Millie Bobby Brown has “Stranger Things” to thank for planting roots in Atlanta and living away from Hollywood.
During a cover story for British Vogue’s December issue, Brown told the outlet that since she grew up filming the hit Netflix show in Atlanta, it felt right for her to permanently stay in the Georgia city and start her family there.
“I grew up here, you know? This is the longest place I’ve been consecutively in my life because of ‘Stranger Things.’ For me this is home,” Brown said. The actress was born in Spain, but moved to Florida with her parents before landing her break-out role in the Netflix series.
Brown’s parents decided to move to Georgia while their daughter was filming “Stranger Things” instead of commuting from Hollywood.
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“They didn’t want me to grow up in that world,” Brown said of the industry. “I love what I do but it doesn’t define me. You have a sense of purpose within your own personal life.”
Brown lives on a farm with Jon Bon Jovi’s son, Jake Bongiovi.
In February, Brown did an interview with Vanity Fair and admitted that she remains mostly offline and did not choose the farm life to be a “trad wife” influencer, which is a shortened version of a “traditional wife.” Trad wives are a subculture of women who believe in clear gender roles and show other women their homemaker lifestyle on social media, which often involves living on a homestead and making food from scratch.
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“I’m not doing it [farm life] for the aesthetic. I’m doing it because I love it. There are maybe some trad wives out there doing it because it seems wholesome, but it is not. If you’re not picking up horse s— or washing a cow with your bare hands, then that life is not made for you. At all,” Brown said.
Although the lifestyle is chaotic, Brown would not have it any other way.
“You think animals are peaceful. You think the South is peaceful. You think this place is peaceful. But there’s so much chaos. My animals are loud, and it’s messy and my dogs are crazy. And there is, you know, laughter and a lot of passion and excitement, and it is a very vibrant place. There is so much chaos, and that is where I thrive,” she said.
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Brown and Bongiovi announced their engagement in April 2023 and tied the knot in May 2024. Brown was 20 at the time, and Bongiovi was 22, which sparked some online controversy.
“I understood I was young – I know that, I truly just can’t say it enough,” Brown told Vogue. “When you meet that person, you know it.”
The young couple welcomed their daughter via adoption this summer. During an appearance on the “Smartless” podcast, Brown revealed it’s been a “thing” for her to be a young mother.
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“My mom actually had her first child at 21, and my dad was 19,” she said. “This has been my thing since before I met Jake. I wanted to be a mom just like the way my mom was to me.”
Brown told Vogue that her adoption journey has been nothing short of amazing.
“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,” she said.
Brown told Vogue that she and her husband split parental duties 50%.
“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,” she said.
Vogue asked Brown about her baby’s personality, and she quickly shut it down by saying she wants to give her daughter the opportunity to tell the world about herself one day — if she chooses.
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“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,” Brown said.
At the “Stranger Things” Season 5 premiere, Brown discussed her first few months of motherhood and revealed the identity of her baby’s godfather.
“They say you lose sleep. … You do,” Brown told Entertainment Tonight on the carpet.
“There is nothing like losing sleep. I mean, it’s truly you wake up, and you’re like, ‘What time is it?’ But anything she needs, I’m there for.”
When the outlet asked the actress who from the “Stranger Things” cast is allowed to babysit, she revealed that Noah Schnapp, who stars as Will Byers, is her daughter’s godfather.
However, Sadie Sink, Max Mayfield in the show, has also been given a pass to babysit.
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“Sadie is very maternal,” Brown said. “I trust all of them, to be honest. They all turn into the most gooey soft versions of themselves when their baby voice comes out when they’re around her.”
After the premiere, Brown took to Instagram and shared a few recent snaps. One shot was a picture of the new mom pushing a baby stroller and another showed Bongiovi sitting in an adult-size BabyBjörn bouncer.
“cheeeeeese,” she captioned the post.
“Stranger Things” fans have been waiting for the fifth and final season since the fourth season debuted in 2022.
The Netflix sci-fi show will be releasing the final season in three parts. The first installment of episodes was released on Nov. 26. The second installment will be released on Dec. 25, and the final episode premieres on Dec. 31.
