My friends are moms who are starting new careers, who are empty nesters, and who are saying: вЂIвЂ™m this age but thereвЂ™s so much more for me to do. вЂњThereвЂ™s a level of confidence, a level of вЂI donвЂ™t give a shitвЂ™. Shields has seen it in her friends, and in herself. TheyвЂ™ve raised kids, theyвЂ™re moving on to this next phase and thereвЂ™s a lot of power that comes with that.вЂќ There are lots of women in their 50s like Sophie, she says, вЂњwho are taking their life in their own hands.

And, despite the filmвЂ™s many conventions, a middle-aged romcom still feels quite radical. Shields is great as bestselling American author Sophie Brown, who, suffering with writerвЂ™s block, escapes to Scotland to trace her roots and ends up acquiring a stately home. The plot of A Castle for Christmas may be as predictable as gift-wrapped socks, but sometimes you just need preposterous cosy escapism. вЂњThereвЂ™s dogs, castles, knitters, pubs!вЂќ she says, laughing.

Shields is in a Christmas romcom, for Netflix, which is the gift you didnвЂ™t know you wanted.

She has, she says with a smile, when I point out how together she seems, вЂњbeen going to therapy for 35 yearsвЂќ. And here she is, radiant through my laptop screen, in her beautiful New York townhouse kitchen, with a dog at her feet, husband milling about in the background, one teenage daughter upstairs, another successfully packed off to college, and her sense of humour very much intact. She even came through the 90sвЂ™ overplucked-eyebrow trend unharmed. H ow, I wonder, is Brooke Shields so sorted? She has survived a childhood with an alcoholic mother, some disturbing early films, a nationвЂ™s creepy obsession with her, a divorce and severe postnatal depression.

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