In the second and final season of the sexy, funny television series Lipstick Jungle, Brooke Shields returns as the fiercely ambitious Wendy, a woman (and mother) trying to balance career and career. Reuniting with costars Kim Raver (Nico) and Lindsay Price (Victory), the three gorgeous and talented actresses continue the adventures of a trio of powerful women trying to survive in the male-dominated  “jungle” of the corporate world—keeping close friends to watch their back. Shields recently spoke to Earl Dittman.

You’re just as hot looking as you were when you did the Calvin Klein ads. It’s hard to believe you are 43. How have you avoided the aging process?
“I think it’s because I’ve been around forever. [Laughs] I’ve grown up in public for so many years that I guess my changes have been incremental, so no one really notices them. If you go back to pictures of me from ten years ago, though, that’s when you’ll notice.”

In the 30-plus years that you’ve been in this business, how have you managed to come through so brilliantly?
“That’s a hard question to even answer, but I will say that I’m a very stubborn person and I don’t like to lose, and I don’t like to be told that I’m failing in any way [...] and I’ve been lucky enough to be surrounded by some quality, quality people that have caught me when I have fallen.”

You became a celebrity when you were really young, but you didn’t let fame go to your head and end up in rehab, like many of today’s starlets. What was different for you?
“Honestly, I think Hollywood is insane now. When I was a teenage star, I think it was very different times. For one thing, celebrities didn’t have to deal with the internet. When I started out, there wasn’t that instant access where your every move, good or bad, was documented. That makes a big difference.”

You also have a mom with a pretty good head on her shoulders, didn’t you?
“I wouldn’t be where I am now without her. It’s funny, my mom always had this bizarre, uncanny way of maintaining my innocence. She protected me in this very difficult industry, and she never let anybody get near me. To be honest, I was so painfully naive for such a long time that when I did eventually go out on my own, I was absolutely shocked.”

What shocked you the most?
“Little things, like journalists. In the beginning, I thought, ‘Oh, they’re so nice, they’ll just be so kind to me.’ But, when I became an adult, I realized it wasn’t that way. I was like, ‘What? Why do you want to be mean to me? Don’t you care about me anymore?’ Luckily, when I was first starting out, my mother never let me read any of my own press and kept me far away from it.”

Beside the internet, why are so many of these young stars getting into so much trouble, especially with the law?
“There’s no support system for them. I look at the young stars today and they don’t act as if they have to follow any rules. They don’t go to school, they have all this money and they go out every night.”

But didn’t you hang out at Studio 54 when you were still a child star?
“Yeah, I did go to clubs, but I couldn’t go out until I did all of my homework. And, let me tell you, I was home by 11 because that was the way I was raised.”

Your husband is known for having a “unique” taste in clothes. Have you ever said to him, “Well, how about this instead of what you’re wearing?”
“No, I sort of stay away from fashion with him. He never criticizes what I wear, which is really good. He never says to me, ‘Are you going out in that?’ Believe me, I’ve had relationships like that before.”

What do you think men would enjoy about Lipstick Jungle?
“Beyond the obvious, which is most of the women are often scantily clad and sort of the beauty of it all—but beyond that as sort of the draw—I think the most important thing is the way the show’s male characters are portrayed. They are not shown as weak. I don’t believe that we diminish them in any way. We sort of celebrate how much we need them and the need is different for each one of us. This was not one of those shows where we paint these men as just pathetic or stereotypical—there’s no male bashing in it, and I think that’s important. And I’ve spoken to the men about this. Even Kirby—a sort of objective symbol that’s sort of this character. And he said that there’s a lot of power that you derive from that. I mean, it’s different and the show has a respect for their male characters because they are not stereotypical or pigheaded—the kind of male that we’ve often seen so that we can augment the women.”

So, how did you get all of the men in your life to watch Lipstick Jungle?
“They had no choice. I was like, ‘If you love me, you love Lipstick Jungle.’”