Millie Bobby Brown, 14, is friends with Drake, 31: ‘Now we talk all the time’

Brad Pitt rocks double denim on the set of 'Once Upon A Time In Hollywood'

Millie Bobby Brown is 14 years old and on the cover of the latest issue of W Magazine to promote her starring role in Godzilla: King of the Monsters. I’ve felt for some time now that Millie – who seems like a lovely young girl – is being overworked and overexposed by her stage parents. I hope that’s not the case, and I hope that she’s being given the freedom to just be a kid and make mistakes and all of that. But I get the impression from this interview (and from the past two years) that she’s been forced to grow up very quickly. I just feel bad for her. You can read the full W Mag piece here – she’s more professional during this interview than actors three times her age. Some highlights:

She’s friends with Drake: When she met Drake in Australia last November, where both of them were on tour (she was promoting the series; he was performing), the musician draped an arm around her shoulder for a picture that went viral. “He invited me to his concert,” Brown explained matter-of-factly. “And now we talk all the time. I ask his advice.”

On her activism: “I take my responsibilities seriously. I recognize that I have a voice, and I want to use it wisely.”

She didn’t know what to expect from Stranger Things: “We did the show, and I went back home to England. I thought, Okay, it’s a little show. What’s next? And then we came to America for the premiere. Three days later, my whole life changed. People went crazy! My followers went up to 1 million in one day. Magazines wanted me. One of my goals was to be on the cover of W, and you see? Dreams do come true.”

Acting against a CGI Godzilla: “Godzilla was a tennis ball! I was always looking up. My neck hurt a lot, and I had to get dry needling. They stuck a really big, but thin, needle in my neck. Your muscle then spasms, and, eventually, you’re fine. After the dry needling, I had a great rapport with the tennis ball.

What she loves most about living in America full-time: “I love red Jolly Rancher candy. Cherry. They’re very sour. I’m not allowed to eat them anymore, because they color my tongue. Eleven is odd enough without having a red tongue.

Shaving her head to play Eleven: “The shaved head was a big deal. On the one hand, it was cool. When you’re bald, rain feels like a head massage. I’d walk in the rain, and people would look at me like I was crazy. I’d be smiling—so, so happy to have the water hit my naked head. But on the other hand, people stared at me, wondering whether I was sick. Some would even laugh at me, without knowing whether I was or wasn’t sick. It was hurtful, but their attitude taught me something about compassion. In the end, being bald was the best thing I ever did—being different changed my life. I wanted to embrace my baldness and, hopefully, inspire people. And, now, that’s become my message to the world.”

[From W Magazine]

Um, Millie Bobby Brown, 14, is regularly in contact with Drake, 31? No no no. I understand that their relationship is probably just friendship, or that he’s big-brother vibing. But still, I don’t like it. And the dry needling stuff is horrifying! Whenever I think about MBB, I always feel like screaming “LEAVE MILLIE ALONE!” Just let her be a kid! How hard is that??

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Photos courtesy of Getty, cover courtesy of W Magazine.

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77 Responses to “Millie Bobby Brown, 14, is friends with Drake, 31: ‘Now we talk all the time’”

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  1. JOANA says:

    Just she talk to Drake doesnt mean her parents are controling from behind.i know you are saying she is 14 and he is 31 but she was good parents and she is not like kylie jenner.

    • Lisa Giametti says:

      Her parents are no better than Kris Jenner.

    • Noodles says:

      I find her so hard to listen to in interviews and so many photos of her make me uncomfortable too. I know that 14 year olds like to feel grown up, wear make up and start to sexualise themselves but they don’t do that in front of a global audience. There is something that feels so gross and so wrong about the way that she is being presented to the world. Her parents are part of that or at least could put a stop to it. The rest of the young cast seem to be presented much more as children than Millie.

      • Veronica S. says:

        I think that’s the real problem – her MALE cast mates aren’t being treated this way. They’re being treated like kids. There are occasional instances of them getting hit with inappropriate comments, but that’s coming from the fanbase and not the celebrity machine behind them. It just exacerbates the awareness of how overly sexualized young women and, in this case, young GIRLS are on the red carpet.

      • tealily says:

        I agree. This cover is a great example. Cute outfit and styling, but she looks like a little girl playing dress up. Let her be a little girl!

  2. Lolo86lf says:

    What a lovely girl. I hope fame and money does not ruin her life like so many child stars, Lindsey Lohan and Macaulay Culkin for instance.

  3. manda says:

    unpopular opinion: I think that both millie bobbie brown (millie bobby? horrible name, it sounds like a joke) and drake are really overrated and don’t get their popularity. That being said, they both seem nice enough. But people aren’t famous for being nice, and so I just don’t get it

    • Esmom says:

      I’ll join you. She seems lovely and grounded in this interview — although I do side eye her talking to Drake “all the time” — but I found her to be one of the weakest members of the Stranger Things cast.

    • C says:

      +1 she’s annoying

    • minx says:

      Agree.

      • Linda says:

        I feel icky calling a child overrated.

      • minx says:

        I think it’s a pretty mild critique. It’s not slamming her looks or body, and it’s also directed at critics who might over praise her. She’s young, she’s allowed to improve.

      • manda says:

        Thank you so much, minx! Yes, I just don’t think she’s that great of an actress (hence, the overrated comment), and I don’t really think that is a bad or mean thing to say. I mean, it’s negative, but it’s not ad hominem. I was unimpressed by her performance.

  4. TheHufflepuffLizLemon says:

    I’m around 13-14 year old girls who are beautiful, poised, and have amazing parents. They still don’t act like this. I’m sure this is edited…but she comes across as managed to an extreme degree. I hope it’s just her professional persona and there’s a giggly, happy kid somewhere in there who sneaks Jolly Ranchers when she’s not working.

  5. MCV says:

    It’s weird yes, I don’t think Drake is dangerous or anything but her parents should control her more and that’s the thing. She’s the breadwinner of the family so I don’t think things are going to change. Hope this is not another Lindsay in the making.

    • MerryMerryMonthofMay says:

      Demi Lovato was the “breadwinner” of her family and look how that turned out. That’s too much pressure to place on a young person.

    • harpy says:

      Agreed. I don’t think it’s ever wise to have your child be the breadwinner.

      Demi was the first one I thought of too. Did anyone watch her first “documentary”? Her mom says at one point that she couldn’t discipline Demi because Demi would say (truthfully) “I pay the bills around here.”

  6. Digital Unicorn says:

    This is not going to end well for her – her parents have a bad rep in HW and its obvious that they are shaping her image to make her appear older than she is. She’s being ‘managed/controlled’ to the extreme and she is going to rebel against that at some point – she will break and her parents will be to blame.

    She does seem like a lovely girl and maybe Drake is just looking out for her but she’s really not all that as an actress – the other children on the show are better actors.

    • Lolo86lf says:

      100% agree. In the future she might call her parents out for taking her normal childhood. The worst part of being coached by managers/parents is that she will not be allowed to be herself. She is being groomed to act like a perfect teenage girl who never makes mistakes. We as the public are to blame as well because we expect celebrities to be perfect angels who never do or say anything wrong.

    • HelloSunshine says:

      Do you have any sources/links or can tell my why they have a bad rep in HW? I totally believe it but would love to know more. I grew up in area with a lot of girls who were “going to be Stars” and had extremely wealthy lifestyles as kids and all that, and I get such a sinking feeling about MBB. She’s trying so hard to be this poised, adult person when she’s only 13. This is a disaster in the making if someone doesn’t step in and tell her it’s okay to be a kid

      • Digital Unicorn says:

        A quick google search should throw up some links – the story that springs to mind was that when they were negotiating the 2nd serious of Stranger Things her father was making outrageous demands about money and the cut he was to get (as her ‘manager’ – it didn’t go down well with the producers and studio and he was slapped down. It was said that several big agents refused to deal with them because of his behaviour. The success of the show went to their heads and they think the MBB Is the star of the show and the next JLaw.

      • geekychick says:

        maybe the fact that they all moved so she could make it-and she’s supporting her whole family for years with her acting.
        maybe the fact that last year she had to cancel an appearance bc of exhaustion-when it turned out that in between sets her parents were dragging her from convention to convention to pay-for-autographs and such conventions-non-stop. the constant striving to dress her and style her as older, older, older…down to a 14year old giving a statement on her break up (I don’t want to start on 14yr old actress commercializing her rs-and it all looks so contrived, so “what would a 40 yr old think a teenager thinks is cool” is…worrying). she is supermicromanaged and I don’t think her parents care about any wellbeing, except financial.

    • magnoliarose says:

      There is no way on earth I would allow my 13 or 14 year child to be friends with an adult that wasn’t a very trusted family member. If he wants to give career advice he can give career advice (if I were her parent) to me. There would be no phone calls or friendships. This has nothing to do with Drake as a person but everything to do with knowing that there is no way any of us or her parents know Drake well enough to encourage a friendship like this. It is probably innocent but why take any chances. If something ever happened there is no going back from it. I am not even talking sexual. I mean hanging out smoking it up or start drinking and getting a taste of escape through substances. Or she meets the wrong people through him. She is in HW and it would be easy enough for her to continue down that road to disaster.

      • HelloSunshine says:

        Omg I forgot about the part where her family sold everything to move to the US and she didn’t end up with any big roles at that time. That kind of pressure on a10 year old is NOT okay. And her dad demanding money from people to represent her? Yeesh. I really hope that there is money left by the time she’s 18 so she can get some therapy and be away from her money grubbing family.

      • harpy says:

        THIS!!!!!!! It’s not about thinking Drake is dangerous, it’s about being a parent and showing young people healthy boundaries between children and adults. I think it’s great for teens to have mentor figures but it is not appropriate for a 14 year old to be “friends” with a 31 year old.

  7. TTS says:

    Sometimes she’s exhaustive. In some of ther interviews she doesn’t even let her co-stars from stranger things talk. I hope she doesn’t become the next J-law

    • Sara says:

      Hopefully, unlike J-law, her parents make sure she’s educated through high school whether it be through home school or through an on-set tutor (or a break for a few years so she can have a normal adolescence). That factoid about J-Law not even finishing middle school still bothers me. How did her parents allow that?

  8. Yiza says:

    She looks 35!

  9. MI6 says:

    She also just went through a public “breakup.” 🙄 at 14.
    Somebody call CPS. I don’t care how much money she makes. She’s a KID.
    And as such , should have all the Jolly Ranchers she wants.
    PS- I don’t get all the criticism of her acting here. She’s phenomenal.

  10. Loopy says:

    What is this dry needling it make my neck twitched.

    • the_grrl says:

      Dry needling is acupuncture performed by a poorly trained physiotherapist.

      I am an acupuncturist and we spend at least 4000 hours learning our medicine. Dry needling is taught over a weekend course at most. Stay away!!

      • Enn says:

        I went to a dry needling acupuncturist for a couple of months and had nothing to show but increased migraines and hundreds of dollars down the drain 🙁

      • Mira belle says:

        Word. ^^ Same here. It’s called training and proficiency.

    • Ange says:

      Dry needling is great! None of the physios I’ve ever been to have been bad at it, it’s very helpful. They also work on actual muscles rather than imaginary energy lines.

      I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing for MBB to have had it but it might show she’s somewhat overworked.

  11. Otherjay says:

    At first I did think wtf but then I remembered that Drake was also a child actor on Degrassi and it made a little more sense. It IS weird for sure but I doubt its “all the time”, thats probably just a teen exaggeration and really they text every once in awhile. And I’m sure he gets what she is going through to a degree. If she was talking to James Franco or Jared Leto I’d be more concerned.

    • CairinaCat says:

      That’s true I forgot he grew up on Degrassi
      I was side eyeing the hell out of this but the fact he was a child actor too makes a little more sense.
      It’s still troubling a 14 year old and a 31 year old are maybe close friends.

    • Original T.C. says:

      “All the time” seems like typical over exaggeration for her age group. She’s probably talked to him a few times and is excited about knowing a famous musician. But the rest of the interview reads like it’s from a typical young teen who feels like they know everything about life already. Many young Hollywood teens sound that way. I watched stranger things and didn’t realize she has become a celebrity of her own.

      I blame W for choosing a 13 year old for their cover. Like seriously? You couldn’t find a grown azzed woman for your cover story?

  12. Karen says:

    I really wish these adult celebrities would stop “hanging out” with teen stars for PR. Maybe Drake’s intentions are pure, but during awards season lots of grown up celebs where obsessing about the Stranger Things kids, wanting to pose for photos with them, etc.

    Every time I see Millie Bobby Brown I just feel she’s so exploited by grown ups who all want something from her – her parents wanting money, film makers wanting to take advantage of her fan base and social media presence, celebs wanting a PR opportunity.. I wonder if there’s anyone in her life who just loves and appreciates her for who she is inside. When I was 14, the only expectations put on me was doing the dishes after dinner and trying my best at school. Every kid deserves a normal, private childhood.

  13. Brunswickstoval says:

    Dry needling is quite common amongst athletes I know. Some find it great others get no relief, but I don’t think it’s dangerous.

    • the_grrl says:

      ITA. See my comment above.

      PT’s are attempting acupuncture without the necessary training or experience. You are correct, many injuries including pneumothorax (lung puncture) have happed during dry needling.

      We’re in school for years to learn my craft, they take a weekend seminar at best.

      (It’s a very hot topic in my field!)

  14. joanne says:

    what will happen to her family when she turns 18? will they still expect her to support them? why don’t they get jobs of their own. this will end badly, i fear.

    • Suzanne says:

      That’s what worries me. She’s accustomed to providing for them so she’ll continue as an adult. I think that’s why when we see child stars spiral as adults, it’s that their families are too afraid to step in and tell them they’ve got to get help: they live off of their child’s success. Are they worried what will happen to them financially if their child doesn’t like what they have to say and cuts them off? Hollywood is a bad place, man.

  15. perplexed says:

    I wonder if Drake is a little embarrassed about her mentioning that. He probably just offers her advice from time to time as an older brother type, but the first thing I thought when I read this was go “Why would a 31 year old want to talk to a 14 year old for any length of time unless he’s related to her?”

    I also don’t get it when people say she resembles Natalie Portman. She looks like Elizabeth Perkins.

    • Veronica S. says:

      I can see Portman in her bone structure, but Millie lacks the delicacy of her features. Perkins is a good face twin, though. Kind of a cross between the two.

  16. Lucy2 says:

    I hope things go well for her, she seems like a nice girl with a lot of pressure on her right now.
    Her talking to Drake all the time is a bit odd, but hopefully it’s OK.

  17. Harryg says:

    This is too young to be interviewed so exhaustively.
    Also, I’m the only one it seems who doesn’t really like Stranger Things.

    • tracking says:

      Stranger Things didn’t hook me either.

    • Veronica S. says:

      I really loved season 1 but grew increasingly neutral by the midpoint of season 2. Hopefully, they’ll be able to reclaim some of the magic by season 3, but it definitely has some White Male Heterosexual Writer (TM) issues to work out.

      • Parigo says:

        Yes, season 2 was a let down and all the kids’ romantic storylines were gross. As far as acting goes in season 2 Noah was the breakout, he’s a major talent with several films coming out.

        I can see Millie just getting sick of being managed by her parents and going the emancipated route. Even her friendships are super showy. That relationship with that YouTube kid seemed so forced. He seems so immature Vs. her I have a hard time believing they were really a couple.

      • Veronica says:

        The sad thing is – I think his maturity is about right for their age. I’d expect a fourteen year old to be silly and dumb and somewhat ignorant. They’re allowed to be! That’s what youth is for! But it highlights the ways in which Millie is being forced to emulate adult behaviors well before she’s cognitively or emotionally prepared to do so, which is how you get this “overbearing” sense about her when really the problem is…SHE’S FOURTEEN.

  18. MellyMel says:

    I doubt they talk all the time. Probably through social media and the occasional text. But remember Drake was a child actor. A former child actor giving advice to a current one is okay in my book, especially since alot of those kids go though really hard times as they age in Hollyweird. These kids need mentors who’ve been through it & successfully transitioned to an adult not only professionally but personally. I adore her and Stranger Things, so I hope her and the other kids end up alright.

  19. Betty Whoo says:

    Its s a ‘oh no’ for #metoo

  20. Ann says:

    I think the Drake thing is her version of bragging and being unaware of how it comes across because she’s 14. By talk all the time she probably means via social media and it’s casual, nothing inappropriate. Drake will need to shut that down though, cause it doesn’t read well.

    And Drake was a child star too. People seem to forget he was on Degrassi from the beginning and he isn’t just wheelchair Jimmy. He probably does have some good advise for a rising child star.

    • Aren says:

      Yes, I’m hoping she was just name-dropping and they’re not really friends or anything.

  21. MerryMerryMonthofMay says:

    I agree 1000%

  22. Enn says:

    I’ve heard nothing good about her parents and I hope she doesn’t become LiLo 2.0.

  23. Patty says:

    I’m calling bullshit. No such thing as a 31 years old being friends with a damn 14 year old. Nope. A 31 year old can mentor a 14 year old and have a mentor / mentee relationship and as the kid gets older you can actually have a friendship. But I highly doubt that Drake is friends with MBB. Also a 14 years olds entire concept of friendship is going to be different than an adults.

  24. Suzanne says:

    Sh–y parents aside, perhaps Drake is mentoring her (and I don’t mean that in a creepy way). Didn’t he become famous when he was a teenager too? That’s the vibe I get with her saying she asks him for advice.

  25. Lorelei says:

    I actually think that her friendship/mentor type relathionship with Drake, if it’s real, might be a great thing for her. He grew up in show business so I’m sure he can give her useful advice, especially if her parents are the nightmare they’ve been painted to be.
    And all those that say it “looks” bad, or they would not allow their 14 yo to have a friendship with an adult… I think that says a lot more about you than about them…

    • nayru says:

      You are being ignorant to the fact that these adult friends of the family if not the family themselves are usually the ones involved in criminal acts against children.

  26. Veronica S. says:

    I mean, I think of it more as she’s FOURTEEN and probably enjoying a bit of humble bragging about getting to meet famous people. Which, honestly, I’m not going to hold against her. She’s already being forced to grow up so much faster than anything her age should because she’s basically the source of income for her family, from what I understand. If anything came of it, I’d hope that Drake’s experiences as a teen actor would provide some advice – even if his audience was comparatively smaller than the blockbuster success of Stranger Things.

    God, do I hate that cover. She’s barely a teenager, stop making her look like twenty-something! It’s all sorts of skeevy.

  27. Dee Kay says:

    I kind of can’t believe ppl in this thread think MBB can’t act. She is, imo, by far the best child actor on Stranger Things. The actor who plays her adoptive father, the sheriff — David Harbour, right? — he’s the best of the adults, and MBB is the best of the kids. It’s great the show put them together because whenever they have two-hander scenes, they both bring it so hard. But honestly, each of them can act with any scene partner and make it work, they bring out wonderful things in their fellow actors. Harbour said that one day he really hopes that he’s an old man watching MBB be the Meryl Streep of her generation because she has it in her to become that. (He was also lowkey hinting that he hopes Hollywood doesn’t ruin her before then.)

    • Kath says:

      Out of the kid actors I prefer Noah Schnapp, he is very talented and did an amazing job on season 2.

      • Parigo says:

        I said same thing above. Millie was OK in season 2 but Noah blew me away.

        Also I felt the Sheriff and Millie scenes in the woods dragged on too long and were kinda creepy.

    • Trillion says:

      She certainly acts circles around Winona Ryder.

  28. Peggy says:

    People are taking this way too seriously. She’s a 14yr old who acts extremely precocious and loves to name-drop. She drops names like this and talks like she’s a peer of people much older in all her interviews. It’s nothing to do with Drake, it’s just a combination of 14yr old cringiness and parents putting adult responsibilities on her.

    Honestly Drake could be a good influence. When he started acting at 15 his mother was sick and not working, so he was supporting her. MBB is in a worse situation with her whole family leeching off her, but seeing someone who had a somewhat similar experience and found success without hitting rock bottom…that can only help her.

  29. Sid says:

    Why is a 14-year-old on the cover of W magazine?

    Her parents are flops. Huge flops. Any parent who decides to rely on their minor children to financially support the household is a flop. These are not people who were poor or from a developing country and maybe had limited options. Flops.

  30. Mabs A'Mabbin says:

    I don’t know how I feel about her. We love Stranger Things, and her acting isn’t the best on the show but not the worst. I tend to side-eye every photo and interview as overtly tri-hard and obtusely unaware which leads me to believe the adults around her are failing. She shouldn’t be pandered to at this point. Give her a bag of jolly ranchers, tell her she’s lucky she’s where she is and show humility and gratitude then drop her off at school.

  31. Annaloo. says:

    Maybe I am too conservative, but that cover feels inappropriate to me. That gaze does belong on a 14year old.

    And no 14 year old has business with a 31 year old as a friend. This is the stuff that happened a in Hollywood, and we read about 10 years later of the inappropriate that happened as a result. Her parents clearly are not protecting her

  32. Lofi says:

    I remember watching an interview with Dakota Fanning and the guy from Bates Motel and they were saying how annoying and insulting it was to have people acting concerned because they were child actors and reading these comments I get why. Just because you don’t understand someone’s life or it doesn’t look like what you deem normal doesn’t make it wrong. I’ve never seen Millie dressed inappropriately or acting terribly and from what I see she gets to spend plenty of time hanging with friends her age both on set and off.
    Leave the kid alone and stop with the faux concern, she’s growing up in circumstances most will never understand. Oh and stop with the hand wringing about her being friends with Drake she has clearly said before that she asks him questions and for advice, they are not going clubbing or hitting up bars, calm down it’s cute.

    • otaku fairy... says:

      I have to agree. Some of the reactions are a bit understandable. Concerns about a child star being overworked and being made the breadwinner are valid. But the narrative that’s already around Millie Bobbie Brown- that she’s ‘oversexualized’ and that if bad things happen to her later down the road, it’s because of normal teen girl stuff she’s into now- is just Not. Good. Teenage girls everywhere have to jump through such ridiculous hoops to not be considered ‘oversexed/ endangering themselves/ ‘fast’ by their elders.