Millie Bobby Brown: the actress who plays Eleven, from season 1 to the end of Stranger Things
Actresses · Millie Bobby Brown · Eleven
Millie Bobby Brown was eleven at casting, twelve at filming, and had a single line in the first episode. Ten years later, she is the most famous actress of the show, producer of her own films and at the head of a cosmetics brand. Portrait of the one who played Eleven from 2016 to the end.
The essentials
- Born: February 19, 2004, Marbella, Spain (British parents)
- Role: Eleven / Jane Hopper, seasons 1 to 5
- On film: Godzilla, Enola Holmes, Damsel, The Electric State
- Also: UNICEF ambassador at 14, founder of Florence by Mills
Contents
Millie Bobby Brown: the shaved head, at twelve
Born in Spain to English parents, raised between Bournemouth and Orlando, Millie Bobby Brown has already shot Intruders, Grey's Anatomy and NCIS when she auditions for season 1 in 2015. The Duffers are looking for a little girl able to carry an almost mute character. She agrees to shave her head, with Charlize Theron in Mad Max: Fury Road as a reference, and gets the role.
Eleven barely speaks in season 1. Everything goes through the look, the tears, a thread of blood under the nose. The performance earns the actress an Emmy Awards nomination at thirteen, one of the youngest in the history of the ceremony.
The 011 T-shirt, like the tattoo.
In the shopMen's portrait of Eleven T-shirt39,90 €See the product
Ten years in Eleven's skin
The character grows with her: the 1983 runaway, the hidden teenager at Hopper's in 1984, the girl who discovers shopping and friends in 1985, the powerless exile of 1986, the woman who faces her past in 1987. Millie Bobby Brown played Eleven from twelve to twenty, which makes the role one of the longest held by an actress who started as a child.
She has said she had a hard time, as a teenager, with the exposure the role brought, and that she learned to protect herself from social media. The ending of the show, filmed in 2024, was, in her words, a mourning.
The nosebleedThe trickle of blood that runs when Eleven uses her powers is applied before every take by a makeup artist: a discreet tube, fake blood, and a stopwatch so the flow is identical from take to take.
Godzilla, Enola Holmes, Damsel
| Year | Film | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Godzilla II: King of the Monsters | Madison Russell |
| 2020 | Enola Holmes | Enola, Sherlock's sister; also a producer |
| 2021 | Godzilla vs Kong | Madison Russell |
| 2022 | Enola Holmes 2 | Enola |
| 2024 | Damsel | Princess Elodie |
| 2025 | The Electric State | Michelle, in the Russo brothers' film |
At sixteen, she produces Enola Holmes with her company, PCMA Productions, and makes it one of the most watched films on the platform. Damsel and The Electric State confirm a headliner status able to carry a blockbuster alone.
Markers
| Year | Step |
|---|---|
| 2004 | Birth in Marbella, Spain |
| 2013 | First role, in the series Once Upon a Time in Wonderland |
| 2015 | Eleven's casting; she shaves her head |
| 2016 | Release of season 1, worldwide reveal |
| 2017 | Emmy Awards nomination at thirteen |
| 2018 | UNICEF ambassador, the youngest in history |
| 2020 | Enola Holmes, which she produces |
| 2024 | Marriage to Jake Bongiovi; Damsel; end of filming on the show |
| 2025 | The Electric State; release of the last season |
Beside the theater
In 2018, at fourteen, she becomes UNICEF's youngest goodwill ambassador. In 2019, she launches Florence by Mills, a cosmetics brand aimed at teenage girls, become a company in its own right. She has published a novel, Nineteen Steps, inspired by her grandmother's wartime story, and married in 2024 Jake Bongiovi, son of the singer Jon Bon Jovi.
For fans of the show, she remains Eleven: the girl with the shaved head who came out of the forest one November evening in 1983.
The Eleven figure, hospital gown or pink dress.
In the shopLego Eleven mini figure14,90 €See the product
What you know less about her
Millie Bobby Brown was born with partial hearing loss in her left ear, and ended up losing all hearing on that side over the years. She grew up between Bournemouth, in England, where her family settled when she was four, and Orlando, Florida, from the age of eight, hence her ability to switch from a British accent to an American one depending on who she is with. She has said she grew up "with no money," and that that insecurity marked her relationship to money once she was famous.
Before Eleven, she had appeared in Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, Intruders, NCIS, Modern Family, and Grey's Anatomy, without those roles being enough to support the family in the United States: they had gone back to England to stay with an aunt. In 2016, she auditioned for the role of Lyanna Mormont in Game of Thrones, without getting it. Eleven came right after.
Eleven, season by season, as seen by her actress
-
1983
A nearly mute child, a shaved head, a trickle of blood. The performance earns the actress her first Emmy and SAG nominations, and a collective win with the whole cast.
-
1984
The teenager hidden at Hopper's, then the trip to Chicago with Kali: the season when Eleven learns to say no, and a second Emmy nomination.
-
1985
Shopping with Max, the powers lost at the end, the move to California: the lightest season for the character.
-
1986
Without powers, humiliated at high school, then sent back to the 1979 lab by the Nina project: the hardest season, with the digital de-aging scenes.
-
1987
The crawls, Kali found, the sensory tank, and the final choice. The actress said she lived the end of the shoot, in December 2024, as a bereavement.
The figures of a career
In 2018, at fourteen, she became the youngest person in history to appear on Time magazine's list of the hundred most influential personalities, and UNICEF's youngest goodwill ambassador. According to Variety, she earned 10 million dollars for Enola Holmes 2, which placed her among the highest-paid actresses of the year. Her brand Florence by Mills is sold in major chains in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada.
She has also been a model, for Calvin Klein from 2017 then for Moncler, and signed by a major modeling agency at thirteen. All while filming each season of the show: the last, between January and December 2024, occupied her for a whole year.
The Eggo keychain, for breakfasts.
In the shopEleven bandana and bracelet cosplay set14,90 €See the product
TakeawayBorn in 2004, cast at eleven, head shaved at twelve for the role of Eleven. Emmy-nominated at thirteen for Season 1. Actress and producer of Enola Holmes, lead of Damsel and The Electric State. UNICEF ambassador at fourteen, founder of Florence by Mills.
Frequently asked questions
Who plays Eleven in Stranger Things?
Millie Bobby Brown, British actress born in 2004 in Spain, across the five seasons.
How old was Millie Bobby Brown in Season 1?
Twelve at filming, in 2015. She was twenty at the end of the season 5 shoot, in December 2024.
In which films does Millie Bobby Brown act?
Godzilla II and Godzilla vs Kong, Enola Holmes 1 and 2, Damsel, The Electric State.
What is Florence by Mills?
The cosmetics brand she founded in 2019, aimed at teenage girls.
Is Millie Bobby Brown deaf in one ear?
Yes, in the left ear: born with a partial loss, she lost all hearing on that side over the years.
Did she audition for Game of Thrones?
Yes, in 2016, for the role of Lyanna Mormont, without getting it. She was chosen for Eleven shortly after.
What is her most famous scene?
Many cite the “Goodbye, Mike” of season 1, when Eleven disintegrates the Demogorgon, or Hopper's letter read at the end of season 3. The last chapter adds the farewell to Mike in her mind.