For someone who has been on screen from an extremely young age, Brooke Shields, 60, had a surprising reaction when her daughter Rowan Henchy, 23, told her that she was joining the cast of Peacock’s “Next Gen NYC” reality show.
“You were obviously a young actor,” Jenna Bush Hager said to Shields when she joined TODAY With Jenna & Sheinelle on May 20.
“They didn’t have reality shows though,” she said quickly. “And you were not praised for bad behavior, you know. Bad behavior was not really the goal.” Reality show ratings, Shields said, are “geared toward” praising less-than-stellar actions.
“Next Gen NYC” features 20-somethings, including a few first introduced in Bravo’s franchises, tackling the streets of New York with big dreams and influential cliques. The cast includes “Real Housewives” offspring Gia Giudice and Brooks Marks, Rachel Roy’s daughter Ava Dash and a handful of Gen-Z New Yorkers.
“Were you worried?” Jenna asked of Rowan joining the cast.
“Oh, I was sick to my stomach!” Shields said. She proceeded to give Rowan advice.
“I said, ‘Look, don’t be a [mumble] up. Don’t! Be the voice of reason. You’re going to be fine,’” Shields recalled. She also told Rowan that she may be able to “parlay” her reality appearance into something bigger.
“She wants to be in broadcast journalism. She also likes being on camera,” Shields shared. She told Rowan to “translate that into another opportunity,” and called being on reality TV “a business choice.”
Shields reiterated that “bad behavior is not the goal.” Instead, “this should be a stepping stone of some kind.”
Shields said that being part of “Next Gen NYC,” has affected Rowan in positive ways.
Brooke Shields talks about John Mulaney recreating her iconic Calvin Klein ad from 45 years ago, the inspiration behind her book Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed to Get Old and creating her hair care brand Commence.
“It’s given her a lot of confidence in a way that it’s so nice to see,” Shields added.
Cohost Sheinelle Jones is not at all worried about Rowan.
“I’m confident that the seeds you’ve sewn in her are going to bloom, and she’s going to be just fine,” Sheinelle said smiling.
(Disclosure: Peacock is owned by NBCUniversal, TODAY’s parent company.)
This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:
