Happy birthday, Brooke Shields! Today, May 31, marks the actress’s 59th birthday. Reflecting on the special occasion, she told People that it “feels like the beginning” of a new era, and she approaches it without fear. “I don’t have any trepidation about any age,” she told the outlet. Instead, she welcomes the opportunities for personal growth that each new year brings—and from what it sounds like, this year’s destined to be really special.
“There’s something sort of brewing and I don’t know what it is, but there’s so much change happening,” she told the outlet. Among these changes, the Mother of the Bride star confided that she’s feeling newfound confidence regarding her career mindset. “I’m much more comfortable in my ambition than I used to be. I think I used to feel embarrassed that I had an ambitious part,” she continued.
“I used to think that that was somehow something that I shouldn’t be coveting or shouldn’t be proud of because it sort of signified, ‘What more do you want?’ That was the way I sort of grew up: ‘Be happy with what you have. Don’t want for more. Don’t look outside yourself. Just be thankful,” she reflected. “And then you sort of get to a certain age, you’re like, ‘You know what? I do want more and I want to try for it and I want to keep going.”
These revelations come just weeks after WWD revealed that Shields is coming out with a hair care line called Commence this June, formulated for for women 40-plus. While she’s teased the brand on social media, hinting at “something new,” she has otherwise remained relatively tight-lipped about the specifics.
Another accomplishment she’s proud of is mastering the art of saying “no.” For Shields, this means prioritizing her time and energy wisely. “I’ve learned I don’t want to spend time with people I don’t want to spend time with. And it’s almost not personal,” Shields explained. “Whereas I used to feel compelled to say ‘yes’ to everybody, just running myself ragged, trying to see everybody, do everything everybody wanted. I’m much more relaxed in being myself.”
While Shields has grown more self-assured, it’s important to note that she’s always been confident. In the cover story for the Winter 2023 issue of NewBeauty, for example, discussed her lifelong advocacy for herself.
“I recently watched an interview I did when I was 12 that struck such a chord in me,” she shared during our sit-down interview. “I kept getting asked the same question—it was an interrogation—over and over, until I finally said: ‘Excuse me, ma’am, I don’t think you want my answer. I don’t think you want to hear the truth.’ I have no idea where that kind of confidence came from so young…but I really love that response. I love seeing myself willing to stand up at that moment.”
Authenticity defines her. “I’m an open book…what you see is what you get,” she told us. “I’ve been out here talking about myself too long to hide it. It’s way too late to try to hide anything. I’d never get the story right.”
