Brooke Shields says she 'fought' against her 17-year-old daughter starting a modeling career 'for so long' before giving in
Brooke Shields initially didn't want her daughter Grier Henchy to become a model.
She ultimately realized the 17-year-old was passionate about it and gave in.
Shields put rules in place: She wouldn't be Grier's manager and Grier still had to go to college.
Some parents are thrilled when their child follows in their footsteps, but Brooke Shields was less than enthused when her younger daughter wanted to start her own modeling career.
Shields, who shares daughters Rowan Frances Henchy, 20, and Grier Hammond Henchy, 17, with husband Chris Henchy, opened up about Grier's burgeoning runway modeling career during an interview Thursday on "Live With Kelly and Mark." The "Blue Lagoon" star said she was apprehensive when Grier, who has been "doing little things here and there," first approached her about modeling.
"I fought it for so long," Shields told cohosts Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos. "It's such a different industry now than it was," she added, noting that social media didn't exist when she was a model.
Shields specified that Grier is aspiring to work as a runway model. "That's brutal, and backstage is just brutal," she said. "I never did runway. I don't think I would've been able to handle it."
Eventually, Shields said she realized that Grier was "really passionate" about modeling and decided to allow her daughter to model — with some rules in place.
"I finally had to give in and say if you're gonna do this, A) I'm not gonna be your manager. You're going to be with an agency," Shields said. "You are gonna have a great work ethic. It's not going to be comfortable and you're gonna listen to me. Those are my rules. And you're going to college."
Shields acknowledged that having her own mother Teri as a manager "probably was how I could survive," because they were "glued at the hip" and Teri was "such a mama bear" that she wouldn't allow anyone to get to Shields.
The actress previously opened up about her traumatic experiences in the industry, including being sexually assaulted by a Hollywood executive, as well as her complicated relationship with Teri, in the two-part Hulu documentary "Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields" and subsequent press tour. As Shields recounted in the documentary, Teri alllowed her to pose nude for a Playboy publication while a minor and appear semi-nude in films such as "Pretty Baby" and "The Blue Lagoon."
Appearing on "The Drew Barrymore Show" in April, Shields described how she was her mother's "main focus" and said her mother didn't date because she was "in love" with Shields.
"Both of us were cut off from our sexuality," Shields told Barrymore. "I was going to stay a virgin. She was going to be just Teri Terrific."
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