Young Brooke Shields was a bit uncomfortable with her role in the movie, but in the Hulu documentary "Pretty Baby," the model revealed that the director, Louis Malle, didn't acknowledge her feelings. Instead, Malle would scold her for letting her face outwardly display her internal revulsion. Fortunately, her co-star, Keith Carradine, did his best to make the situation easier for the young girl. Shields admitted in her talk with Drew Barrymore that he was "gracious and protective and caring on a level that I don't even think I knew at the time."
When Malle was admonishing her, Carradine convinced everyone on set to take a break, and then he spoke privately with Shields, reassuring her that the moment was just pretend. Shields explained in "Pretty Baby" (via TV Insider), "Hey,' he said to me. 'You know what? This doesn't count. This is all make-believe'."
Still, Lana Wilson, who directed the documentary, noted in a Rolling Stone interview, "Even if she realized that acting was pretend, I can't help but think: 'This is an actual 11-year-old girl having to kiss an actual 29-year-old man.'" Wilson continued, "Eleven-year-old Brooke expressed discomfort during the filming of this moment, but that discomfort was not taken seriously by the director." Despite the label of 'make-believe,' the event still took place and appeared to affect the adolescent's young and developing mind on a profound level.
