Millie Bobby Brown born 19 February 2004 is an English actress and producer. At the age of twelve, she gained notability for her role as Eleven in the first season of Netflix science fiction series Stranger Things (2016–present), which was renewed for three seasons. She received Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2016. She starred in and produced the mystery film Enola Holmes (2020), and starred in the monster film Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019).
In 2018, Brown was featured in the Time 100 list of the world’s most influential people. That year she was appointed as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, the youngest person selected for this position.
Early life
Brown was born in Marbella, Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, the third of four children of English parents, Kelly and Robert Brown. She has British citizenship through her parents. The family moved to Bournemouth, Dorset, when she was around four years old.
Four years later, her family moved to the United States, settling in Windermere, Florida. She was born with partial hearing in one ear, and gradually lost all hearing in that ear over several years.
Brown now divides her time between London and Atlanta.
Career
In 2013, Brown made her acting debut as a guest star in the ABC fantasy drama series Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, a spin-off of Once Upon a Time, portraying the role of Young Alice. In 2014, she had a starring role in the BBC America paranormal drama-thriller series Intruders as Madison O’Donnell. She made guest appearances in the CBS police procedural drama NCIS, the ABC sitcom Modern Family, and the ABC medical drama series Grey’s Anatomy.
Brown at the 2016 Phoenix Comic Fest
In 2016, Brown was cast to play Eleven (‘El’) in the Netflix science fiction horror series Stranger Things. She received critical praise and she was nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series and the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. She won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series with her co-stars and won the 43rd Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor in a Television Series. For her role as Eleven in the second season of Stranger Things, she received her second Emmy nomination in 2018.
In November 2016, Brown starred in the music video for Sigma and Birdy’s single “Find Me”. Since November 2016, she has appeared in commercial advertisements for Citigroup.
In January 2017, she made her modelling debut in Calvin Klein’s “By Appointment” campaign. The following month, she was signed to the agency IMG Models. She appeared in the campaign of the Italian brand Moncler in the summer of 2018.
In January 2018, Brown was cast to star in and produce the film adaptation of The Enola Holmes Mysteries. She was also chosen to voice in Darren Aronofsky’s virtual reality experience Spheres: Songs of Spacetime. On 20 April 2018, she was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine, becoming the youngest person to be included in the list. On 20 November 2018, it was announced that she had become the youngest person ever to be appointed a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.
In November 2018, EA Games announced that Brown collaborated with The Sims 4 programmers to feature in the Sims 4 Positivity Challenge. She was named by Time magazine as one of the most influential teens of 2017 and of 2018. In 2018, The Hollywood Reporter ranked Brown as among Hollywood’s top thirty stars under age eighteen.
Brown made her feature film debut in 2019, in the sequel to Godzilla, titled Godzilla: King of the Monsters. She will reprise her role in Godzilla vs. Kong. In March the same year, it was announced Brown will be starring in the film adaptation of The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin as Suzy. Also in March 2019, she became the ambassador of UEFA’s Together #WePlayStrong campaign. More recently, she offered them a first look deal with Netflix.
On July 28, 2020, it was announced that she will star and also produce through her PCMA Productions a suspense film titled The Girls I’ve Been.
Filmography
Brown speaking at the 2017 San Diego Comic-Con
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Spheres | Narrator | Voice role; segment: “Chorus of the Cosmos” |
| 2019 | Godzilla: King of the Monsters | Madison Russell | |
| 2020 | Enola Holmes | Enola Holmes | Also producer |
| 2021 | Godzilla vs. Kong | Madison Russell | Post-production |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Once Upon a Time in Wonderland | Young Alice | 2 episodes |
| 2014 | Intruders | Madison O’Donnell | Main role |
| NCIS | Rachel Barnes | Episode: “Parental Guidance Suggested” | |
| 2015 | Modern Family | Lizzie | Episode: “Closet? You’ll Love It!” |
| Grey’s Anatomy | Ruby | Episode: “I Feel the Earth Move” | |
| 2016–present | Stranger Things | Eleven / Jane Ives | Main role |
Music videos
| Year | Title | Artist(s) | Role | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | “Find Me” | Sigma featuring Birdy | ||
| 2017 | “I Dare You” | The xx | ||
| 2018 | “Girls Like You” (Original, Volume 2 and Vertical Video versions) | Maroon 5 featuring Cardi B | Herself (cameo) | |
| “In My Feelings” | Drake | |||
| 2019 | “Happy Anniversary, All I Want for Christmas Is You!” | Mariah Carey |
Video games
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | The Sims 4 | Herself | Free downloadable character as part of an event |
Awards and nominations
| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | NME Awards | Hero of the Year | N/A | Nominated | |
| Young Artist Awards | Best Performance in a Digital TV Series or Film – Young Actress | Stranger Things | |||
| People’s Choice Awards | Favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV Actress | ||||
| Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series | ||||
| Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series | Won | ||||
| Fangoria Chainsaw Awards | Best TV Actress | ||||
| Saturn Awards | Best Younger Actor in a Television Series | ||||
| MTV Movie & TV Awards | Best Actor in a Show | ||||
| Best Hero | Nominated | ||||
| Teen Choice Awards | Choice Breakout TV Star | ||||
| Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series | ||||
| Gold Derby TV Awards | Drama Supporting Actress | ||||
| Breakthrough Performer of the Year | Won | ||||
| IGN People’s Choice Award | Best Dramatic TV Performance | ||||
| 2018 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series | Stranger Things | Nominated | |
| Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series | |||||
| Empire Awards | Best Actress in a TV Series | ||||
| Kids’ Choice Awards | Favorite TV Actress | Won | |||
| Saturn Awards | Best Younger Actor in a Television Series | Nominated | |||
| MTV Movie & TV Awards | Best Performance in a Show | Won | |||
| Best Kiss (with Finn Wolfhard) | Nominated | ||||
| Teen Choice Awards | Choice Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV Actress | Won | |||
| Choice TV Ship (with Finn Wolfhard) | Nominated | ||||
| Gold Derby Awards | Best Drama Supporting Actress | ||||
| Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series | ||||
| 2019 | Kids’ Choice Awards | Favorite TV Actress | Stranger Things | ||
| Teen Choice Awards | Choice Summer TV Actress | Won | |||
| Saturn Awards | Best Performance by a Younger Actor | Godzilla: King of the Monsters | Nominated | ||
| 2021 | Kids’ Choice Awards | Favorite Female TV Star | Stranger Things | Pending |