Millie Bobby Brown has said the scrutiny she faced while growing up on Stranger Things felt far more intense than the pressure experienced by her male castmates. The actor said the imbalance shaped how she views public criticism of young women in entertainment.
Speaking on the July 13 episode of the On Purpose with Jay Shetty podcast, Brown said young women are rarely allowed to exist without being judged. “Women don’t win because we don’t get to win. We don’t get to just be in peace. It’s crazy scrutiny,” she said.
Brown points to a different standard for girls
The 22-year-old said she grew up on a show alongside four boys, while stressing that they also had difficult experiences. Still, she said the attention directed at the girls on the series carried a particularly intense level of pressure.
Brown said headlines about her male castmates were more likely to focus on their work and career progress. By contrast, she said coverage of girls often zeroed in on clothing, hair, makeup, and appearance.
“I never heard [commentary] about any of my cast members, boys slash men, about what they’re wearing on the carpet and what they look like or what their hair looks like or what their makeup looks like or what they’re saying,” Brown said. “Those weren’t the headlines.”
She said her castmates deserved positive coverage and described them as “amazing.” But Brown added that she deserved the same consideration, particularly because appearance-based headlines can also affect other girls entering the industry.
Appearance criticism began during her teens
Brown recalled reaching a point where she no longer wanted to let criticism define her. She said she was 15 when people began saying she looked like “a 60-year-old woman” and questioning her clothing choices.
She said wearing high heels prompted criticism about who she thought she was, while wearing a suit brought separate attacks for looking too old. Brown described the conflicting reactions as proof that many critics were not offering consistent or meaningful opinions.
According to USA Today, Brown later deleted social media apps from her phone after a major incident when she was 17. She did not describe that incident in the podcast interview, though she has previously spoken about feeling publicly humiliated by an ex who discussed their relationship in graphic detail and made accusations about her.
The Stranger Things cast she grew up with
Brown appeared in the Netflix series alongside several young cast members whose careers developed in the public eye. Sadie Sink and Priah Ferguson joined the show in its second season.
| Cast Member | Age Cited | Season Context |
|---|---|---|
| Finn Wolfhard | 23 | Listed among Brown’s fellow child stars |
| Gaten Matarazzo | 23 | Listed among Brown’s fellow child stars |
| Caleb McLaughlin | 24 | Listed among Brown’s fellow child stars |
| Natalia Dyer | 31 | Listed among Brown’s fellow child stars |
| Noah Schnapp | 21 | Listed among Brown’s fellow child stars |
| Sadie Sink | 24 | Joined in Season 2 |
| Priah Ferguson | 19 | Joined in Season 2 |
Brown acknowledged that she still holds “a bit of a resentment” because she does not feel she received equal treatment. She also said the experience is not a pity party and has pushed her toward protecting younger people working in the industry.
“Public perception I could’ve gone without, but then again it’s also made me who I am today,” Brown said. She added that she now sees protecting young people in entertainment from similar treatment as part of her life’s mission.
