Millie Bobby Brown is continuing to speak out against the tabloid media, particularly when it comes to criticizing her appearance in relation to her age.
In the latest episode of the “Call Her Daddy” podcast, the 21-year-old “Stranger Things” star told host Alex Cooper that the press “love to go in on me with certain things,” including saying “that I look a lot older” and pointing out changes in her British accent.
“A thing that I get a lot is like, ‘Oh my God, she looks like 40,’” Brown said. “And I’m like, well yeah, you did meet me when I was 10, so I understand. Now I’m 21, it’s been 10 years. She grows. My face like, grew. What do you want me to do about that?”
However, Brown said that the constant scrutiny “really actually doesn’t bother me.”
“I wish I could be like, ‘You know what, it does get to me.’ It used to get to me, it did … And I remember trying to change myself to please the masses,” she said. “And actually now, I’m in a place where, yeah, my accent does change. My face does grow. I do wear a lot of makeup. It’s just the kind of person I am.”
On March 3, Brown posted a video on her Instagram calling out specific members of the press for “bullying” her and “dissecting my face, my body, my choices.”
“I started in this industry when I was 10 years old,” Brown wrote in the caption to the video. “I grew up in front of the world, and for some reason, people can’t seem to grow with me. Instead, they act like I’m supposed to stay frozen in time, like I should still look the way I did on ‘Stranger Things’ Season 1. And because I don’t, I’m now a target.”
Speaking to Cooper on “Call Her Daddy,” Brown said that kind of treatment “should never be OK” and she’s “disgusted” by it.
“I can’t believe it still happens. And if I can do anything to change it, I would,” she said. “If I had a genie wish, I really would wish that no one ever had to go through that kind of scrutiny because it changes the kind of person you are. It changes the way you perceive the world. You see the bad in everyone, you don’t see the good. You’re like, ‘What are your intentions, what are you going to say about me?’”
She concluded that “the press just need to be taught manners again,” adding: “I think they need to go back to school and learn how to speak to people, be kind and just understand that we’re all growing people, we all make mistakes. Ultimately, the standards and stigmas against girls, it’s ridiculous.”
Brown has been making the press rounds lately to promote her new Netflix film “The Electric State,” which she stars in alongside Chris Pratt. During an appearance on “The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon,” Brown also gave insight into why she decided that now was the right time to speak out against her portrayal in the media.
“I kind of kept making excuses, like it’s just not the right time or I shouldn’t do it, people are going to respond badly. And then I realized, I just keep making excuses because I’m afraid,” Brown said. “And when is the right time for a woman to stand up for herself? And actually, I can’t wait any longer.”
Watch Brown’s full “Call Her Daddy” interview below.
