AFTER gaining fame and success at a young age, Millie Bobby Brown became the target of criticism like many other child stars. As the 18-year-old works to figure out who she is, she opened up to Allure magazine about how her “year of healing” hasn’t been easy.
The Stranger Things actress talked about her “unhealthy situation” with one of her exes, TikTok star Hunter Ecimovic, which she eventually walked away from in January 2021. She said that she had been quietly working through the trauma she faced from the relationship, including the time when Ecimovic did a livestream on his social media where he claimed that he had “groomed” the actress.
“I felt very vulnerable,“ she recalled. “Also, no one on the set knew I was going through this.”
Brown added: “When you get publicly humiliated this way, I felt so out of control and powerless. Walking away and knowing that I’m worth everything and this person didn’t take anything from me, it felt very empowering.”
“It’s really hard to be hated on when you don’t know who you are yet,“ she said.
Even as a 10-year-old, she recalled an experience where a casting director criticized her for seeming older and wiser than she was. “I thought [maturity] was a good thing. And then being told that it wasn’t, that I wouldn’t make it in this industry, it was so hurtful.
“You just start shutting down because you’re like, ‘Who am I meant to be?’”
Most of us are lucky enough to grow up without a spotlight, and Brown mentioned that she’s always struggled with loneliness and feeling misunderstood since she was young.
“There was something about acting that made me feel powerful, impactful, and like I could inspire people,“ she said. “Of course, people can look at it as pressure or scary, but I think that’s the most exciting part of my job. Be the people that you want to be and achieve the dreams that you want to achieve. That’s my message.”