(Park City) In Pretty Baby: Brooke Shieldsa documentary premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in the United States, American actress Brooke Shields reveals that she was raped at the start of her Hollywood career.
The former model has kept the identity of her attacker a secret, but said she tracked down the man – whom she knew – shortly after graduating from college, believing him to be a a working meeting to discuss his participation in a new film.
The man took her back to her hotel, saying he wanted to call a taxi for her from her room. He instead went to the bathroom before emerging naked and raping her, she said.
“It was like a fight… I was afraid of being suffocated or something like that”, testifies the actress in the documentary.
“I didn’t struggle much. I did not do it. I was just completely petrified. I thought my “no” should have been enough. And I was just like, ‘stay alive and go’. »
After the assault, Brooke Shields recalls phoning a friend who worked in security, Gavin de Becker, who told her, “It’s rape,” to which she replied, “I’m not ready. to believe it”.
Until now, the actress had never spoken publicly about her attack.
This revelation, which echoes the #metoo wave, is one of many poignant moments in the film, which will be released on online streaming platform Hulu in two parts.
The first part is devoted to the intense sexualization that Brooke Shields was subjected to at a very young age, notably during a naked photo shoot at the age of 10, as well as after her appearance at 11 in the film. Pretty Baby in which she played a child prostitute.
The actress, who is now 57, said it was “the right time in (her) life” to appear in a documentary.