Millie Bobby Brown’s casting as Eleven remains one of the more remarkable discovery stories to come out of Stranger Things, not because the audition process was unusual, but because of one detail almost nobody involved realized until much later: the entire multi-stage process was conducted in a flawless American accent by a British 12-year-old who wasn’t actually American at all.
Table of Contents
- How the audition process for Eleven actually worked
- What Carmen Cuba noticed during Millie Bobby Brown’s audition
- The moment Millie Bobby Brown learned she’d have to shave her head
- Why the casting mattered so much to the show’s success
- Frequently asked questions about Millie Bobby Brown’s casting
How the audition process for Eleven actually worked
Millie Bobby Brown’s casting followed a multi-stage process built around what the industry calls “dummy sides” — fake scenes written specifically to test an actor’s range without revealing any actual plot details, used in case a candidate ultimately wasn’t cast. Brown’s process began with a taped audition, followed by a Skype conversation directly with series creators Matt and Ross Duffer, and finally an in-person audition in Los Angeles.
Brown has said she went into the process with no real sense of what to prepare for, a lack of preparation she’s since credited as part of what shaped Eleven’s eventual characterization — an unstructured, instinctive approach that ended up matching a character defined by silence, restraint, and unfamiliarity with the ordinary rules of the world around her.
What Carmen Cuba noticed during Millie Bobby Brown’s audition
Casting director Carmen Cuba has spoken about just how immediately Millie Bobby Brown’s talent stood out during the process, describing her reaction to one particularly demanding scene: Brown was asked to perform it again specifically to see how far she could push the emotional intensity, and delivered a level of raw vulnerability that shocked the adults in the room. “It was actually shocking that someone that young could do that,” Cuba has said of the audition.
What made the performance even more remarkable, according to Cuba, was a detail that went almost entirely unnoticed at the time: Brown, who is British, conducted every single stage of the audition process — including her direct Skype conversation with the Duffer Brothers — in a convincing American accent, never breaking character or revealing her real nationality until after she’d already secured the role.
“Another thing about Millie during the audition process is that she’s British and she did everything, including the Skype with the Duffers, in an American accent,” Cuba said.
The moment Millie Bobby Brown learned she’d have to shave her head
Millie Bobby Brown’s casting process included one significant catch that wasn’t revealed until her final audition. Standing in the room during that last round, Ross Duffer approached her and made a buzzing sound near her head. Confused, Brown asked what he meant, and Duffer explained directly: landing the role would require shaving her head entirely, a defining visual element of Eleven’s design as a former Hawkins Lab test subject.
Brown has said she was considerably more comfortable with the idea than her mother was in the moment, taking the requirement in stride even as the reality of a preteen shaving her head for a role clearly gave the adults around her more pause. That decision ended up becoming one of the most visually distinctive choices in the show’s casting history, immediately setting Eleven apart from every other character in Hawkins the moment she appeared on screen.
Why the casting mattered so much to the show’s success
Millie Bobby Brown’s casting proved pivotal almost immediately once the show premiered. She earned a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for the show’s first season at just 13 years old, a remarkable achievement for an actor whose breakout role required her to communicate much of Eleven’s inner life through silence and physicality rather than dialogue.
Casting director Carmen Cuba has also spoken about the broader challenge of assembling the show’s young ensemble, noting how critical it was to find the right actor for Will Byers specifically, since his disappearance in the pilot episode functions as the catalyst for the entire series — a role that ultimately went to Noah Schnapp. Brown’s performance, though, became the centerpiece the rest of the show’s marketing and critical reception built around, turning an under-the-radar casting search into one of the more consequential discoveries in recent television history.
For more on the character Brown brought to life and how her powers were shaped by the show’s mythology, Read more: Eleven’s Origin and Powers covers her full arc across the series. And for more on the real government program that inspired the lab where Eleven was raised, Read more: The Hawkins Lab Experiments breaks down the true history behind her origin story.
IndieWire’s early interview covering Brown’s casting process goes deeper into how the audition unfolded and how she approached the character, and it’s worth reading in full here.
Stranger Things 5 | Official Trailer | Netflix
Frequently asked questions about Millie Bobby Brown’s casting
How old was Millie Bobby Brown when she was cast as Eleven? Millie Bobby Brown was 12 years old during her audition process for Eleven, and went on to earn an Emmy nomination for the role at age 13 following the first season’s release.
Did Millie Bobby Brown really audition in a fake accent? Yes. According to casting director Carmen Cuba, Millie Bobby Brown, who is British, conducted her entire audition process — including a Skype call with the Duffer Brothers — in a convincing American accent.
When did Millie Bobby Brown find out she’d have to shave her head for Eleven? Millie Bobby Brown learned about the head-shaving requirement during her final in-person audition, when director Ross Duffer made a buzzing gesture near her head and explained what the role would require.
Who was the casting director behind Millie Bobby Brown’s casting? Casting director Carmen Cuba led the casting process for Stranger Things, including discovering and casting Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven.
Did Millie Bobby Brown’s casting help the show succeed? Yes. Her performance as Eleven became central to the show’s critical reception, earning her an Emmy nomination for the first season and establishing her as one of the show’s most recognizable stars.
