Keith Carradine responds to Brooke Shields's memories of their 'Pretty Baby' collaboration: 'I can only support her'

Brooke Shields earned accolades earlier this year when she bravely opened up about her turbulent time in the public spotlight for the Sundance-approved documentary Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields, named after the controversial 1978 film. And her co-star in that movie, Keith Carradine, is among the many friends and colleagues who are proud of the actress for speaking her truth. "Brooke's an extraordinary woman," Carradine tells Yahoo Entertainment during an interview about his star turn on an episode of the Fox legal drama Accused. "I applaud her, and I applaud what she's doing."

Shields has been applauding Carradine as well, both in the documentary — which is currently streaming on Hulu — and in the press leading up to its release. The actress was 11 years old when she was cast in Pretty Baby as Violet, the 12-year-old occupant of a New Orleans brothel who has a romance with Carradine's adult photographer. Already controversial in its time due to the subject matter and Shields's age, Carradine acknowledges that the film, which was released by Paramount, couldn't be made today under any circumstances.

"There is, of course, no way that film would be made today," he says. "Nor should we. I was invited to participate by one of the world's premiere filmmakers and it was made by a major film studio, and I trusted the people with whom I was working that it would be handled properly and delicately. And frankly, I was 27 years old at the time and pretty naive in my own right. But we were working with extraordinary artists, and I did feel like care was being taken."

Whatever conflicted feelings Shields has about Pretty Baby now, she's been very clear that Carradine was an anchor for her during a complicated production. Appearing on The Drew Barrymore Show last month, the actress credited her co-star with helping her through an on-camera kissing scene, which also happened to be her first-ever kiss. "He looked at me and said, 'You know, this doesn't count as a first kiss,'" Shields recalled.

Asked if he remembers that moment, Carradine nods. "I remember it very clearly," he says. "I applaud Brooke's exploration of her life and re-examining things from her childhood. She's a substantial person, and I can only support her efforts at completing her exploration of how she feels about it now."

"The '70s were an interesting decade in terms of the explosion of women's rights and the sexual revolution," Carradine adds, reflecting on what it was like to be an actor during an era of Hollywood that's been much mythologized over the succeeding decades. "And it was certainly an exploratory era in terms of filmmaking and storytelling. There were some very daring things being done cinematically that would probably not be explored or dealt with today. And that's the nature of society and how we grow and the things we learn."

Meanwhile, Carradine's Accused episode, "Billy's Story," speaks very much to contemporary concerns. Each episode of the anthology series — which is adapted from a 2010 BBC production — follows a different legal drama. In Billy's case, he's a rock star in his twilight years putting together one last greatest hits compilation with the aid of his adult son (Evan Gamble), who is wrestling with a serious drug addiction. It's revealed at the beginning of the episode that Billy is on trial before flashing back to reveal what exactly led him to that point.

We talked with Carradine about returning to the recording booth nearly fifty years after laying down "I'm Easy" for Robert Altman's 1975 satire Nashville, and his Madonna moment in the "Material Girl" music video.

I've got to say that it was great to hear you singing again in this Accused episode. Was it as fun for you as it will be for the audience?

Absolutely. You know, about a year ago now I was working with Jenna Elfman, and we were finishing up on Fear the Walking Dead. Right. She asked me, "What are you looking to do next?" And I said, "I'd sure love somebody to let me do some music again." And here we are! Needless to say, it's a wonderful role and a powerful story, but the opportunity to do some music was very enticing.

I saw Nashville for the first time when I was a teenager, and even then I knew I was watching something special. And your scene with Lily Tomlin remains an amazing moment in that movie.

That was an extraordinary experience for all of us. And the fact that Robert Altman invited the cast to come with our own music was remarkable. Most of us were songwriters, and that's what we did. Bob was a mad genius in certain ways and to take that song, "I'm Easy," which I wrote in all sincerity and then put it in that setting and context with Lily was surprising. He was very smart.

I'm sorry that you never made an appearance on Grace and Frankie — it would have been great to see you singing to Lily again.

I am, too! I actually reached out to them at one point. I just don't think that they felt there was anything for me to do, but I would've loved to have joined them all. I've known Jane for years, and it would've been fun.

One of the timely elements of "Billy's Story" is how it wrestles with drug addiction, especially in the midst of the ongoing opioid epidemic. How do you feel the episode speaks to our current moment?

It's an incredibly socially relevant story to be told. Drug addiction is a huge issue in our society, and obviously the opioid crisis hasn't gone away. We're still dealing with that, especially in terms of the parent-child dynamic and the incredible challenge and heartbreak that comes with being the parent of an addict. There's a sense of hopelessness and futility that is leavened by the hope that a parent always has that we can find a solution you and your child can work through together. I haven't lost a child myself to addiction, but I have friends who have and it's a profound experience to go through as a parent. I found the story really compelling in that regard.

You've talked before about growing up with a father who was an alcoholic. Did you bring any of that personal experience to the role?

It's inevitable that I bring that to anything I'm doing. It's part of my DNA and my whole life experience. So I have that in my psyche and it's very reachable, which is both a blessing and a curse. My father [actor John Carradine] was a drinker, and he was a controlled drinker so he could get pretty far gone at night, but he would be sober in the morning and go to work. He was a consummate pro and it never affected his work. So that was an interesting thing to deal with in terms of his relationship to spirits, by which I mean the liquid form.

That's all part of my history, and [that helped] in terms of trying to understand a child's demons and whatever drives someone to try and escape the reality that they're finding difficult to handle. I've never had to deal directly with substance abuse myself, but I've certainly known people who have and I have many friends who have been in [recovery] programs. So it's not a subject I'm unfamiliar with, but to approach it from the point of view of an actor playing the father of a drug addict who is well into adulthood and still wrestling with those issues was powerful stuff.

I won't spoil the ending of the episode, but do you think Billy is ultimately judged fairly?

In the context of what happens and how it happens, and where Billy is in his own life experience at that point, it's hard to think it's unfair. That's one of the things that drives the show: wrestling with the legal system and the nuances therein. One of the reasons that [Accused showrunner] Howard Gordon and his team are so fascinated by this milieu is that the law is complicated. And I applaud their willingness to explore complicated issues and give the audience credit for having the intelligence to be shown this stuff and think about it.

On a lighter note, next year is the 40th anniversary of Madonna's "Material Girl" music video. I think people often forget that you have a role in that as the guy that's romantically pursuing her. How did that opportunity come about?

I was requested by Madonna! She was familiar with my work at the time, and she knew what story was going to be told was in that particular video and she thought I was the right person to play that role. So it's as simple as that: Madonna said, "Hey, can we get Keith to do this?" And I said, "Sure." It was an interesting three days, I can say that. Madonna is an extraordinary talent and I felt privileged to spend a couple of days working with her.

I like to imagine that the "Material Girl" music video is canon for Billy's backstory in the music business.

Yeah, maybe it all cross-pollinates on a certain level. [Laughs]

How does Accused speak to the kinds of roles you're looking for now?

I'm looking for anything that's gonna be challenging, and that's gonna make demands on me and on my craft, you know? I've tried to maintain a sense of exploration, and I've tried to seek out things that are gonna continue to challenge me, because that's where the growth happens. And I don't ever wanna stop growing! I think I'm a probably a better actor now than I was when I was 25 or, at least, I would hope so. [Laughs] And I'm also looking to work with actors who will do that opposite me in a scene as well. There are amazing actors out there, and every time I get a chance to work with somebody that has that gift, it lifts me up.

I have to end on a quick shoutout to another great movie that you're in, Walter Hill's 1980 Western, The Long Riders. Is that one that you think back on fondly as well?

Of course! Literally, everyone and his brother was in that movie. [Laughs] When Walter put that material together, it occurred to him that the were these acting families of brothers and cousins and that's what the story became. Nobody had ever done that before; you'd always have a bunch of actors who aren't related, so that was an incredibly authentic thing to put onscreen. [The Long Riders stars Keith, David and Robert Carradine, Dennis and Randy Quaid, Christopher and Nicholas Guest and James and Stacy Keach.]

I think that movie holds up so well. A lot of people always talk to me about that movie and how much they like it. And Walter Hill is one of the world's great directors. He just made one with Christoph Waltz that was just terrific.

Accused airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on Fox.