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Brooke Shields revealed the embarrassing audition story that led to her first job in Hollywood.
During Wednesday’s episode of “Watch What Happens Live” the 58-year-old star joined host Andy Cohen and fellow guest Elizabeth Hurley, 58, for a round of the game “Read Between The Lies.”
The “Real Housewives” franchise executive producer explained that his announcer Paul would read statements about the actresses and Cohen would have to guess whether the fact was referring to Shields or Hurley.
After Paul read, “This person’s absolute worst-ever audition involved her passing gas while she was dramatically pretending to be strangled,” Cohen guessed Shields, who immediately admitted to it.
“I got the job, by the way!” she exclaimed while laughing. “My first movie I ever was in! It was called ‘Holy Terror.’ Yeah, [the title] wasn’t just about the fart.”
Brooke Shields revealed the embarrassing audition story behind her first Hollywood role. (Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)
Shields began her career as a child model at the age of 11 months and made her on-screen debut in “Holy Terror,” the 1976 horror movie also known by the titles “Alice, Sweet Alice” and “Communion.”
BROOKE SHIELDS ON BEING SEXUALIZED AS A CHILD STAR: ‘HOLLYWOOD IS PREDICATED ON EATING ITS YOUNG’
She appeared briefly at the beginning of the movie as a young girl who is brutally strangled to death and set on fire during her first communion.
Two years later, Shields rose to fame at the age of 11 when she played a child prostitute in the controversial 1978 film “Pretty Baby,” which featured the actress in multiple nude scenes. As a 10-year-old, Shields posed naked for the Playboy publication Sugar’n’Spice.
The actress made her on-screen debut in the 1976 horror movie “Holy Terror.” (LMPC via Getty Images)
Last month, Shields marked International Women’s Day as she appeared alongside Meghan Markle and Katie Couric on the SXSW panel, “Breaking Barriers, Shaping Narratives: How Women Lead On and Off the Screen.”
During the panel discussion, she weighed in on the “sexualization” of young women in the entertainment industry.
“I was at the center of it,” Shields said. “And I was promoting it and I was doing it.”
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She continued, “And I was lucky because I was surrounded by a very strong mom. I never did move to Hollywood. I always went to regular school.”
“So I had this sort of community around me that was protecting me, buoying me. And so I did not become the type of statistic that Hollywood created,” Shields added.
“Hollywood is predicated on eating its young.”
Shields recently spoke out about being sexualized as a child star. (Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)
Shields’ late mother Teri managed her career from the time she made her modeling debut at 11 months old into her 20s and often faced backlash for allowing her daughter to take on racy roles at a young age. Teri died at age 79 in 2012 after a long illness related to dementia.
While appearing on the SXSW panel, Shields also opened up about ageism in Hollywood.
“At 58 you’re too old to be the ingénue but not quite the granny yet,” Shields said.
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She continued, “I find my reaction is to, instead of get angry, find and ferret out the filmmakers who appreciate a woman over 40 and appreciate the life experience, the ‘we’ve raised the children, we’ve had the families, we’ve had businesses, we’ve had professional lives, we’ve left them, we’ve gone back to them.’
“There are people out there who want to cater their programming to women of that age.”
Shields will next be seen in the upcoming Netflix romantic comedy “Mother of the Bride.” (Amy Sussman/Getty Images)
Shields’ next role is starring in the upcoming Netflix romantic comedy “Mother of the Bride.” The Golden Globe Award nominee plays Lana, a woman who attends the destination wedding of her daughter Emma (Miranda Cosgrove) only to discover that the groom’s father is her college ex-boyfriend, who broke her heart decades ago.
During a recent interview with People magazine, Shields, who also produced “Mother of the Bride,” praised Netflix’s director of original film, Christina Rogers, for working to move the project forward.
“[Christina has] been the champion of really pushing and standing behind these stories for women over 40to be in a rom-comthat’s not just all… yes, we’ve got the focus on the young, beautiful, fresh love, and we want that, but she’s not overlooking my demographic. And to have that wish fulfillment of another chance at love and all that,” she said.
Ashley Hume is an entertainment writer for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to ashley.hume@fox.com and on Twitter: @ashleyhume
