Millie Bobby Brown Opens Up About Stranger Things , Upcoming Films, and Environmentalism

If Millie Bobby Brown comes across as extremely confident, that’s probably because she is.

In the past 365 days alone, the 15-year-old has filmed the third season of her hit Netflix show Stranger Things, played the lead in the newest iteration of Godzilla, become UNICEF’s youngest Goodwill Ambassador, and collaborated on a line of shoes with Converse.

She’s without limitations, incredibly self-assured, and driven.

But even in especially poised moments, like when she instinctively knew to change looks after the photographer got enough frames during her photo shoot, she also has an innocence that subtly exposes itself, reminding you that she’s a young woman just trying to navigate the world to the best of her ability.

For our July/August cover story, we talked to Millie about the passion behind each project she pursues. From Godzilla: King of the Monsters to saving whales, her choices are intentional and purposeful, and we watch in awe as she gives us the performances of her life.

Teen Vogue: Have you reconciled with all of your success? Has it hit you yet?

Millie Bobby Brown: Thank you for the compliment. I've been ever-so-lucky to have some amazing projects that have been really well received. And my characters, I've had such a fun time playing. I think it's just my life. It's how I'm living my life right now. There are definitely those surreal moments where I've stopped myself and said, "Wow, this is different, this is not what real people go through, and maybe I should go and feed my dogs and do the normal things in life." But yeah, I mean, it's a cool experience, just everything I'm doing. But then again I do love to feed my dogs.

TV: Yeah, I read you have, what, three dogs?

MBB: Yes. [And] a cat and now a tortoise. Yes, I do.

TV: As the youngest UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and someone who entered the public eye with Stranger Things at a very young age, what draws you to projects creatively?

MBB: I think it's important to make sure that I'm attaching myself to the right material, things that are appropriate for my age, characters that I relate to and connect to, and things that have an underlying message. I mean, something that I feel so passionate about, and the reason that I love working with UNICEF, are the underlying issues and messages through my work. With Stranger Things, it's embracing yourself. Bullying goes on in schools, bullying goes on online, but in Stranger Things, it's really about embracing your individuality. And in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, the underlying message is conservation for animals in nature and climate change. And I think that I love being part of projects that have messages.

TV: How do you choose a message, or what draws you to particular messages?

MBB: I don't think there's a limitation at all to what you can stand for. I mean, for me, there are so many issues with children's rights, you can't just pinpoint one thing. Yeah, there's bullying, and yes, there's exploitation, and yes there's the fact that there's no clean water in some countries that are not as privileged as others. I can't pin myself to one thing because I will feel immediately like I'm being drawn to something else.

TV: What do you wish people who are making decisions about world policy and the rights of children would acknowledge about young people?

MBB: Children are people. I think that's the most important thing. Children are people that have opinions, and children should never be silenced. Children should have a seat at the table; children should have their right to speak up. And I guess to reinforce, to restore that in people's brains, world leaders, people have to understand that children have a voice. And children are extremely smart. When you do have the right education, and when people are privileged to have that right education, children can do many things, in fact, change the world. And I think that not only world leaders, politicians, and people, in general, should understand that these kids, or we, as kids, have an incredible message, and we're actually really smart. So if anything, you just reinforce that.

TV: Do you feel like your generation is uniquely positioned from having grown up in an ecosystem of social media?

MBB: We were born into social media. So that's all I've ever known, is social media. That's all us kids have ever known. But we deal with social media smarter than some people that hadn't had it. We know that social media is an incredible place to spread a message — and a really bad place to bully, access negative hate, violence, and exploitation. I guess one thing that they should remember about social media is that we should make it into a really positive place where everyone feels welcomed and everyone feels like they're part of a bit of a community. We're slowly getting there, I think. Social media will become a better place in the future if we all work hard at it.

TV: How does fashion, making bold decisions, and expressing yourself through the way you look play a role in speaking to young people about identity?

MBB: I don't think that there's any role. I think that's the fun [thing] about fashion, that there's no rule to it. As long as you're being yourself, I guess that's the number one role. With me, two years ago, I said, "Oh, I'm never going to wear a crop top, and I'm never going to wear heels, and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah." And I've completely just, again, I boxed myself in three years ago, and now look at me. I love crop tops, I love heels. I'm a girl and I change and I'm evolving. And I'm probably going to say, I'm never going to wear a T-shirt that has tie dye on it. And in three years time, that's all I'll love. It's phases. And every woman, every man, every person on this planet goes through changes with their style, with who they are as a person. They change. And I think that that's one of the best things about fashion. There are no rules to it. And you should never box yourself in — even though you do, but you shouldn't.

TV: When you put on a particular statement outfit, can it feel in some ways like putting on a costume for a film, or getting into character?

MBB: I feel vulnerable, I guess, when I'm doing shows. I feel like my style is out of my control. They are in full control of what I wear, and they are in full control over what my hair does and what my makeup does and what my nails do. So when I'm myself and I'm not filming — this two months of my life — I just focus on, you know, whether I'm going to dye my hair pink and purple and whatever. And I'm going to do my nails like crazy long. That's what I'm going to do because I know that in July, it's going to be, that's it. I'm their's.

TV: Do you feel like the performances on Stranger Things are changing because you guys are more comfortable taking it to the next level as peers, as colleagues, as actors?

MBB: Yeah, definitely. It's like when you do something every day for 30 days, that becomes a habit. It's just what we do. We've filmed for three years now, and we don't even have to think about our characters; as soon as they say action, that's what we do. So as soon as you get used to something, that's what happens.

TV: Do you miss playing Eleven when you leave?

MBB: Oh, yeah. Definitely.

TV: Do you get really excited to go back?

MBB: Yeah. Yeah, I do. When I leave, I cry. I'm the only one that's full-on sobbing. I just can't. And especially wiping off my tattoo at the end of shooting makes me cry even more. But this season, three, the last day, I was like, dye my hair black. Wipe this off. I was definitely ready to go and be Madison [in Godzilla]. I was like, pierce my ears. I need them done. Yeah. But I was really sad too.

TV: What's it like on the set of Stranger Things?

MBB: Everything you see on the show is what you get. We genuinely live in the '80s world when we're on set; everything, to the underwear that we're given. We get tighty-whiteys. It's everything you see is what you get. And on our show, all the kids get the same. None of us are treated any differently. It's so fun: The first day of shooting we all get to choose our trailers and who we want next to us and who we don't want next to us. Noah’s [Schnapp] too loud, and I'm going to hear him when I'm trying to sleep. And Sadie's [Sink] going to be next to me because she's my best friend. It's really what you see on the show; the best friends are what you get. Right on set, we're having fun playing board games, screaming at each other.

TV: Do you ever feel — because some of the topics that are covered in Stranger Things are really heavy — that you have to get out of character and get far away from it? To process it?

MBB: I would say the one where Eleven's been abused. To be in a scene where I had to actually portray that was the scariest, scariest thing. And I remember just being like, "OK, I'm done. Did we get it all?" And they were like, "Yeah." And I'm like, "Great. Let's go to Chuck E. Cheese's. I need to get far away from this moment as fast as possible." And that was season one. And season three, there were definitely moments when I was like, "Can we go out? Can we go do something? On the weekends I'll be like, "Can we just go to Six Flags? I'm ready to just be happy again."

TV: What do you think it is about the character of Eleven that resonates with people?

MBB: For me, I gravitate toward people that need help. I'm just one of those people. I think my mom is the same. I gravitate toward people like that. And I think that's what people do with Eleven. They gravitate toward her because you feel like you need to help her. I don't know, I find that really fun, especially in movies, you feel like you can try and help people.

TV: How was it for Godzilla?

MBB: I have a rule: If I don't cry at the trailer, I don't see it in a movie theater. So I haven't gone to the movies since Dunkirk.

TV: Wow.

MBB: Yeah. I also live in a small town and they pick terrible movies to play on their three adorable, vintage screens. But I cried every time watching the trailer for Godzilla. And I'm not even a Godzilla super fan. I think it's, you know, this is definitely the movie to become a Godzilla fan.

TV: What did you take away from the movie?

MBB: The reason I signed on to the movie was because I have an enormous amount of respect for animals. And I love the way that this movie portrays animals. As much as they respect us, we should respect them. We should take care of them, as they should take care of us. It's such a fine balance of what this world needs to understand. What I took away from the movie was even more respect for animals and understanding more about Japanese mythology. I think it's so brilliant. What I want people to take away from the movie is that we need to conserve our animals, we need to conserve our nature, we need to take care of them, and make sure that we are respecting them.

TV: Do you worry or think about what will become of Eleven and all of the characters on Stranger Things? It's not like Game of Thrones, where everyone on that set was, "Am I going to die, am I going to die, am I going to die?" But do you think about what's going to become of them?

MBB: No, because with Stranger Things we're a little bit different than Game of Thrones because we go into a meeting and we talk about what I want to do, what the kids want to do.

TV: Wow.

MBB: Mm-hmm [affirmative]. We have a big say in what we want to do with our characters because they respect our decision and our opinion. There was a meeting once where I was like, "No, that's a bad idea. Let's do this." And they're like, "Oh, that's a great idea too." They told me the first season, "What do you want to do when you use your powers?" And I said, "This." And they were like, "Okay, let's do that." And that's what we did. That’s what I love about the creatives of Stranger Things — I think they have an enormous amount of respect for youth; they shine a light on our voices. They don't silence us. They let us choose our path to our characters, which is cool.

TV: Do you feel like that might be setting you up for potentially creating, directing, and writing?

MBB: In the summer, I'm filming a book series called Enola Holmes and the Case of the Missing Marquess, about Sherlock Holmes's little sister, and I'm producing that. We found the book series and we wanted to bring it to Legendary because Legendary, as well as Netflix and Stranger Things, they shine a light on youth. And they gave me this opportunity to create something that meant so much to me. I was so, so mindful of who we chose to direct the movie. We were so mindful of who we wanted to write the movie. And once we had all of those factors in, it was like, "OK, I'm going to let these people be creative people, and if I want to add my opinion in, hopefully...are they going to listen?" And they totally listened to me. And I was like, "Oh, my goodness. Wow. This is what a producer means." It was cool because I got to create and collaborate with these immensely talented people. It's the best work experience ever.

TV: What else do you have going on?

MBB: I have another creative collaboration with Converse, and a collection that I worked on last year. I collaborated with Converse on a collection that I feel really passionate about, and I cannot wait for people to see it.

TV: How involved were you in the line?

MBB: [I was involved in] everything, down to the little whale symbol on the shoe, which was really fun. I feel really passionate about whales. Whales, they symbolize who I am as a person: They're loud, they're the queen of the sea. I love the ocean. I was born in Spain [on the coast], so I've incorporated whales through some of the things that I've done that's coming out in the future.

TV: That's really compelling based on what you mentioned about the animal kingdom and living, that we're sharing the planet. I think it's interesting when people talk about climate change, how they can be like, "The world is going to end. Life is going to be over." And I'm like, "Most life is in the oceans, and we've really wrecked a lot of it. But there is a lot that is very resilient in our oceans.

MBB: In the movie Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Godzilla comes out and he defends [the environment]. When he feels like the world is being threatened, he comes to defend the world. And I feel like that's what my whales are going to do. They're going to come out and be like, Guys. Chill out here. Just recycle. Come on.

This interview has been condensed for clarity.

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Credits:

Styled by Thomas Carter Philips

Hair by Bridget Brager

Makeup by Kelsey Deenihan

Nails by Dawn Sterling

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Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue