Brooke Shields has been gearing up for a big announcement for a while now — the launch of her new lifestyle brand for women over 40, Beginning Is Now. She’s been incubating this baby for years, and the official arrival seemed more imminent than ever as Brooke has been taking part in various women’s health events lately. So it was no surprise when I saw she was finally making headlines for— wait, what?! This isn’t the site kickoff? Beginning Is Not Now? But if not now, when? In a move I sure didn’t see coming, Brooke has declared she is running for president of Actors’ Equity, the SAG-equivalent union for theater actors and stage managers. What’s one more presidential election to follow this year…

Brooke Shields is running for president of the Actors’ Equity Association, the union that represents about 51,000 actors and stage managers on Broadway and nationwide.

In a video announcement, Shields said she felt compelled to run after learning that Kate Shindle, the current president who has served in the position since 2015 was not going to seek re-election after her term ends May 23. A spokesperson for Actors’ Equity confirmed her candidacy.

“I felt it was my responsibility to step up. I want to lead with strength. I want to lead with intelligence, with compassion, with passion, and of course a little bit of humor, always. I have been in the trenches with you, and you have always had my back, and I’m here to tell you that I have your back,” Shields said in the video.

In addition to her work onscreen and as a model, Shields has five Broadway credits as a replacement star, which include playing Morticia Addams during the run of The Addams Family in 2011, as Sally Bowles in 2001 during the run of Cabaret, and as Roxie Hart in Chicago in 2005. Her first role was as Betty Rizzo in Grease in 1994.

As president, Shields said she would strive to use both what she learned on Broadway and her own star power to speak up and create change within the community and nationwide.

“I want Equity to be in the position to command the respect that we deserve, whether it’s at the bargaining table or in DC or in every state house and city hall across the country, where we want to lobby for arts funding. I want to use all of the goodwill, and the advantages that I have built up in my career over the years, to be able to grow the value of being an Equity member,” she continued.

Shields is running against two other candidates for Equity presidency, Wydetta Carter, an actor who is currently serving as Equity’s first vice president, and Erin Maureen Koster, a stage manager and third vice president at Actors’ Equity.

The position requires negotiating union contracts for Broadway, touring theater and other professional theaters across the country, and leading the unionizing efforts of other groups such as performers at Disneyland. The demands of the position have increased coming out of the pandemic, as Equity members have been pushing for higher wages and greater understudy coverage, amid escalating costs to produce theater. As Shields noted, in light of the increased costs, theaters across the country have also been pushing for greater arts funding.

[From The Hollywood Reporter]

Do I think Brooke has the goods to make a real impact with this job? Yes, absolutely. She’s intelligent, articulate, and an advocate for increased potato chip eating. What more could you ask for? I’d endorse her in a heartbeat. Though I’d also be the first to admit that she needs to step up her video production from this dimly-lit, soft-focused first effort if she wants to beat the likes of Wydetta Carter (c’mon, that’s a president’s name!) and third vice president (thrice president?) Erin Maureen Koster.

But there is one feature in Brooke’s candidacy video that we really must discuss; the lone picture on the blank wall behind her. The piece of art in question? A cornucopia of baked cakes arranged in a traditional landscape painting setting. What. Is. Happening??? How am I supposed to listen to Brooke rattle off qualifications while in the background I’m inexplicably looking at a field of frosting, glazes, and bundts galore?! In the time I was supposed to be listening to Brooke’s impressive resume I instead counted 21 different dessert offerings!! Is this some twisted subliminal messaging? Like Brooke plans to be the Marie Antoinette of Actors’ Equity and say of the starving actors, “Let ‘em eat cake!” I don’t know, because all I’m thinking about is cake, pie, brownies, and powdered sugar, and why none of those items are in my pantry right now.

Break a leg to all three confections contenders, and may the best woman win.

Embed from Getty Images

Embed from Getty Images

Photos credit: TheNews2/Cover Images, Getty and via Instagram