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Happy Birthday Millie Bobby Brown! Stranger Things Star Turns 20

In honour of Millie Bobby Brown's birthday, let's take a look back over her impressive life, including her career and relationships...
Credit: Alamy

Happy Birthday to Millie Bobby Brown! 

The star of Enola Holmes and Stranger Things is turning 20 today.

She’s certainly packed a lot into her 20 years.

So, in honour of Brown’s big day, let’s take a look back over her life and career…

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Born on February 19, 2004, in Marbella, Spain, Millie Bobby Brown is a British actress who grew up in Dorset, UK, Orlando, Florida, and Los Angeles, California.

She started her career with bit parts on TV shows like Once Upon a Time in Wonderland and NCIS, before hitting the big time in 2016 with Netflix’s Stranger Things.

Before her big break, Brown had been considering giving up on her acting dreams.

“I was devastated. I wasn’t getting work. I thought I was done,” said Brown in an interview with the Daily Mail.

Millie Bobby Brown
Millie Bobby Brown almost gave up her acting dreams. Credit: Alamy

But things worked out, and after being cast in her breakout role as Eleven, Brown achieved a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress at the age of 13.

She also currently holds the record for the youngest ever person to make TIME Magazine’s TIME 100 list.

Following Brown’s success in Stranger Things, she began making her transition to the big screen in 2019’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters.

Outside of the world of showbiz, her career was also going from strength to strength, as in November 2018, Millie Bobby Brown became UNICEF’s youngest Goodwill Ambassador!

And that’s not all.

Brown also has her own beauty and skincare brand, called Florence by Mills, and has written a book of ‘a sweeping and evocative tale of star-crossed love and tangled secrets in wartime’, called ‘Nineteen Steps’.

Millie Bobby Brown and Jake Bongiovi.
Millie Bobby Brown and Jake Bongiovi announced their engagement last year. Credit: Alamy

Alongside her prolific career, Brown’s personal life has also cemented her position as a viral star.

Her love life has been a topic of much interest, particularly since in April 2023, Brown announced to the world that she was engaged to Jake Bongiovi, the son of musician Jon Bon Jovi.

She posted an Instagram announcement with the Taylor Swift lyrics: “I’ve loved you three summers now, honey, I want ’em all.”

People have found Brown’s engagement a little controversial, particularly because of her age.

On Instagram, one person writes: “Unpopular opinion but she’s way too young to be engaged. But age 19, you don’t even know who you are yet.”

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However, Bon Jovi himself has spoken out in favour of the match, telling Andy Cohen Live: “I don’t know if age matters if you find the right partner and you grow together.

“That would be my advice: Growing together is wise.

“So, I think all my kids have found people that they think they can grow together with, and we like them all.”

Bon Jovi adds: “Millie’s wonderful. Her whole family are great. Jake is very, very happy.”

With a wedding coming up and plenty more exciting professional projects in the pipeline, it looks as though the next 20 years are set to be just as exciting.

Happy Birthday, Millie Bobby Brown!

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Written by Annie Walton Doyle

Annie Walton Doyle is a content editor at IGV who specialises in trending, lifestyle and entertainment news. She graduated from Goldsmiths, University of London, with a degree in English Literature. Annie has previously worked with organisations such as The Huffington Post, The Guardian, The Telegraph, Harvard University, the Pulitzer Prize and 22 Words.