what I love to do, finding opportunity and allowing myself to still be ambitious—I feel very proud of that. I’m extremely proud that I went to university and that I graduated with honours and did something that was purely for me. I understand that it was a luxury, but it was a very important luxury that I was able to benefit from. And just having really amazing daughters who communicate, who talk, who are always invited back. I also have a 20-year marriage. I never want to stop working, but if I didn’t have all of this as my foundation, I don’t know where I would be and I’m really proud of the fact that I’m allowing myself that foundation so that I can still do what I love to do.”

You’re a mother to two daughters. How do you instil confidence in them?

“By never having it sound like advice! You have to show it by example. If you go through something, make sure they witness that you were scared but that you made a choice or that you took a learning moment and weren’t too prideful that you fought it, but said, ‘Okay, I’m going to take what I can from it and hopefully never make this mistake again.’ And then a lot of it is when they’re not looking at me. They’re like animals in the wild, you can’t look them in the eye! [laughs] I found that if you’re in the car or you’re involved in an activity, you can kind of slip things in when they’re distracted and then hopefully it sinks in. Just kind of remind them of things but have it be less about ‘You should and shouldn’t do this’ and ask more questions. Instead of saying, ‘I’m not annoying!’ when they say I’m annoying, I’ll say, ‘Okay, why? Help me not be annoying the next time.’ And then some things I can take and some things I’m like, ‘Well, too bad!’ But it’s listening to them, not just dictating to them, which is really hard to do.”

“Every single person has insecurities and fears”

Throughout your career, you’ve met some pretty incredible people, from Andy Warhol to Elizabeth Taylor, is there anyone who stands out to you or proved most impactful?

“You know, it’s hard, because when you meet people, especially people who are a hero in any way, I think the most frightening thing to realize is that they’re human. At a very early age, I quickly saw that every single person has insecurities and fears. It doesn’t matter who. But I think I noticed the healthiest people had real lustre in their souls and had surrounded themselves with people who were very grounded. It takes people who are confident in their own selves to be around someone like these people you mentioned.”

How do you cultivate that confidence and lustre?

“I think I learned everything exactly when I should’ve learned it. In the wishful ‘should’ve, would’ve, could’ve,’ I would’ve saved myself some angst, however, I think the only way you gain real confidence is by failing and getting up. It’s when you hit a roadblock, fall, don’t get that thing, suck at that other thing or get reprimanded for that or embarrassed by this, whatever those things are that happen multiple times in your life, it’s how you step up again and learn from it.”

brooke shields
ColgateColgate Renewal Gum Revitalize Whitening Restoration, $6, walmart.ca

“When you’re younger you think taking care of your teeth is a chore and all you want is white teeth,” says Shields. “It’s been really eye-opening to realize that gum damage can happen early and this product can actually target it and reverse it, which I think is just extraordinary.”

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