"I did get really, really bullied" — Millie Bobby Brown recalls experience of shaving her head for Stranger Things on Call Her Daddy podcast

Millie Bobby Brown recalled her experience of shaving her head for her Stranger Things role during an interview on Alex Cooper's Call Her Daddy podcast on March 12, 2025. The 21-year-old revealed that she frequently worried about her physical appearance during her childhood years.

“It became to the point where I was like twelve, 11 or 12, where I was like, the boys started liking girls and I was kind of like maybe, “Why are boys not liking me?” and then I was like, “I’m feeling insecure now,” so I would put wigs on and I did get really, really bullied," she remarked.

Millie Bobby Brown played the pivotal character Eleven in the Netflix series Stranger Things. Eleven is a young girl with telepathic and psychokinetic abilities who, along with her friends, fights the forces of evil to save their small town of Hawkins. However, the role required Brown to shave her head to align with Eleven's traumatic past.

During the interview, Brown explained that she initially had no concerns about shaving her head. She shared:

"I honestly did not care, and I’m saying that like I really did not care. I didn’t have anxiety, I wasn’t sad when they shaved it off. I just thought, 'Cool. Now this is what I’m doing.'"

However, maintaining a shaved head for continuity became challenging.

"I was shaving it consecutively every three days because it cannot grow past a certain length," she recalled.

Brown also shared that to blend in with the girls of her age, she started wearing wigs but still got "really, really bullied." Despite the challenges, she admitted that shaving her head was an experience she genuinely appreciated in retrospect.

"I still to this day loved the experience, and I would do it again," she remarked.

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Millie Bobby Brown addresses media scrutiny over her appearance

Millie Bobby Brown at World Premiere Of Netflix's "The Electric State" - Source: Getty

During the March 12 interview, Millie Bobby Brown also addressed the ongoing criticism surrounding her recent appearances. The Stranger Things actress reflected on how she has been scrutinized for supposedly looking older than her age. She remarked:

"I guess…I think that the press, they love to go in on me sometimes with certain things. I know that obviously people say that I look a lot older... And I’m like “well yeah, you did meet me when I was 10, so I’d understand I am 21 now. It’s been ten years, she grows.”

Growing up in the public eye, Brown admitted that such criticism once affected her deeply. She recalled trying to change herself to fit public expectations.

"Like, it used to get to me, it did. I grew up feeling really, really, I was… it got to me and I remember trying to change myself to please the masses...," she shared.

However, over time, she has learned to embrace herself. She enjoys experimenting with makeup and no longer lets public opinions influence her confidence.

"I do wear a lot of makeup like it’s just the kind of person I am. I like that, like it’s fun for me..."

Beyond her personal experience, Brown voiced concern over the intense scrutiny young girls in the entertainment industry face. She highlighted how constant public criticism can distort their perception of the world, fostering cynicism and self-doubt.

"It is it changes the kind of person you, like are, like it changes the way you perceive the world and like, you see the bad and everyone, you don’t see the good," Brown added.

Emphasizing the need for change, Millie Bobby Brown stressed that the press needs to be kinder so that no young actor faces undue pressure while growing up in the industry.