In an interview with Glamour Magazine before the SAG-AFTRA strike, actress Millie Bobby Brown (Enola Holmes), revealed she is ready to make her departure from her role as Eleven in the successful series Stranger Things. Via Variety, Brown admitted to Glamour, “Stranger Things takes up a lot of time to film and it’s preventing me from creating stories that I’m passionate about. So I’m ready to say, thank you, and goodbye.” This is not the first time Brown has publicly shared her interest in parting ways with the show.
In 2016, The Duffer Brothers (Wayward Pines) released their show Stranger Things through Netflix. The stars of their show consisted of young actors, including Brown, who was just twelve years old when the first season of the show was released. Brown played Eleven, a young girl with extrasensory and telekinetic powers who escapes from Hawkins Lab where extreme tests were run on her daily. Upon her escape, Eleven is found by a group of young boys out looking for a member of their friend group, Will Byers, played by Noah Schnapp (The Tutor), who had recently disappeared after a hangout. Eleven befriends the boys and helps them find out what happened to Will. Other main characters of Stranger Things include Finn Wolfhard (IT), who plays Mike Wheeler, Gaten Matazarro (Honor Society), who plays Dustin Henderson, Caleb McLaughlin (Shooting Stars), who plays Lucas Sinclair, Sadie Sink (The Whale), who plays Max Mayfield, Winona Ryder (Beetlejuice), who plays Joyce Byers, and more. Throughout the show’s four released seasons, the friends fight against paranormal evil entities that threaten both them and Earth.
Now aged nineteen, Brown acknowledges the skills working on Stranger Things has given her. According to Variety, Brown stated, “I think I’m ready. It’s been such a huge factor in part of my life… but it’s time to create your own message and live your own life.” Brown stepping into the spotlight at such a young age has not come without its challenges. The child actress recalls instances when she was bullied and ridiculed by adults because of her talkative nature during interviews, which some perceived as her trying to steal her co-stars’ thunder.
Brown is looking forward to her next big project outside of the Stranger Things universe; a movie set for release in 2024 titled The Electric State, co-starring Chris Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy).
Other than some small details, Stranger Things season five starring Brown has not officially been given a release date.