Millie Bobby Brown Reflects on ‘Stranger Things’ Farewell and Accusations Against David Harbour in British Vogue

There are few certainties in life, but if we can be sure of anything at all, it’s the knowledge that Stranger Things is coming to an indefinite end – and it’s going to be emotional. 

The brainchild of brothers Mike and Ross Duffer, the show has developed a cult following since launching on Netflix in 2016, turning a cast of unknown child actors into bankable Hollywood stars in the process. 

Season five will launch on November 28, but its return has been clouded by a series of unsavoury allegations, notably the unsubstantiated claim that Millie Bobby Brown was bullied by older co-star David Harbour while working on the show. 

But the actress, just 10-years old when she successfully auditioned for her breakthrough role as as the telekinetically gifted Eleven, admits filming her final scenes still felt like a bereavement. 

‘It’s like a death of someone you love,’ she told the December issue of British Vogue. 

‘I was 10 when I started, so this is like a family to me; not just the cast, not just the crew, but the entity of Stranger Things.’ 

Now 21-years old and enjoying the first flourishes of married life with husband Jake Bongiovi – the model son of rock legend Jon Bon Jovi – Brown developed an unbreakable bond with her teenage co-stars as the show grew in popularity. 

Such was the demand for new Stranger Things episodes that its third season, launched in 2019, broke unforeseen viewing records, with an astonishing 64 million households watching the show within its first month of availability, making it the most watched Netflix series in history. 

It all points to an emotional goodbye when Netflix finally launches season five, long delayed as a consequence of strikes carried out by the Writers Guild of America (WGA) over pay, residuals for streaming content, and Hollywood’s persistent use of AI, on November 28. 

And Brown admits she and her young cast-members, among them Finn Wolfhard, Noah Schnapp, Gaten Matarazzo, Sadie Sink and Caleb McLaughlin, were reduced to tears while reading the script for its eighth and final episode, which airs on December 31. 

‘We were all each other knew,’ she said. ‘We just all huddled and cried for five minutes straight.’ 

Such is her attachment to the show, Brown has set up home in Atlanta, Georgia – where much of Stranger Things is filmed – with her husband, newly adopted daughter and a menagerie of animals, among them 11 dogs, four cats and upwards of 40 farm animals. 

There, the couple live a remarkably unaffected life, a world away from the glitz, glamour and relentless grind of fast-paced showbiz hubs Los Angeles and New York City. 

‘I grew up here, you know?’ she said of Atlanta. ‘This is the longest place I’ve been consecutively in my life because of Stranger Things. For me this is home.’

Brown and Bongiovi confirmed their formal adoption of a baby girl in August – a week after conducting her British Vogue interview, during which the actress expressed their desire to have more children. 

‘Definitely kids, I really want a big family – I’m one of four; he’s one of four. I don’t see having your own child, you know, as really any different [than] adopting,’ she said of their future plans. 

‘We are 50-50 on everything. That’s why I’m so grateful to have partnered with him in this life – he is just the most amazing dad.  

‘It’s been a beautiful, amazing journey – she’s taught us so much already. Perspective is a huge thing. The smaller things in life are so much more precious. 

‘Our days are filled with lots of cuddles and laughter and love. It’s just endless joy.’

Happy to discuss the highs and lows of parenthood, Brown remains fiercely protective of here young daughter, whose name and features have so far remained private.  

And the actress insists her stance on public disclosure is not likely to change in the foreseeable future.    

‘I’m not going to [reveal her name and identity]. For me, it’s really important to protect her and her story until she’s old enough to potentially one day share it herself. 

‘It’s not my place to purposefully put her in the spotlight unwillingly. If she chooses to share her personality one day with the world, like I did when I was young, that’s something we’d support. 

‘But right now, as she’s so little… As her parents, it’s our job to protect her from that.’

See the full feature in the December issue of British Vogue, available via digital download and on newsstands from Tuesday 18th November.