Brooke Shields

Adult Swim's Mr. Pickles, featuring an evil dog who regularly kills, beheads and mutilates deserving victims, might make you rethink pets. And Brooke Shields' involvement in the cartoon might make you rethink Brooke Shields.

Shields plays the matriarch of the Goodman family, an innocent, old-fashioned clan living in the throwback world of Old Town. But all around them, the modern world is seeping in — and unbeknownst to them, their 6-year-old son Tommy's lovable Border Collie, Mr. Pickles, is actually a homicidal monster. (Actually, Tommy's Grandpa knows, but no one pays attention to him.)

"He's definitely disturbed and a little misunderstood," Shields says of Mr. Pickles. "Any time Mr. Pickles dismembers somebody, I have to turn my head."

Shields probably isn't an obvious choice to voice Tommy's mom, but the actress is actually a fan of subversive comedy. "I wanted to be involved with [creators and executive producers] Will Carsola and Dave Stewart. [Plus] I don't have to be in hair and make-up."

Shields describes her character as "sort of a little Marge Simpson, a little Midwest, a little ditzy and very earnest, but with a flip side."

Stewart, Carsola, Frank Collison, Jay Johnston and Kaitlyn Robrock also provide voices on the show. Mr. Pickles airs Sundays at 11:30/10:30c on Adult Swim. Here's a taste of Shields in action.

Subscribe to TV Guide Magazine now!