Millie Bobby Brown - Grown In A Millie-Second

Known for vanquishing beasts onscreen, 15-year-old Millie Bobby Brown is just as gutsy in person, speaking her mind on family, love rumours and what makes a teenager tick today.

- Natasha Silva-Jelly

Arriving at the loft studio in New York’s Chelsea district at the appointed time of 10am on a rainy spring morning, I’m surprised to find our cover girl is already on set. In fact, Millie Bobby Brown, the 15-year-old breakout star of Netflix science fiction horror series Stranger Things—who is set to make her movie debut in the pop culture phenomenon Godzilla: King of the Monsters—actually arrived early. Sporting a rainbow tie-dye hoodie, khaki cargo pants, Doc Marten boots and small-rimmed glasses, Brown is sipping a Starbucks beverage and casually chatting to the hair and makeup crew. A STAR IN THE MAKING

Incidentally her hallmark hair—famously shaved to play her character Eleven in Stranger Things—is now a shaggy bob accentuated with golden highlights. Sitting down for our interview ahead of her BAZAAR shoot, I am not entirely sure what to expect. Despite her age, Brown has already attracted her fair share of controversy. There’s the social media trolls who accuse her of dressing beyond her years, the infamous homophobic meme that led to her shutting down her Twitter account, her fiercely criticised relationship with Canadian rapper Drake who is twice her age, and now the mounting rumours she is dating Romeo Beckham.

Brown, who speaks in an English/American hybrid accent, as it turns out is warm, friendly, and even a little excitable. Upon discovering I am Australian, she quips enthusiastically, “I just came back from there. I bought an Akubra [a wide-brimmed fur hat worn by bushmen], it’s my favourite.”