"I was a pawn, I was a piece, I was a commodity," she said of her time on the film, before sharing her thoughts on the #MeToo movement.
Brooke Shields says the director of "The Blue Lagoon" called her after she made comments about the film in her new Hulu documentary, "Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields."
During an appearance for Tuesday's episode of "The Drew Barrymore Show," the actress -- who was promoting the doc -- recalled receiving a phone call from Randal Kleiser, whom she accused of exploiting her to market the 1980 film.
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View StoryIt came up as Barrymore asked Shields if male filmmakers who directed her in some of her first films have "reached out" following the release of her documentary, naming "Pretty Baby" director Louis Malle and "Endless Love" director Franco Zeffirelli.
Shields, 57, then noted that Malle and Zeffirelli had passed away, before Barrymore. 48, pointed out that Kleiser is still alive. In response, the "Suddenly Susan" star shared that Kleiser called her -- but she didn't answer the phone.
"I saw his name on my phone, and I was like, 'What do I do?' and I let it go to voicemail," Shields said with a laugh, "because I was like, 'I want to see what the tone is."
"He wants to chat, I don't know about what, I don't feel like bringing any of it back up again," she continued, adding, "It's not about that, but it was about these males needing me to be in a certain category to serve their story, and it never was about me, it was not protective of me. It was fun and loving at times, but I was just there. I was a pawn, I was a piece, I was a commodity."
.@brookeshields talks to Drew about how the director of “Blue Lagoon” called her after her @hulu documentary, #PrettyBaby, aired.
— The Drew Barrymore Show (@DrewBarrymoreTV) April 10, 2023 @DrewBarrymoreTV
Tune in TOMORROW (4/11) for more! pic.twitter.com/Umj8meNk7U
"The Blue Lagoon" follows two children -- Emmeline (Shields) and Richard Lestrange (Christopher Atkins) who are stranded on a tropical island. In the years that follow, the pair experience puberty together, catch sexual feelings for one another and ultimately fall in love.
While discussing her experience shooting "The Blue Lagoon" in her documentary, Shields -- who was only 14 when she starred in the coming-of-age romantic drama -- said, "They wanted to make it a reality show. They wanted to sell my actual sexual awakening."
"The irony was, I wasn't in touch with any of my own sexuality," she added.
Meanwhile, also during her appearance on "The Drew Barrymore Show," Shields and Barrymore shared their thoughts on the #MeToo movement, explaining why they felt they couldn't speak out about their personal experiences earlier.
"How did you feel about the #MeToo movement in the sense of, I didn't feel like I had a dog in that race, I didn't feel like I could speak to it because I experienced so many things that were so inappropriate at such a young age that I'm so confused about what was I accountable for, what did I put myself into ... we were children," said Barrymore, who appeared to get emotional.
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View Story"How did that movement affect you, did you feel like you could speak to it?" she then asked Shields, who replied, "No, because I didn't know where I fell on the spectrum of it. I don't know where to interpret my experiences because I was made to feel culpable, and by the same time, you victim shame yourself."
"But we were so young," she added, "and it was appropriate that we just, I couldn't feel sorry, I didn't know what it was, I didn't know, and so when it was called out to me as such I was like, 'No, not going there. It did not happen.'"
Barrymore -- who is mom to daughters Olive, 10, and Frankie, 8, -- said she felt the same way, noting that now after having her daughters, she looks at her past differently.
"I felt like I experienced too many things that were so gray and so awkward and that I didn't know were wrong at the time, I guess as an adult with hindsight, as a mother of daughters ...," she said, to which Shields chimed in.
"As a mother with daughters, I think that's what helps with the perspective of it," said the "Wanda Nevada" star, who shares daughters Rowan 19, and Grier, 16, with husband Chris Henchy. "But the ownership of it, or the ownership of the reality of it, that never was in my, I did not know how to handle any of that so I just pushed it under the rug."
"Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields" is streaming on Hulu.