Millie Bobbie Brown Opens Up About ‘Gross Sexualization’ As A Child

Millie Bobby Brown attends the 26th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at The Shrine Auditorium on January 19, 2020 in Los Angeles, California.

Gregg DeGuire/Getty Images for Turner

Millie Bobby Brown has opened up on her experiences in the entertainment industry, discussing the “gross sexualization” she has been subjected to since turning 18.

The actress is best known for playing Eleven in the hit Netflix series Stranger Things, which propelled her to stardom at the age of just 12. While she’s now been a recognized actress for years now, having starred in films Enola Homes and Godzilla vs. Kong, she revealed in a new interview that she’s noticed changes in the way people interact with her recently since turning 18 this past February.

Brown told Deborah Frances-White that it opened her eyes to how “young girls are sexualized” in Hollywood and modern society. She said, “I have definitely been dealing with that more in the last couple of weeks of turning 18, definitely seeing a difference between the way people act and the way the press and social media have reacted to me coming of age. In my opinion, I believe that shouldn't change anything. It’s gross."

Brown added, “It’s a very good representation of what’s going on in the world and how young girls are sexualized. I have been dealing with that – but I have also been dealing with that for forever.” She recalled attending a red carpet at 16, wanting to go "a little lower" with her dress length, but got "crucified for looking like a 60-year-old." "What's wrong with a 60-year-old!?? I think it's a vibe!" she exclaimed.

“I deal with the same things any 18-year-old is dealing with. Navigating being an adult and having relationships and friendships, and it’s all of those things,” the actress went on to say.

Discussing the backlash she received for appearing in a low-cut dress on the red carpet when she was younger, Bobby scoffed, “I thought, is this really what we should be talking about? We should be talking about the incredible people that were there at the awards show, the talent that was there, the people we are representing.”

Stranger Things is about to get stranger... and horrifying. The first look at Season 4 shows Netflix’s beloved teens of Hawkins, played by Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Noah Schnapp, and Charlie Heaton in the aftermath of the Battle of Starcourt.

Per IndieWire, Stranger Things 4 picks up six months after season 3's terror and destruction at the Starcourt mall. A new and horrifying supernatural threat surfaces this upcoming season, which is split into two parts, with Volume 1 premiering May 27 and Volume 2 premiering July 1.

“They’re not kids anymore — they really are full-blown teenagers,” co-creator Matt Duffer told Netflix’s Queue magazine. “That’s why this season we leaned more into horror. We figured they should be in their own [version] of A Nightmare on Elm Street basically.” So much so, that the the Duffer Brothers showrunners enlisted Nightmare on Elm Street's Freddy Krueger, Robert Englund for a guest appearance in the season that will be a “really dramatic departure” from any other Stranger Things installment.

Eleven, aka Jane Hopper (Brown), has since relocated to California with the Byers family: Joyce (Winona Ryder), Jonathan (Heaton) and Will (Schnapp). Back in the Midwest, Mike (Wolfhard), Dustin (Matarazzo), and Lucas (McLaughlin) have to navigate the changes of high school, while in Russia, the fate of presumed-dead Jim Hopper (David Harbour) hangs in the balance.

Season 4 will introduce new cast members as well, including Joseph Quinn as metalhead Eddie Munson, the greatest dungeon master at Hawkins High, and Eduardo Franco as Argyle, a laid-back California stoner who becomes Jonathan’s best West Coast pal.

“If we look back at our favorite movie sequels — whether it’s Aliens or Terminator 2: Judgment Day, or The Godfather: Part II, or The Empire Strikes Back — the greatest movie sequels always do change it up. The tone feels different,” Ross Duffer told Queue. “So that’s what we’ve been trying to do each season to challenge ourselves and give everyone something new to try.”

Matt Duffer added, “That’s important to make sure we don’t get bored, and the cast doesn’t get bored.”

The decision to split Season 4 into two parts was also due to just how much detail and storytelling the Duffers wanted to accomplish in a season. “With nine scripts, over 800 pages, almost two years of filming, thousands of visual effects shots, and a runtime nearly twice the length of any previous season, Stranger Things 4 was the most challenging season yet, but also the most rewarding one,” the co-creators said. “Everyone involved is incredibly proud of the results, and we can’t wait to share it with you.”

The series is set to conclude after five seasons. See stills from the upcoming season below:

Gangs All Here

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Courtesy of Netflix

STRANGER THINGS. (L to R) Joe Keery as Steve Harrington, Gaten Matarazzo as Dustin Henderson, Maya Hawke as Robin Buckley, Sadie Sink as Max Mayfield, Natalia Dyer as Nancy Wheeler, and Caleb McLaughlin as Lucas Sinclair in STRANGER THINGS. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2022