Getty Image
There’s a reason why child actors burning out and never fulfilling their potential as adults has become a Hollywood cliche over the years, and that’s because much attention paid to you as a kid is simply not natural.
There have been plenty of child actors over the years to grow up and have completely normal lives and successful careers, such as the trio of Harry Potter stars, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jason Bateman, Dakota Fanning, Kirsten Dunst, and so on.
Still, whether they’re able to transition from child actor to adult actor or not, virtually all of them have likely had some strange encounters along the way, with the cast of Stranger Things surely being no different.
In early May, for example, Millie Bobby Brown got dragged into a beef between rappers Kendrick Lamar and Drake, who are both about 20 years older than here. There are also her statements about being sexualized since she turned 18 years old in 2022.
“[I noticed] a difference between the way people act and the way the press and social media have reacted to me becoming of age,” Brown said on The Guilty Feminist podcast. “I believe that shouldn’t change anything, but it’s gross and it’s true. It’s just a very good representation of what’s going on in the world and how young girls are sexualized. So, I have been dealing with that, but I have also been dealing with that for forever.”
Brown isn’t the only Stranger Things star to have this happen to them, apparently, as her longtime co-star Gaten Matarazzo recently revealed that a woman in her 40s, in front of her daughter, told him that she had a crush on him since Matarazzo was 13-years-old.
“This woman in her 40s said straight up, ‘I’ve had a crush on you since you were 13,’” Matarazzo said on the Inside Of You podcast (which is hosted by the actor who played Lex Luthor on Smallville). “And I was like, ‘That’s upsetting.’ I’m sure she just meant, ‘Aw, this kid’s cute.’ But then she doubled down.”
“She was like, ‘I’m aware of the age difference.’ And then I was like, ‘Alright.’ And her daughter was with her, and her daughter goes, ‘Mom, what the fuck?’ I swear to God,” he explained.
Production on the fifth and final season of Stranger Things began earlier this year and is expected to be released on Netflix in 2025.
Since breaking onto the scene with Stranger Things, Brown has also starred in a handful of Netflix movies such as two Enola Holmes films, Damsel (which was released earlier this year), and the upcoming Russo Brothers-directed project The Electric State, which she’ll feature in alongside Chirs Pratt. Brown has also had roles in Godzilla: King of the Monsters and Godzilla vs. Kong.
Brown is also one of the most followed women on Instagram in the world as she currently has over 63 million followers, which is currently the 83rd biggest IG account on the planet. Brown has used fame to start the cosmetic and clothing brand Florence By Mills, which was launched in 2019.