Screen junkies know Millie Bobby Brown as powerful, telekinetic Eleven from Stranger Things and feminist Enola Holmes - Sherlock's younger sister. Off-camera, however, Millie has exposed a much more vulnerable and caring side of her personality by working to solve a universal problem: bullying.

“It’s a terrifying feeling to look at your phone and see that messages people are sending you are filled with anger and hate - and even threats,” Millie said during her 2019 UN speech when she was just 15 years old. It marked her first anniversary as Unicef’s youngest-ever Goodwill Ambassador.

In more extreme cases, bullying can lead to self-harm and suicide, which convinced Millie to take action. She set up a Twitter account @milliestopshate in 2017 to spread positivity on a platform known for trolls. Within a day, Millie had 9,000 followers. By 2022, the account had 855,000 followers. (Millie deleted her own, personal account after being trolled and targeted with homophobic memes.)
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“I am convinced that social media doesn’t have to be a place of fear, bullying, and harassment. It can bring people together. It can be a place of love and support,” she said. And if you’re not convinced that Gen Z can change the world, Millie’s got news for you: “Young people don't want to be talked about. We want to do the talking.” 

Modern Millie 

Born in Marbella in the south of Spain in 2004, Millie Bobby Brown has a global outlook. Her family moved to Britain when she was four years old. She was the third of four children and Millie’s star-like qualities were obvious from an early age.

“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,” her father, Robert, said. When an opportunity emerged for Robert to leave his job in real estate and open a small business in Florida the family moved to Orlando.

At age eight, Millie had already decided on a career as an actor and nothing was going to stand in her way. Millie perfected her American accent watching the Disney Channel and spent weekends taking acting, dancing, and singing lessons. Suddenly, she was juggling school six days a week with auditions, battling an intensely stressful work/life balance.

“It was very hard,” Millie recalled. “There were lots of tears along the way.” 

Hollywood superhero

The family moved to Los Angeles so Millie would be closer to Hollywood casting agents, which paid off when Millie landed her first major role in 2013 as young Alice in the fantasy-drama series Once Upon A Time In Wonderland. After cameos in Modern Family and Grey’s Anatomy, the young star stepped into the spotlight with the debut of Stranger Things in 2016. 
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“This industry is just full of rejection, 24/7,” Millie told Cosmopolitan, recalling that she almost gave up. “I was auditioning for commercials, for anything, really. I then auditioned for Game of Thrones and I got a 'no' for that. Then that’s kind of when I was like, ‘Oh, this is really difficult.’”

Auditions were not the only obstacle she’d need to overcome, however. 

Millie Bobby Brown: Growing up partially deaf

Millie was born partially deaf, and the young performer now cannot hear anything in one ear. That would be a challenge for anyone but communication is crucial in the entertainment industry where the director might be out of range for Millie to hear the word ‘Action’. She has never let it shake her confidence, however.

In the role of Eleven on Stranger Things, Millie is very expressive. “You can talk with your face. It’s very easy for someone to say: ‘I’m mad. I’m sad. I’m angry.’ I have to just do it with my face.” 

As for her vocals: "I just started to sing, and if I sound bad, I don’t care because I’m just doing what I love… You don’t have to be good at singing. You don’t have to be good at dancing or acting. If you like to do it, if you genuinely enjoy doing it, then do it. No one should stop you." 

Millie & Drake backlash‍

Millie is used to being criticized online and off. At one point, she was bullied so much by classmates that she didn’t want to go back to school. She also endured a backlash from fans because of her friendship with her mentor, the music icon Drake, who she met at the Emmy awards in 2017.

Some thought it an inappropriate relationship for a young teenager but she stood firm: “I’m lucky to have people in the business extend their time to help me further my career and offer their wisdom and guidance. I’m very blessed to have amazing people in my life.” 

Gen Z superhero: Millie as Enola Holmes‍

Millie enjoyed playing Enola Holmes. The film has a strong feminist point of view and Brown was happy to be part of the groundbreaking shift in the Sherlock Holmes’ franchise. The final line of the film has Enola saying: “The future is up to us.” It’s a mantra Millie has repeated in her Unicef Ambassador’s role and one she plans to spread in 2022 and beyond. 

"I feel like our generation is specifically formed of very open-minded people, and we're classed as new thinkers. We're trying to be accepting of new things,” she said. “I love meeting new people, learning more about the world, and I've never been someone that's incredibly into the idea of children sitting there and being quiet.”

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Charity begins at home‍

When the coronavirus pandemic struck, Millie donated £15,000 to staff on the front line of Britain’s National Health Service (NHS), saying: “Britain’s NHS workers - and all carers - are an inspiration to us all and are the nation’s heroes. I am in awe of every one of them and just wanted to thank those risking their lives.”

With her Unicef role, Millie has traveled to Copenhagen to help get supplies to vulnerable children, spoken at the World Children's Day Summit, and supported the ‘One Love’ campaign backing the Covid relief effort globally. She has plans to expand her work in 2022.

“It’s a dream come true to become a Unicef Goodwill Ambassador. I am looking forward to meeting as many children and young people as I can, hearing their stories, and speaking out on their behalf.”