Brooke Shields Told Her Daughter Grier Not to Pursue Modeling for the Fame

Brooke Shields is one of the world's most famous models, but the super was initially hesitant about letting her younger daughter, Grier Henchy, follow in her footsteps. In an interview with Real Simple, Shields opened up about the words of wisdom she gives her daughter when it comes to fame and pursuing a career in the industry.

"I fought it for so many years because she was just too young," Shields recalled of Grier's modeling aspirations. "And then when she turned 18, I said, 'Okay, look. I can’t say no at this point, because you’re starting to become your own person. But here’s the thing: I’m not going to be your manager. I need you to have an agent. And if your agent disagrees with what I say and they give you reasons why, then you have to decipher what you believe.'"

Shields wants Grier to do it for the right reasons; she warned her daughter she couldn't pursue modeling solely for fame or a paycheck. "'And you can’t just want to be famous, and it can’t just be to make money," Shields continued. "It has to come from a deeper place because it’s not fun. It’s hard and it’s thankless.' She’s a beautiful girl, but there are a lot of beautiful girls around."

Shields also shares an older daughter, Rowan Henchy, with her husband, director Chris Henchy, and the author revealed that she has an open dialogue about societal beauty standards with both of her girls. "I don’t shy away from telling them they’re beautiful, because they are, in my eyes as a mother! So I’m allowed that; it’s my prerogative," she said before adding that she encourages them not to find their self-worth in physical appearance alone.

"But it has to have a caveat. I tell them that beauty means different things to different people and different cultures," she continued. "And it’s not all you are. It is a piece and part of your individuality."

One reason for Shields's trepidation is her own rapid rise to fame during the '80s and how that has continued to impact people's expectations of her—and her daughters—to this day. "I was called the face of a decade. Who the hell decides that? A particular face gets stamped with this? It’s ridiculous," she said. "And when Rowan was a baby, people would say immediately, 'Oh my God, you don’t look like your mother. How come you don’t look more like your mother? Your mother used to be the most beautiful person in the world!'"

"So now you’ve told my daughter she’s not pretty because she doesn’t look like this person. And you’re telling me I’m no longer pretty because I don’t look like what I used to look like," she continued. "That’s just fucked up in every possible way."

Shields spoke candidly with the outlet about aging, the topic of her new book, Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old. "The more I talked to women who are over 40, the more I realized that part of chasing youth is not just for themselves, but for other people. It’s for partners, it’s for the way you’re looked at in public, and it’s a dangerous, slippery slope. We’re not allowed to just grow and experience our life and be okay with it," Shields said, adding that she hopes her daughters won't be scared to eventually be in their 60s.

When it comes to the quote-unquote trend of aging naturally, Shields is cautiously optimistic, but noted that it's still "rebellious" to openly embrace the physical changes that come with getting older. "Everybody’s got a lot to say about Pamela Anderson without any makeup on. Okay, so she’s not wearing makeup. So what? It’s so interesting that it’s considered edgy."

Read the original article on InStyle