Brooke Shields is revealing how she taught her daughters to be comfortable in their own skin and how they, in turn, did the same for her. The 56-year-old has made no secret of her past struggles with body image, growing up in the spotlight as a child star. In contrast, she says that her daughters Rowan, 18, and Grier, 15, feel “proud” of their individuality.
“I think they’ve taught me more than I’ve taught them,” Brooke tells HollywoodLife. “I’ve tried to not have my insecurities spill over into them but, in order to do that, you actually have to walk the walk. In order for me to gain confidence, I focus on being as healthy and as fit as I can be. Also, just acknowledging how much my body has done for me over the past 56 years.
“I try to say to them [that] it’s not about a desired look as much as it’s a desired feel, that it involves being healthy. It’s not about weight as much as it’s about being fit and taking care of your body internally and exercising and sleeping; all those things that kids roll their eyes at when they’re younger.”
“I try to focus much more on that and they’re much more proud of their individual strengths and shapes,” Brooke adds. “And I think they’re more focused on their individuality, which I think is their generation more, from what I’ve witnessed with them.”
Brooke and her daughters created a buzz online on June 22 when the Blue Lagoon actress posted a photo of them wearing matching gingham swimsuits while vacationing in the Hamptons. The actress – who is helping to promote Colgate Gum Renewal toothpaste, which claims to help reverse and repair early gum damage – says that staying healthy and feeling good takes work. She insists that her teens have seen her “work really hard at” exercising and “eating right” without denying herself the food that she loves.
“I know when I work out, I eat better. I sleep better,” she says. “There’s a lot of things that [are] sort of the offshoot of that. That’s really the message for me – to celebrate who we are uniquely but also focus on health rather than a certain silhouette.”
Brooke’s beach photo with her daughters isn’t the first time that she and her offspring have delighted fans. Recently she was a proud mom, posing next to Rowan at the teen’s prom in a photo that she shared on Instagram. The actress was thrilled that the redhead decided to wear a strapless ruby red dress that she wore to the 1998 Golden Globes when she was nominated for her sitcom, Suddenly Susan.
“It was very emotional because she went down to the archive closet and picked it out herself,” Brooke says. “If I had suggested it, she’d never wear it. But, because she picked it out herself… She had no idea what the dress was. She just saw a red strapless dress and she thought that’s what she wanted to feel on her prom night. Then I told her the story and it became much more personal.”
Brooke says she has fond memories of that night that took place three years before she married Rowan and Grier’s dad, filmmaker Chris Henchy. “I felt like a ‘30s movie star,” she says of the gown that was made just for her. “I had a side part, smooth hairstyle and red lips. I felt special in it. So, the fact that she picked it out on her own was even more of serendipity and very touching.”