People think of me as a mannequin, all show and no substance.

'Suddenly Susan' is my life.

Someone said adversity builds character, but someone else said adversity reveals character. I'm pleasantly surprised with my resilience. I persevere, and not just blindly. I take the best, get rid of the rest, and move on, realizing that you can make a choice to take the good.

My unhappiness was rooted in my mother’s inability to stop drinking.

With regard to my mother, it felt like it was never enough. Nothing I said or did seemed correct or could make her stop getting drunk or feel deeper happiness. I felt helpless. Why wasn’t I enough to help her stop drinking?

My feelings about my mother and about our relationship are so confused that to write them down with clarity would mean I had them all figured out, which I do not. – Brooke Shields’s diary.

High school basically continued with bouts of her getting drunk and then stopping for a day. There was not one major moment or birthday celebration during which she could remain sober. I learned how to plan my joy. I would front-load my birthdays with breakfast activities or plan to be with her for only the beginning of an event. Then I would go off to be with friends and know that that would be the last I would see of my mother’s real facial expressions.

My younger years of modeling were really just filled with fun trips. I was doing catalogues for Alexander’s and Bloomingdale’s.

I think I’m going to have to live vicariously through my daughter’s rebellion because I certainly never did go through adolescence.

Louis Malle was the best filmmaker I’ve ever worked with. He was such an artist. He was dealing with the theme of innocence and experience.