Staying Fit
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The much-buzzed-about documentary Pretty BaBy Brooke Shields, which explores Shields’ sexual objectification as a child model and actress, debuts April 3 on Hulu. The film is produced by the company BedBy8, which was created last year by comedian-actress-writer Ali Wentworth, 58, and her husband, ABC News chief correspondent and Good Morning America anchor George Stephanopoulos. Wentworth discusses why she chose this project, how it has affected her parenting and the empowering lessons she wants her daughters to remember.
What’s behind the name BedBy8?
Because that’s all George ever says. [I’ll ask him,] “Do you want to go to dinner, or do you want to do this?” [And he’ll reply,] “Yes, but I have to be in bed by 8.” Our daughter Elliott said, “You have to name your production company Bedby8 Productions because that’s all he ever says.”
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What’s it been like working with your husband?
It's actually great. When you marry someone, you don't know what kind of husband they're going to be. When you have children with someone, you don’t know what kind of parent they're going to be, and he’s been fantastic all along. I knew it would be great to work with him, and it is. We stay in our lanes. He doesn't try to be funny, and it really works that way. Both of us know our strengths and weaknesses.
Why did you choose this Pretty Baby project with Brooke Shields?
She’s a friend of mine, and over the years she's told me all these stories. I kept saying to her, “My God, you should either be in rehab or dead. I can’t believe you went through all this.” And then, as an older woman looking back at the movies she made, I couldn’t believe at 11 years old her mother and the people around her let her do that. I started talking to her and I said to George, “She would be an unbelievable documentary, particularly now with social media, where this whole generation of girls is being totally sexualized.”
Watching the doc, one does wonder how Brooke survived it all.
She’s an incredibly strong person. I think that she used disassociation a lot to kind of get her through. I think she made the great choice later on in life marrying Chris Henchy and … saying, “I want to have a normal life.” You have to want that. And she’s kept her integrity and her kindness and her politeness. She just doesn’t take anything for granted, and she’s grateful — grateful for all of it, good and bad, because it has led her to where she is now.
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