Brooke Shields, 59, Doesn’t Let Age Slow Her Down, Promotes New Initiative

“I’ve been aging for so long. I’m used to it by now,” she said. “I think that the messaging around aging is unfortunately predominantly negative. That is not the narrative that I am living—and we don’t deserve to live that narrative.”
Shields partnered with the campaign in hopes of educating adults 50 and older on the power of aging and health protection, specifically their shingles risk.
The initiative strives to promote “healthy aging” while emphasizing that age brings both “power and new health considerations.”
Shields stressed the importance of understanding the control one has over one’s own health, and that partnering with “Thrive@50+” was a no-brainer.
“This campaign really champions that … and the message that being over 50 is not the end of the line. It’s the beginning of a new chapter.”
Shields rose to fame as a teen model in the 1980s, starring as the face of Calvin Klein and other campaigns, after kick-starting her acting career at the age of 12 in the 1978 Louis Malle film “Pretty Baby.”
She has since added television personality, entrepreneur and—most importantly—“mom” to her resume, a personal milestone that has put her life into perspective.
“I think after you turn 50, so much opened up. … I had raised my kids. I had a different place that I was putting myself in my life. I think I was never afraid of the next decade or the next year,” she said.
Shields shares two daughters, 21-year-old Rowan and 18-year-old Grier, with husband Chris Henchy. The couple recently became empty nesters after sending Grier off to college.
Based on her experience and research, Shields says she is changing the narrative about women and aging, and in her book brings “honesty and vulnerability” that will “spark a new conversation about the power and promise of midlife.”
Shields said she understands the changes that come with aging. She notes aging beauty is simply an “adjustment,” adding that feeling good physically and mentally is what’s most important.
“I’m not going to be 20 ever again. But I want to be the strongest and physically fit, and that I’m going to do all the things that I can do to make myself vibrant,” she said.