LEILA FADEL, BYLINE: Maybe you remember Brooke Shields as the face of Calvin Klein Jeans, the sexually exploited child in "Pretty Baby" or the funny lead in the sitcom "Suddenly Susan."
BROOKE SHIELDS: People want you to be the way they remembered you when you mattered to them in a different way, whether they saw your movie or they liked your television show or they had your picture up or something that's very personal to them.
FADEL: But today, Brooke Shields is a grown woman, and at 59, she's out with a book on this new era in her life. It's called "Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed To Get Old," and it was inspired by a slight at a party when she revealed her age to the man hosting the evening.
SHIELDS: The person's demeanor changed instantly.
FADEL: In what way?
SHIELDS: You know, they said, oh, I wish you didn't say that. I was just like, you wish I didn't say what, like, told you my age?
FADEL: She says she's not going to let the world make her feel invisible because she had the gall to get older. And as a businesswoman and entertainer today, she's got a message for women of all ages. And just to let you know, there is some bleeped profanity in this conversation.
SHIELDS: I mean, I have two young women daughters, you know, 18 and 21.
FADEL: Yeah.
SHIELDS: And, you know, I joke about it like, my knees are practically down to my ankles, you know, at this point. And everything on them is like, high and pert and taut and peachy and you know, and you're just like, God. Wow. And then, you know, you get a glimpse at yourself in the mirror, and you're like, oh, boy. OK. And you've got to be careful that you don't make that so negative in your life that you start thinking you're less than.
FADEL: Yeah.
SHIELDS: And I don't want to just look great for 59. I just want to look great because I feel great and because I got my roots done yesterday. Like, I think that's a healthy way of treating one's ego, you know?
FADEL: Yeah.
SHIELDS: Do the things that make you feel the best about yourself. But then admit I don't want to look like my daughters. I've grown up into this person, this body, this face, and this whole person has done a lot and seen a lot and survived a lot and lived through a lot, and my painting has gotten more defined.
FADEL: There is a line that stuck with me. You write, "who knew in a career where I started as a prostitute at age 11, where I played a mother at age 15, that valuing myself at 59 would be my most provocative choice?"
SHIELDS: You know, to last this long in my industry is definitely not the norm. But when you look at how people react to me, there's been controversy surrounding me since a very, very early age.
FADEL: Yeah.
SHIELDS: But this strength, it started when I went to college because getting an education made me more formidable, and that was not reacted well to by the press because they couldn't push me around as much. Now, at this age, there's more of me to contend with because I don't have the same depth of insecurities that I used to. I don't roll over so easily, and I don't apologize.
FADEL: I mean, you started in Hollywood at 11 years old. You were being questioned by the press about whether your mother was doing a good job, about your measurements. You lived through sexual assault. First of all, do you think people just assume you've just lived this beautiful, charmed life because you are beautiful and in the public eye?
SHIELDS: I mean, I think that we do that to people and actresses and models, and it's part of what we project. You know, it's part of our job to create fantasy. And people want to escape into that and they want to dream. But I also think my trials or tribulations, they were played out on a larger scale just because they were witnessed by people. But if we really just all look at how hard it is just to get to this age, I think we'd be surprised, like, how much we've all lived through.
FADEL: Yeah.
SHIELDS: I highlight mine just because I want to say like, come on, you guys, you've all gone through [expletive] too.
FADEL: Yeah.
SHIELDS: It's no worse or better. And I think that when we start kind of normalizing how hard it is to just be a woman and go through everything and reach this, then I think we'll start patting ourselves on the back a little bit more and saying like, hey, that's pretty great. It's cool. Look at what you've survived, you know? Look how you've chosen not to be a victim.
FADEL: Do you ever wish you had been more angry or more righteous in moments? I mean, thinking about this one particular moment you write about where you go in for a medical procedure, and you come out, and the male surgeon's like, I also gave you a rejuvenation that you didn't ask for while you were...
SHIELDS: Under.
FADEL: ...Knocked out. Which is what? And you never sue him. You didn't really go after him.
SHIELDS: I didn't. I think I...
FADEL: It's a morning show. I don't know if we talk about vaginas on the morning show, but it's a...
SHIELDS: I don't know, but I can say labia. But, you know, it's the big, dirty word. I think I wasn't strong enough. I didn't feel secure enough in my career...
FADEL: Yeah.
SHIELDS: ...For it to yet again be about my anatomy, you know?
FADEL: Yeah.
SHIELDS: And I just didn't want it talked about it again. Like, I finally felt like I was past being defined by my virginity, you know?
FADEL: Right.
SHIELDS: I don't know if it's about anger. I think it's my shock, and my disappointment was so acute, but it felt so familiar. It just felt like, oh, here we go again. This is what's going to happen again. You know, I don't know why you think it's going to be any different, Brooke. That was something I had to sort of grow into being able to say, like, this is [expletive]. Like, if I have a seizure, it's not because I was worried about my salt intake for dietary reasons. You wouldn't ask a man that.
FADEL: Which is what happened to you. You had a seizure, and someone was...
SHIELDS: Yeah.
FADEL: ...Like, oh, are you trying to lose weight? Is that why this happened?
SHIELDS: Yeah. And they probably would have said to a man, like, oh, are you training for a triathlon, and you didn't...
FADEL: Right.
SHIELDS: ...Have electrolytes because you're an iron man? No, they asked me about my dietary restrictions.
FADEL: What would 59-year-old Brooke Shields tell 11-year-old Brooke Shields if you could today say something to her?
SHIELDS: I think you are going to be just fine. You are going to be OK, and you as you are enough. You are enough as a person.
FADEL: Brooke Shields. Her new book is "Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed To Get Old: Thoughts On Aging As A Woman." Thank you so much.
SHIELDS: Thank you so much. I appreciate your time.
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