Growing up in the public eye is something that a fair few celebrities have had to face. After kick-starting their careers at a very young age, they have been raised with the understanding that everyone is watching them, monitoring what they are doing, and expecting a hell of a lot from them, which is enough for any adult to handle, let alone a child. It’s this empathetic understanding that Millie Bobby Brown thinks she could bring to the role of Britney Spears, if there was ever a biopic made about her.
Speaking on The Drew Barrymore Show, the Stranger Things star voiced how she would love to play the iconic pop star. Musician biopics have become exceedingly popular these days, with the likes of Freddy Mercury, Elton John, Elvis Presley, and even Weird Al Yankovic having had their lives translated for cinema in recent years. Britney Spears has seen her fair share of turbulence since she rose to fame in the late 90s – early 00s, which would certainly make for an interesting biopic should the pop princess agree to share her story.
Many child pop stars of the ‘90s and ‘00s struggled with the massive amount of attention they received, and it became almost a running joke that they would end up in rehab or even prison, à la Lindsey Lohan. During this time, it would seem that protecting children from the fame they accumulated at such a young age was not high on anyone’s priority list, oftentimes with those meant to shield them instead taking advantage, such as with the conservatorship case which Spears recently had overturned.
The industry has gotten better in regards to safeguarding younger actors, but it isn’t possible to shield them from everything; paparazzi and the internet still leave much to be desired when it comes to how the public consumes these young peoples’ careers and lives. This is where Brown thinks she can relate to the American pop star. Speaking to Barrymore about her dream role, the actress said, “I want to play a real person, and I think for me Britney, it would be Britney Spears.” She explained,
“I think her story, first of all, resonates with me. Just growing up in the public eye, watching her videos, watching interviews of her when she was younger. I mean same thing with you [Barrymore]. It’s like I see the scramble for words and I don’t know her, but when I look at pictures of her I feel like I could tell her story in the right way, and hers only.”
Brown found fame exceedingly young, making guest appearances in a variety of shows, including Grey’s Anatomy and Modern Family, before eventually landing the lead in Stranger Things playing Eleven, a role that would rocket her to fame at only 12 years old. Since then, she has made strides in the industry, winning numerous awards for her role as Eleven, and being named by Time Magazine as one of the most influential people in the world back in 2018, the youngest person to ever make the list.
You can catch the actress in Enola Holmes 2, which she produced and stars in, now available on Netflix.
