By Katrina Deisler
Millie Bobby Brown, star of the Netflix series, Stranger Things, is on the cover of the November issue of Interview magazine. The 12-year old actress, who plays the mysterious Eleven on the show, has been called by many the “breakout actress of the year.” Brown is close friends with professional dancer (you’ve seen her in Sia’s “Chandelier” video and the Lifetime series, Dance Moms) Maddie Ziegler. The pair of tweens chatted on the phone in September about how they met, their careers, successes, and best parts of their jobs.
Mikael Jansson for Interview
The character of Eleven is a challenging one, as she rarely speaks and the audience really only knows her name and her supernatural powers. On her role, Brown noted, “It was something challenging. It was different from other roles because in those I had to speak a lot. […] And in this show, I realized I didn’t have to speak with my mouth, I had to speak with my face. Instead of actually saying I’m angry, I’m sad, I’m confused, I had to do it with my face, and that was challenging.”
Mikael Jansson for Interview
With Halloween coming up, Ziegler asked about how Brown felt about people dressing up as Eleven, “People are embracing her character and trying to portray her. I think it’s nice to see what different people think of her character. I’m cool with people dressing up as Eleven for Halloween. I definitely want to open my door and give them candy.”
While the two have been in the professional spotlight since roughly age nine (Ziegler first appeared in Dance Moms in 2011), the chat between the girls reveals how young they really are. In Stranger Things, Brown has to kiss a co-star (Finn Wolfhard), and of course Ziegler had to mildly tease her about it.
Ziegler: “Oh, what was I gonna say? We were talking aboutStranger Things being your favorite show because you get to kiss Finn”
Brown: “You’re an evil, evil person. You know that? Are you aware of that, Maddie? Yeah, I did have to kiss Finn. At the end of the day, it’s only acting, and it’s something you have to do, and I would do anything for the show. I cut my hair, I kissed Finn. It was definitely strange. It was, like, my first kiss, so it was kind of weird. But then, like, when I’d done it, I thought, ‘Wow. It makes sense for the storyline.'” But, despite her girly gushing over the kiss, Brown’s response reveals just how wise-beyond-her years the actress is.
Mikael Jansson for Interview
Childhood stardom is not always easy, but Brown and Ziegler seem very grounded in their chat. They seem to be enjoying their jobs (Brown even says she “craves” working at times). The pair are loving what they do and reflected on experiences they’ve had thus far, “I got to meet a lot of people: I got to meet you, I got to meet James Corden and John Travolta. It’s really fun and a little overwhelming but in a really good way. I get to go to these events that are really fun. It’s all very new to me so I’m very grateful because not many kids or even adults get to do this. We’re very lucky, Maddie.”
We’re already looking forward to Ziegler and Brown’s bright futures, and can’t wait to see season 2 of Stranger Things, rumoured to be released in Summer 2017. In the meantime, check out the whole piece in Interview Magazine’s November issue.