"It can be really overwhelming": Millie Bobby Brown opens up on the 'gross' sexualisation she felt as a teen growing up in Hollywood

English actress Millie Bobby Brown has opened up about how she has been sexualized in Hollywood.

While speaking on The Guilty Feminist podcast, the 18-year-old told host Deborah Frances-White and guest host Susan Wokoma, the struggles of growing up in the limelight.

"I deal with the same things any 18-year-old is dealing with, navigating being an adult and having relationships and friendships, and it's all of those things. Being liked and trying to fit in, it's all a lot, and you're trying to find yourself while doing that. The only difference is obviously I'm doing that in the public eye."

Brown went on to describe how she dealt with being sexualized while still coping with the challenges of being a teenager. Calling it "overwhelming," Millie said that she has been dealing with it even more within the last two weeks of turning 18.

"[I'm] definitely seeing a difference between the way people act and the way the press and social media react to me coming of age."

The Stranger Things star called it "gross," while continuing that the entertainment industry is a "good representation" as to how young girls are sexualized. She further added that she had been dealing with that "forever."

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Millie Bobby Brown was sexualized as a child star

Millie Bobby Brown, who starred in the hit Netflix series Stranger Things at the age of 12, said that time and again, she would face criticism for being too mature or how she would dress for the red carpet when she was younger.

Speaking of her red carpet dresses, she said:

"Once I was going on the red carpet and I thought, 'Oh my god. I'm going to do a little low, just a little lower.' I was like 16 and was like, 'Mum, dad, please. Can I please wear this to this awards show?"

She said that "being liked and trying to fit in" has been a lot for her, especially since she has been doing this in the public eye. Millie Bobby Brown, who also starred in Enola Homes, revealed that she got "crucified."

She said:

"I thought is this really what we should be talking about? We should be talking about the incredible people that were there at the awards show, the talent that was there, the people we are representing."

When Brown turned 16, she sent out a strong statement about the internet criticism and drawbacks of being in the spotlight.

Brown was featured at numerous events in the video. As Justin Bieber's song Changes played in the background, a sequence of negative articles were displayed amid the high points.

Press headlines such as "When did Millie Bobby Brown go through the change??? (Menopause)" and "Millie Bobby Brown leaves Twitter after being targeted by homophobic meme" were some of the examples she dealt with.

The actress has utilized her social media platform to advocate for change in recent years, but called social media the "worst place of all time."

"When people come on to my page they can be happy. And they can see people actually being helped or they can learn or they can laugh. And they're seeing a real girl. Of course, I like to post my little selfies, but like, then I get real."

Millie Bobby Brown revealed that she resists posting anything personal on social media and that everybody gets to see whatever she decides to put out on it.