Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, November 4, 1995 TAG: 9511030018
SECTION: SPECTATOR PAGE: S-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB THOMAS ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: SANTA MONICA, CALIF. LENGTH: Long
Now the actress-model is 30, and the results of her life-change can be seen. She recently finished a feature film as Kiefer Sutherland's wife in ``The Freeway.''
On Sunday and Tuesday, she can be seen in her first TV miniseries, CBS' ``Nothing Lasts Forever,'' based on Sidney Sheldon's hospital novel and co-starring Vanessa Williams, Gail O'Grady, Lloyd Bridges, Gregory Harrison and Gerald McRaney.
Shields plays an accomplished doctor who leads a secret sex life with top members of the hospital staff.
``When I first read it, the timing was right,'' she remarked over salad in an upscale Brentwood area cafe. ``It was time for me to go into another media.''
Shields came to ``Nothing Lasts Forever'' after six months on Broadway in ``Grease,'' her first experience on the stage or in a musical.
``It was, hands-down, one of the greatest experiences creatively I've ever had. It was so difficult that I was so proud. Now I'm even more proud,'' she declared.
``You just ask yourself to perform in ways that you never thought you could. You find out you can do it, even when you think you physically can't, when you're sick or just can't get the energy. You develop an appreciation of your own talent, as well as what the whole concept of performing is about.''
All this activity belies the scoffers who believed that Brooke Shields' career had narrowed to TV commercials and tennis tournament grandstand appearances. Her acting career seemed to have been blighted by the spectacular flop of ``Brenda Starr,'' filmed in 1987 and briefly released in 1992.
``About two years ago, I made some decisions about wanting to be much more in control,'' she said. ``What I did was just about change everything that had been set in motion for 20-something years. I changed all the players, all the people. I just felt like I needed a clean slate.
``Part of what motivated that was a sense of fear that I might not be able to handle some things. `What if I can't do this on my own? What if I don't have my mother, who I know loves me, constantly at my side saying everything's OK? Am I really OK without that?'
``There was a lot I didn't know about the business; I was lucky I was sequestered from it when I was a child. Because what I see now is not so pretty.''
Her mother, Teri, acted as the constant mentor from the time Brooke posed for Ivory Soap ads as a 2-year-old to the split two years ago. How did Teri react?
``I know that she has faith in me and that she wishes me well,'' said Brooke. ``I can't ask her to endorse something that in her heart she doesn't want to happen.
``Since the change came, there has been a great deal of separation. I don't see her very much, I don't talk to her daily about my decisions. I don't ask for her advice. There are times when I want to, but I can't. That's pulling her around and not being fair to her.
``I think she misses me, she misses the activity of our life together. That's all gone from her life. I wouldn't want to be in her place. You wake up and what do you do? I think it's very sad. She's having a hard time.''
Brooke Shields created a sensation as a 12-year-old New Orleans prostitute in Louis Malle's ``Pretty Baby.'' She played in a few other films as a teen-ager, notably ``King of the Gypsies'' and ``Blue Lagoon.'' Then she took time out to attend Princeton University.
She has no regrets about trading career momentum for a college degree.
``I was fortified by that experience, beyond anything I could have gotten anywhere else. Momentum is so phony - funny and phony. You can work all your life and have one hit, and you're an `overnight success.'
``You can get so hung up in [snapping her fingers] `Gotta keep the ball rolling, gotta keep moving, we're in Hollywood - gotta keep the pace.' Then you're running in circles.''
Watchers of tournament tennis on TV are by now familiar with Shields' expressions of joy and sorrow as she follows the fortunes of her pal, Andre Agassi. What they may not realize is that she comes from a tennis legacy. Her grandfather, Francis X. Shields, played in championships during the 1930s and later acted in movies.
Brooke disclosed that she is now taking tennis lessons - from Agassi.
``He's got patience, he teaches me an aggressive game,'' she said. ``That's a tough thing to do with a boyfriend; learning any craft is tough with a boyfriend. But the distance between our games is so far that I have nothing to lose. He's a good teacher.''
``Nothing Lasts Forever'' Part 1 will air Sunday at 9 p.m. on WDBJ-Channel 7. Part 2 will air in its entirety Tuesday during the 8-11 p.m. time slot but will be interrupted by ``News 7 Election Coverage'' from 8-8:08 p.m. and each half-hour thereafter.
by CNB