Millie Bobby Brown's Long, Hard Road to Stranger Things
This interview that Millie Bobby Brown, 12, recently did with The Daily Mail was such a concerning read to me. Supporting your family is not something that any twelve-year-old should feel responsible for. I hope that someone is watching out for this girl. Most of the article:
The word-of-mouth surprise hit of the summer, Netflix's supernatural TV drama Stranger Things is so addictive that even Hollywood giant Steven Spielberg has called it the best show of the year. Even more remarkable is the amount of attention heaped on the twelve-year-old British newcomer who has outshone Hollywood star Winona Ryder to become the sensation of the series. Some fans are so besotted with schoolgirl Millie Bobby Brown and her character Eleven that they are having her name tattooed on their arms, or shaving their heads as part of their Eleven Halloween costumes.
Millie in a promo shoot at Walt Diney World, October 12
But Millie's story is far from an overnight success. Getting to this point pushed her family to the brink of bankruptcy. "It was very hard," she says. "There were lots of tears along the way." Millie's parents sold everything to move from Bournemouth, England, to Hollywood to pursue an acting career for Millie, which put pressure on her to fulfill her dreams. She got bit parts in NCIS, Modern Family, and Grey's Anatomy, and was considered for Spielberg's recent film The BFG, but she kept missing out on the starring roles.
Things were so tight that Millie's manager Melanie Greene lent the family money to help them survive. "My older sister left. She didn't want to do it any more," Millie says. "It was tears, tears, tears. We went through tough times." Last summer, the family admitted defeat when their money ran out. They moved back to England so broke that they had to stay with an aunt. "I was devastated. I wasn't getting work. I thought I was done."
Millie in a panel at New York City Comic Con, October 7, and arriving at the BAFTA/LA Tea Party, September 17
Millie hit her lowest ebb after an unpleasant experience with a casting agent: "She said I was too mature and grown up. She made me cry." Later that day, she auditioned for Stranger Things. "I had to cry in the audition. My emotions were so raw, I hit it out of the park." Within weeks, she and her family were on a plane back to the US, where Millie filmed in Atlanta late last year. The show has transformed her life, and she is being "bombarded" with film and TV offers. "I never in my wildest dreams thought this would happen."
Millie's father, Robert Brown, says that she was different from the start: "My other children would watch cartoons, but Mill watched musicals - Chicago, Moulin Rouge, Annie and Bugsy Malone. She'd belt out a tune. She was performing from day one." Millie recalls: "I did a lot of school plays. I was a drama queen. I was annoying my father one Saturday and he said, 'We need to find you something fun to do.'" She was enrolled in a local theater school, where she caught the eye of an agent who wanted to represent her professionally.
All the kid stars of Stranger Things taping The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon at Rockefeller Center, August 31
On the set of Stranger Things, costar Winona Ryder was a friend and mentor. Millie points to a pretty ring on her middle finger: "Winona gave me this. It's an Irish wedding band for loyalty, love and friendship. She was protective." Millie has been inundated with offers of work, but even though she performed onstage at the Emmys and stayed out late at after-parties, her father says he's determined to keep her feet on the ground. "It's important for Millie not to feel under pressure. She's a kid. She has to do her homework and chores. Everything else is a bonus."
The word-of-mouth surprise hit of the summer, Netflix's supernatural TV drama Stranger Things is so addictive that even Hollywood giant Steven Spielberg has called it the best show of the year. Even more remarkable is the amount of attention heaped on the twelve-year-old British newcomer who has outshone Hollywood star Winona Ryder to become the sensation of the series. Some fans are so besotted with schoolgirl Millie Bobby Brown and her character Eleven that they are having her name tattooed on their arms, or shaving their heads as part of their Eleven Halloween costumes.
Millie in a promo shoot at Walt Diney World, October 12
But Millie's story is far from an overnight success. Getting to this point pushed her family to the brink of bankruptcy. "It was very hard," she says. "There were lots of tears along the way." Millie's parents sold everything to move from Bournemouth, England, to Hollywood to pursue an acting career for Millie, which put pressure on her to fulfill her dreams. She got bit parts in NCIS, Modern Family, and Grey's Anatomy, and was considered for Spielberg's recent film The BFG, but she kept missing out on the starring roles.
Things were so tight that Millie's manager Melanie Greene lent the family money to help them survive. "My older sister left. She didn't want to do it any more," Millie says. "It was tears, tears, tears. We went through tough times." Last summer, the family admitted defeat when their money ran out. They moved back to England so broke that they had to stay with an aunt. "I was devastated. I wasn't getting work. I thought I was done."
Millie in a panel at New York City Comic Con, October 7, and arriving at the BAFTA/LA Tea Party, September 17
Millie hit her lowest ebb after an unpleasant experience with a casting agent: "She said I was too mature and grown up. She made me cry." Later that day, she auditioned for Stranger Things. "I had to cry in the audition. My emotions were so raw, I hit it out of the park." Within weeks, she and her family were on a plane back to the US, where Millie filmed in Atlanta late last year. The show has transformed her life, and she is being "bombarded" with film and TV offers. "I never in my wildest dreams thought this would happen."
Millie's father, Robert Brown, says that she was different from the start: "My other children would watch cartoons, but Mill watched musicals - Chicago, Moulin Rouge, Annie and Bugsy Malone. She'd belt out a tune. She was performing from day one." Millie recalls: "I did a lot of school plays. I was a drama queen. I was annoying my father one Saturday and he said, 'We need to find you something fun to do.'" She was enrolled in a local theater school, where she caught the eye of an agent who wanted to represent her professionally.
All the kid stars of Stranger Things taping The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon at Rockefeller Center, August 31
On the set of Stranger Things, costar Winona Ryder was a friend and mentor. Millie points to a pretty ring on her middle finger: "Winona gave me this. It's an Irish wedding band for loyalty, love and friendship. She was protective." Millie has been inundated with offers of work, but even though she performed onstage at the Emmys and stayed out late at after-parties, her father says he's determined to keep her feet on the ground. "It's important for Millie not to feel under pressure. She's a kid. She has to do her homework and chores. Everything else is a bonus."