British actress
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Written by
Nicholas Gisonna
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Article History
Quick Facts
- Born:
- February 19, 2004, Marbella, Spain (age 20)
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Millie Bobby Brown (born February 19, 2004, Marbella, Spain) is a British actress best known for portraying Eleven in the hit science-fiction–horror television series Stranger Things (2016– ), a role for which she was twice nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for outstanding supporting actress in a drama series.
Brown was born in Marbella, Spain, and raised by her parents, Kelly and Robert Brown. She was the third of four siblings. When Brown was just four years old, her family moved to Bournemouth, Dorset, England. Her family then moved to Orlando, Florida, in 2011, when Brown was about eight years old. Brown was born partially deaf in her left ear and later, after years of using tubes, lost all of her hearing in that ear. She has spoken about her hearing loss, emphasizing that it has not affected her acting or singing abilities.
While participating in a weekend acting workshop, Brown was discovered by a professional talent scout who told her parents that she had a natural talent for acting and might do well in Hollywood. Her parents ventured to Los Angeles with Brown to meet with talent agencies. Within a few months, Brown was offered her first professional role, a recurring part on the fantasy television series Once Upon a Time in Wonderland. The show, a spin-off of the popular fantasy drama Once Upon a Time (2011–18), was based on Lewis Carroll’s literary classics Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass. Brown played the role of Alice’s younger self on two episodes of the show’s one-season run.
Brown continued her career in television when she was cast in a starring role on the British paranormal drama series Intruders, which aired on BBC Two in 2014. The show centres around a secret society whose members seek immortality by possessing the bodies of others. Brown played a nine-year-old who becomes possessed by one such intruder. Intruders ran for only one season, but Brown continued to find work in television. She had a guest spot on the crime drama NCIS that same year. In 2015 Brown appeared in the feel-good sitcom Modern Family and the medical drama Grey’s Anatomy.
In 2016 Brown was cast in a main role on the Netflix series Stranger Things. The role popularized Brown as an actor among mainstream audiences, propelling her to stardom. On the show Brown played the part of Eleven, a young girl with psychokinetic powers who is experimented on by scientists who are trying to create a superhuman weapon.
Stranger Things was a colossal hit for Netflix, with its fourth season becoming one of the most watched seasons in the streaming service’s history. Many viewers found Brown’s enigmatic Eleven endearing, and the character became a fan favourite and somewhat of a poster child for the series. Brown was nominated for an Emmy for outstanding supporting actress in a drama series in both 2017 and 2018 for her performance.
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With her career bolstered by her success on Stranger Things, Brown made her film debut in the 2019 blockbuster Godzilla: King of the Monsters. Brown portrayed Madison Russell, the daughter of the two leads, played by Vera Farmiga and Kyle Chandler. Brown reprised the part in the sequel, Godzilla vs. Kong (2021).
Brown starred as the titular character in the Netflix movie Enola Holmes in 2020. The movie is an adaptation of The Enola Holmes Mysteries, a young adult novel series by Nancy Springer. The film follows the story of teenage detective Enola Holmes, the younger sister of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes. The movie centres around Enola Holmes exploring the mystery of her mother’s disappearance. Brown returned in the sequel, Enola Holmes 2 (2022), in which her character, having opened her own detective agency, unravels a conspiracy that has been spread across London.
In 2021 Brown began dating Jacob Bongiovi, whose father, Jon Bon Jovi, is the leader and frontman of the rock band Bon Jovi. In April 2023 Brown announced her engagement to Bongiovi.
Nicholas Gisonna
