Brooke Shields Says It ‘Felt Good’ to Be Less Famous Than Ex Andre Agassi
More than two decades after their marriage ended, Brooke Shields is reflecting on her marriage to Andre Agassi.
The actress, 58, spoke to AARP Magazine for its April/May 2024 issue about her marriage to the former tennis star, which lasted from 1997 to 1999.
“With Andre, it also felt good to feel smaller than another, because he was so famous and No. 1 in the world,” Shields said.
The pair were married at the height of Agassi’s popularity, even as his on-court dominance started to wane. Around this time, Agassi admits he started using crystal meth and failed an ATP drug test, only to have the test thrown out when he lied that he took the drug unwittingly.
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Nevertheless, Shields credits Agassi with helping her break away from her mother and manager, Teri.
“It was a transition that I needed. I wasn’t strong enough to separate from my mother Teri on my own,” she explained. “I kept falling back in.”
Shields added in a 2023 interview with People that “to this day,” her therapist tells her, “I will always be thankful to Andre because he helped you separate from your mother lovingly.”
The two also connected over their young rises to fame. Shields made her feature film debut at just 11 years old and Agassi dropped out of school in ninth grade to pursue a professional tennis career.
“We understood each other’s trajectory with regards to being famous — or infamous — at such a young age,” Shields said.
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Agassi also stole some of the attention when the two would appear in public together. As Agassi worked his way back up the tennis rankings, winning the 1999 French Open, all eyes were on the American phenom.
“Everywhere we went, he had tons of bodyguards,” she said. “I could sit back because it wasn’t my world. He was the first one out of the car when we arrived at events.”
Shields has been married to director and producer Chris Henchy since 2001. They share two daughters, Rowan, 20, and Grier, 17.
It seems that in Henchy, Shields has found a good match and supportive father.
“He makes me laugh,” she said. “I think I always knew that I needed solid and normal. And he’s a very, very good dad. He goes to every basketball game, every volleyball game. And the kids love being around him too.”
Agassi married fellow tennis star Steffi Graf in 2001, and the two have son Jaden, 22, and daughter Jaz, 20.
