When you scan through Millie Bobby Brown's bio you'd be forgiven for thinking she has enough life experience for someone four or five decades in, but when you know she's turning 18 today (19th February) it's mind blowing. For only just reaching adulthood, she has achieved and then some, in a multi-hyphenate career as an award-winning actor and cult hero Eleven in Stranger Things; a producer on the movie Enola Holmes with the follow up out this year; appointed as the youngest ever UNICEF Goodwill ambassador; a beauty entrepreneur and founder of Florence By Mills makeup and skincare line; not to mention an all-round inspirational Gen-Z role model.
And as we chat on Zoom from her family home in the UK, we can reveal she's as every bit as nice and impressive in person (as on paper). Warm and friendly, she's happy to discuss everything from her new flapper bob cut, her British roots (and the fact it's a fish and chip Friday when we speak), and share the nuggets of wisdom she has picked up on her incredible life journey thus far.
Here are her top ‘18 things I've learnt by 18’…
1. Women empower me
"Young girls, women and specifically women in my family make me feel most empowered. My Nan made me feel most empowered and I learned a lot from her.
2. You can’t be good at everything, sometimes you have to fail
"Something that my Nan preached was that failure is part of the process and it was something that I didn't really listen to for a really long time and then I understood it after I went through my own failures. I was always like, okay, okay, okay and then I got it. Not so much through my career, but mostly just being a girl and understanding that you can't be good at everything.
3. Enjoy the journey
"My Nan was also an advocate for the process, instead of just trying to get the end result. I understood that you can thrive in other areas of your life, while also be working and in progress in other areas.
4. Really express emotions
"Being an actor I've learned about channelling emotions and expressing them authentically. I think so many times in life, people express their emotions, but they're not really hitting the spot on what the issue is. With acting it's your job, so you have to hit the spot! You have to directly hit the emotion that you're trying to portray. And I’ve learnt a lot through that.
5. In a Brow-mergency, reach for the hairspray
"This is not really something that you should even say or do, but something that I learned before I created the Florence By Mills brow gel was hairspray works to tame your brows. Luckily, I don't need to now though!
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6. It always pays to take your makeup off before you go to sleep
"So many times I've gone to sleep from award shows and I just haven't taken my makeup off. When I was little, I think I did it the most, but now I've realised you have cleanse [Florence By Mills Clean Magic Face Wash], then moisturise and if you have some patches that need some more love, you need to attend to them immediately. Otherwise, you'll be seeing the repercussions in the morning.
7. Embrace happy accidents
"I think I've learned the most in my entrepreneurship career, just because I never knew how much went into creating a business and also maintaining a business. You think in the moment that it's going to be all very easy and flowing and everything's going to go to plan, but most of the time it doesn't, and that's when happy accidents happen. And I have learnt to try and embrace all of those happy accidents. I've also met so many new people that I really want to be a part of the Florence By Mills family. And that's what I've really enjoyed along the way.
8. Brits are best at banter
"My parents and my whole family are very English and something that stuck with me is British banter. I've never lost my banter, which most of my friends here and in America have enjoyed.
9. Honesty is a good trait
"I'm quite honest. I'm brutally honest. It's an English thing, I think. It's just sometimes we're very upfront and blunt and it's something I've definitely carried with me. I think it's a good trait to have as well.
10. Kiss negativity goodbye
"Everyday most of the time I'll do this Ho'oponopono prayer and it's, 'I love you. I'm sorry. Thank you.' I think it's a really nice daily mantra that helps you let go of any negative blocking in your aura. And so if that's a person, place, thing, or feeling - you can release it by saying, 'I love you and I'm sorry. Thank you. And I forgive you.'
11. Short hair is so much easier
"That's something I've learned and having shaved my head when I was 10, I got what the most extreme version of ‘short’ is, and I got addicted to that. So now every time my hair gets long, I cut it short again so that I don't have to deal with any long hair. But I think what's really fun with short hair is that you can have a long-haired moment. You can just put wigs on and have really a lot of fun with that. Whereas when you have long hair, it's really hard to go short. I think short is better, it's like a clean base.
