Child Star Reveals Why She’s Never Gone Under the Knife
If anyone would be susceptible to plastic surgery pressure, it’s someone who’s been modeling since infancy.
Neilson Barnard/Getty Images
Brooke Shields revealed what motivates her to resist the temptation and pressure to get plastic surgery.
Shields, 60, has been a beauty icon almost since birth, making her modeling debut at just 11 months old and being declared the “face of a decade” in 1981 for her generation-defining performances.
As she has grown older, Shields has embraced a broader definition of beauty—and developed a fear of going under the knife.
“I’m too scared!” the 60-year-old said in an interview with People on Wednesday.
Shields was called the "Face of a Decade" by TIME Magazine.
Courtesy of Sundance Institute
“For me, beauty meant being smart and being strong, but I acknowledge that there are changes. I fully understand that beauty is so much more than just not having wrinkles,” she said.
Brooke Shields attends the 78th Annual Tony Awards in 2025.
Jeenah Moon/REUTERS
Still, Shields admits that she isn’t without insecurities.
“I think I’m probably more self-conscious now than I was when I was younger because things need to be lifted so I’ve got to have a pulley system to lift ‘the girls’ up,” she said, referring to the experience of viewing her body on screen during sex scenes.
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Instead of surgery, she opts for less invasive skincare treatments, such as facial peels, and incorporates exercise into her routine. Shields tried Botox injections, but says she abandoned the regimen after it made her look like Spock from Star Trek.
Shields has previously been very open about her relationship to beauty as she ages. As a child star, she was thrust into very adult situations, including portraying an underage sex worker at just 12 years old in the controversial 1978 film Pretty Baby.
“People imprint onto me what they remember from a certain era of my life, and they’re attached to that. By virtue of that fact, I’m a disappointment as an older person,” she told Real Simple in 2025.
“People imprint onto me what they remember from a certain era of my life," Shields said.
Robin Platzer/Twin Images/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images
She wants people to be allowed to “just grow and experience our life and be OK with it,” instead of feeling pressured by society’s obsession with chasing youth.
“Our society has become so myopically focused on youth, we lose sight of the value that comes with age and experience and time,” Shields said, adding, “Beauty can come in different forms.”
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