The #MeToo movement exposed the dark truth that women are not always treated kindly in Hollywood. The discourse that has come as a result of this is so important. Actress Brooke Shields is reclaiming her narrative and role in all this in the new Hulu documentary Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields.
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This documentary and the press tour accompanying it examine what it was like for Brooke to be a beautiful young girl in Hollywood who was sexualized at a very young age. One revelation that came out of all this is how Brooke’s then-boyfriend Andre Agassi disapproved of her guest spot on the TV hit Friends.
The year was 1996, and Brooke’s career was in need of a boost. A guest spot on the popular sitcom Friends would be just the ticket. Brooke was ready to prove she had comedy chops.
At the time, she was dating Andre Agassi, an American tennis player. The couple would go on to get married in 1997 but ultimately divorce in 1999. When Brooke was filming her role on Friends, Andre was there in the audience to support her but did not do a great job of this.
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Brooke’s character, Erika, was obsessed with Joey, played by Matt LeBlanc. On Friends, Joey was an actor who played Dr. Drake Ramoray on the soap opera Days of Our Lives. Erika believed Joey was actually Dr. Drake Ramoray, and the pair go on a date. The stage is set for comedy.
Brooke wanted to do a bit where she laughed crazily and licked Joey’s fingers. The directors were skeptical of this.
“They said, 'It’s too crazy. Don’t do it.' And I begged for it. 'It’s so funny. It just makes her crazier. And she’s pretty, so she needs to really be crazy.' And they were, like, 'No, no.' We did the first take, and it was fine,” Brooke explained.
It was fine but not yet great. “And then the second take, they scream, 'Shields! Put it back in!' All of a sudden, the energy changed, and all these men in suits started coming into the studio,” Brooke continued.
It was good that Brooke listened to her instincts, because it paid off. She landed her very own television series, Suddenly Susan, because of it.
“The next day, I was asked if I wanted to do my own television show,” Brooke recalled.
Her boyfriend soured the moment for her, though. “Andre was in the audience supporting me, and he stormed out,” she explained. “He said, 'Everybody’s making fun of me. You made a fool of me by that behavior.' I’m, like, 'It’s comedy! What is the matter with you?' I learned later that he was addicted to crystal meth at that point, so that irrational behavior I’m sure had something to do with that.”
Brooke does not excuse Andre’s actions. “It was petulant behavior. It co-opted it for me emotionally, because all of a sudden then my focus went to him,” she said. She also explained he went home and smashed all his trophies in anger.
