Brooke Shields is getting real about why she parted ways with the Hallmark Channel after signing a massive deal with the network in 2014.
Shields, 59, recalled signing a 16-film deal with Hallmark Network more than a decade ago in her latest memoir, Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old: Thoughts on Aging as a Woman, which was released on Tuesday, January 14.
“I’d completed only three when I realized I had to renegotiate. I’d been hired, I was told, to help change the face of the network,” she wrote. “They wanted me to be funny and bring more comedy to their offerings, but as filming progressed on each of the Flower Shop Mysteries — the franchise I was hired to headline — all the humor had evaporated.”
Shields starred as Abby Knight, a flower shop owner and ex-lawyer, in the three films. Her first movie with the network, titled Mum’s the Word: A Flower Shop Mystery, premiered in January 2016. Her second, Flower Shop Mystery: Snipped in the Bud, aired in April 2016. Shields’ third and final appearance as Abby Knight came in June 2016 with Flower Shop Mystery: Dearly Depotted.
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“Not everything is for everyone, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with the Hallmark Channel — God knows it has a huge fan base — but it was not the future I wanted for my career,” Shields wrote. “I’m never against hard work, but I am now a believer in only saying yes to work that serves me.”
The actress explained that she could “make a living with other opportunities,” especially ones that allowed her to spend more time with her family. (Shields shares daughters Rowan, 21, and Grier, 18, with husband Chris Henchy.)
“I simply could not do ten more films that were not what I was promised and felt completely wrong for me,” she wrote. “So I quit. I definitely surprised some people, and in plenty of ways I surprised myself. I certainly would never have done that in my 20s.”
Despite ending her partnership with the network, Shields returned years later for one of their famous holiday films. She starred in the 2021 flick A Castle for Christmas alongside Cary Elwes.
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A lot of Shields’ latest memoir focuses on how her mindset has changed by getting older in the public eye. The actress did tell Us Weekly exclusively in a recent cover story that she feels “more confident” than ever ahead of her 60th birthday.
“It doesn’t mean I’m less ambitious. If anything, I’m probably more ambitious because I feel I deserve it more. I still get afraid. I still get nervous I’m not good enough,” she shared. “I still have to force myself to push through, [but] we are becoming unignorable. We’re pretty formidable, and I think that’s a little frightening for everybody.”
Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old is out now.
