Millie Bobby Brown Talks Finding Eleven

Millie Bobby Brown took the world by storm with her mesmerizing performance as the enigmatic Eleven in this past summer’s smash hit Stranger Things. The actress captivated our minds and stole our hearts as Eleven discovered childhood, friendship, and love. Brown showed a level of extraordinary capability in the series. She is able to display a level of emotion most adult actors can’t even muster up.

The young starlet, destined for superstardom is featured in the winter issue of Dazed Magazine. Brown dished on The Duffer Brothers and their direction, or rather lack thereof, for the character of Eleven:

“They didn’t tell me anything. Your name is Eleven – relate yourself to ET. That was it. I got the job the next day.”

Clearly, the Duffers recognized the incredible talent they had on their hands and were smart enough to step back and let Brown discover the character on her own. Eleven is one of the most incredible, and perhaps the most iconic female characters to ever hit the small screen.

Brown added:

“Eleven is going a lot by instinct. The look, obviously; her body language, definitely. You know, the head tilt. We all just collaborated on our ideas and then we made magic.”

Magic indeed. Stranger Things possesses the magic of filmmaking which seems like a lost art in today’s machine of an industry that Hollywood has become. From the 80’s film grain to the analog synthesizers in the score, as well as the practical effects, and the tightly focused narrative only a single writer, or in this case a brotherly duo can bring. The magic of the human touch remains all the way through to the end credits of the final episode.

Brown was recently confirmed for Stranger Things 2, the follow-up to the first season of Stranger Things. The Duffers have said it will feel much more like a movie sequel as opposed a traditional second season of a television series. Season two will pick up a year later in the fall of 1984 and (spoiler alert) most certainly guarantees the return of Eleven after she vanished into thin air when saving the boys from the Demogorgon. Season two has already started filming and Brown confirmed at Rhode Island Comic Con that she has already shot her first scene.

To read the full interview including Brown’s reaction to the series as well as her experience working with actress Winona Ryder, head on over to Dazeddigital.com.

SOURCE: DAZED DIGITAL

Shawn Levy Talks ‘Stranger Things 3’; Charlie Heaton Teases Bigger, Darker Second Season

Just last Friday it was officially confirmed that Millie Bobby Brown would be returning for the sequel to Netflix’s smash hit Stranger Things. At an event screening for 2011’s Real Steel, executive producer Shawn Levy spoke with Collider, revealing The Duffer Brothers and himself are already looking ahead as to where they want to go once the show is renewed for a third season.

Levy:

We are not gonna be caught off guard and we don’t wanna be making stuff up like the day before we have to write it and make it, so we are definitely optimistic and we have started thinking ahead.

The Duffers have already said in the past that that do have an ending for the series in mind, it’s just a matter of how long it takes to get there.

Back at the end of August when the second season was announced, a total of nine chapter headings were revealed in an official teaser for the follow-up, extending the episode count by one more than the first season. With an additional episode in the mix, as well as a bigger budget allowing for better, more polished visual effects it would only make sense for the production to take a little longer than the first season. Levy was unable to speculate on a release date but did offer some insight:

That I can’t say. I do have a sense of it. It was promised when we announced that we were picked up for Season 2 and we gave those chapter headings, I believe it ended with ‘Coming in 2017’ and that much is true. You can do a little bit of math, we’re not magicians so there’s no way it launches in Spring since I just admitted we started filming today, and we’re doing nine.

Stranger Things possessed the DNA of a Steven Spielberg blockbuster smashed together with a Stephen King summer read so it would be disappointing if the sequel isn’t able to make it’s debut in the summer of 2017, however. No doubt would the sci-fi horror mystery adventure be a perfect fit for a release around Halloween, although the wait would be excruciating. But if it means a better product, I think we can all manage.

Season two will pick up a year later in the fall of 1984 and explore the consequences of Will Byers’ week spent in the upside down, and the portal that is still open at the Department of Energy. Levy offered some further insight into just exactly what Will and the Byers family, as well as his friends, will be struggling with when we pick up with them a year later.

“I’m not gonna say how much time has gone by. It is not the next day, I’ll say that. And there are several new characters who I think several of them are going to be new fan-favorites because they’re great, great new characters. But we are definitely sticking primarily with our core group, and what is different, how are they changed from the experience of last season… maybe ‘normal’ is never possible again.”

The second season will see several new characters added into the mix. Just yesterday it was announced that Sean Astin (The Goonies), Paul Reiser (Aliens), and Danish actress Linnea Berthelsen will be joining the cast along with newcomers Dacre Montgomery (Power Rangers) and Sadie Sink.

Levy also added that he would be in the Directors seat for the third and fourth episodes this year, just as he was in the first season.

Yes, we are a little superstitious so just like last year, they’re doing 1 and 2, I’m going in and doing 3 and 4. So the first four are gonna kick off exactly the same as last time… I am going to start prepping right around Thanksgiving and I’ll be filming my episodes through December and January.

But it doesn’t stop there, actor Charlie Heaton is also currently promoting his new film, Shut In. While speaking to Entertainment Tonight, Heaton offered some insight into the scope of the second season while assuring it is still very much the same Hawkins, Indiana we were introduced to in the first season. The actor teased the fourth episode titled “The Palace” (directed by Levy) will be huge. My hope is that “The Palace” is actually some sort of reference to Pankot Palace as The Duffers already mentioned Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom as a major influence. It would be a dream come true of mine to see The Goonies dropped into the mineshaft chase sequence from the end of Temple of Doom.

The adventure continues in the fall of 1984.

Stranger Things 2 hits Netflix sometime in 2017.

SOURCES: COLLIDER, ET

Eleven Will Return in ‘Stranger Things 2’

Since the bittersweet finale of Stranger Things teased Eleven could still be out there, fans have been clamoring for confirmation of the iconic characters return in the second season. TV Line reports sources close to the production have confirmed Millie Bobby Brown will indeed be making her return as Eleven.

While Netflix declined to provide a comment to TV Line we do have another piece of evidence that suggests not only will Eleven be back, but she will be back in the first episode of season two.

A photo posted to Instagram and Twitter by Gaten Matarazzo last night shows the kids dressed up for Halloween ready to go trick or treating in Atlanta. To the right is Brown which all but confirms her presence in the second season. The photo was taken down just a few hours after it was posted.

Also, in the middle is newcomer Sadie Sink who plays the character of Max, a tough tomboy who rides her skateboard everywhere she goes. Her complicated past has made her suspicious of those around her.

The cameras are set to start rolling on the second season this week.

Stranger Things 2 hits Netflix sometime in 2017.

SOURCE: TV LINE

David Harbour Teases Exciting First Five Minutes of ‘Stranger Things 2’

David Harbour and Millie Bobby Brown were in attendance at Phoenix Comic Con this weekend. The two were featured on a panel where they spent an hour taking questions from fans. Harbour teased an exciting opening for the upcoming second season as Brown adorably tried to silence him from spoiling anything from the show.

Check out the video below and special thanks to cameraman Nai Wang for recording the panel.

‘Stranger Things 2’ Adds Sadie Sink and Dacre Montgomery

The Netflix smash hit Stranger Things rolls into production on the sequel in about three weeks. When the second season was announced it was revealed that the new season would have three new characters added to the mix — one for each generation of characters.

The Hollywood Reporter has learned that Sadie Sink and Dacre Mongtomery will be joining the cast as series regulars.

Sink will play Max, a tough tomboy who rides her skateboard everywhere she goes. Her complicated past has made her suspicious of those around her.

Montgomery, star of the upcoming Power Rangers reboot will play Max’s older step brother Billy — a typical 80’s jock who steals girlfriends out from their boyfriends and drives a black Camaro while he isn’t busy playing drinking games. Underneath he is said to be violent and unpredictable. Sounds like Steve’s former buddy Tommy has found his new best friend.

The new characters are said to be compelling but first and foremost in service of the core group of characters introduced in season one.

Noah Schnapp and Joe Keery have also been upgraded from their recurring roles to series regulars.

The second season will pick up with the original cast a year later and deal with the portal that is still open to the upside down.

The adventure continues in the fall of 1984.

Stranger Things 2 hits Netflix sometime in 2017.

SOURCE: THR

David Harbour Auditions For Eleven

David Harbour proves once again he throws the greatest punches since Indiana Jones. Check out the behind the scenes video in which he slugs the casting director during his audition for the role of his future daughter Eleven via Funny Or Die.

Stranger Things' David Harbour Originally Wanted the Role of Eleven from David Harbour

NYCC 2016: ‘Stranger Things’ Panel

Millie Bobby Brown and David Harbor were in attendance today at New York Comic Con for a ‘Stranger Things’ panel earlier this morning. We didn’t learn any concrete information, however. We did get a couple interesting bits.

The cast has received the first few scripts and it’s going to be insane. The Duffer Brothers have already said that films such as Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Aliens, and Terminator 2 are the biggest 80’s (and 90’s) influences for the sequel. We can expect the action genre to be injected into the science fiction horror mystery, taking it to the next level like it did with the films of James Cameron. The show is going to have a bigger budget in the next season and they are going to need it.

Can you imagine if they took the kids and dropped them into something like the mineshaft chase scene from the end of Temple of Doom?

Harbour: 

We did get the first couple scripts and it’s insane.

Brown:

I’m not saying anything… but it’s going to be amazing.

If Brown has already received a script for the second season that would most certainly hint at her character’s return, likely in one of the earlier episodes.

Also, Barb (Shannon Purser) was indeed confirmed to be dead.

Check out the full panel below via @KindKling01 (Warning: take out your headphones)

Eleven has to come back. She is far too iconic of a character for the show to continue without her. David Harbour said in a previous interview with AOL Build that Hopper and Eleven could help each other heal from the wrongs that have been done to them.

Stranger Things 2  will be streaming on Netflix sometime in 2017.

SOURCES: MASHABLE, EW

Duffer Brothers Talk Rejection and Success in Hollywood at SXSL

On Sunday, the American Film Institute welcomed artists of the 3^rd Annual White House Student Film Festival to premiere over 700 short films all centered on one theme: The World I Want to Live In. The students were joined by special guests Stranger Things creators Matt and Ross Duffer, Executive Producers Shawn Levy and Dan Cohen, and cast member Millie Bobby Brown.

The Duffers discussed the challenges they faced for years in Hollywood and how they eventually came to develop the pilot script for Stranger Things:

Matt: 

You’re going to all these studios and these producers and you’re pitching. And you know, all we got was no, no, no… And people are super rude in Hollywood. There’s a ton of no’s and a lot of rejection. Because you come out really excited and it’s just doors getting slammed in your face over and over again and we started to freak out a little bit because it felt for a moment it felt actually impossible.

 Ross:

 We had like a month of money left. And we huddled in our small apartment and we decided to do something we haven’t done. Which is like, we’re just going to write something that we would want to see. Not what we think other people want or what other people think is cool, or what what’s the in-thing in the industry right now. We’re like lets just write something for ourselves.

It would still be some time before The Duffers would find success. Their passion project, Hidden was not received well by the studio resulting in The Duffers having to go back to the drawing board.

The Duffers went on to add that even after they developed the script, look book, and a fake trailer for Stranger (formerly known as Montauk), they still had a hard time getting network executives to see the project the way they saw it but the brothers didn’t give up.

Matt: 

The reason we’re telling you all of this is to try, as much as possible, to tell stories that mean something to you. That matter to you. Tell stories that you want to see out in the world. And I know it sounds easy now but as you get out there in Los Angeles or New York, it’s very easy to kind of lose your way. I mean the phrase ‘chase your dream,’ I don’t think you should chase the dream at all. I think you should chase the feeling you have when you’re making these movies. The way that makes you feel when you’re making something that you love, you should chase that feeling. And I really believe if you do that and you stay true to yourself, and stay true to that then the dream will then follow.

The two then were joined by Executive Producers Shawn Levy and Dan Cohen. The script resonated for Cohen immediately in the same way it did for audiences. Levy described what it was like when Cohen walked into his office with the script for Stranger Things:

You need to stop what you’re doing. You need to read this script. Because there is something special here. These are voices that need to be heard.

Last but not least, Millie Bobby Brown came on stage and talked about what it was it was like to play the intensely emotional character of Eleven with such little dialogue.

You have to express yourself without talking. There would be times where I didn’t know what to do with the scene. I couldn’t cry sometimes and I’d ask the Duffers to just tell me something to make me cry! 

Levy also mentioned how Millie had the courage to ask to do another take after production had already began to move on from a scene:

Thats really rare. For an actor to have the kind of strength to stop and slow down the train to say ‘I think I can do better.’ But even at this young age Millie had a sense of her powers and her abilities as an actor and we who directed the show were smart enough to follow the talent and the instincts of the performer and those are the takes that ended up in the show. 

Unfortunately, we didn’t learn any new information regarding Stranger Things 2 beyond what we already know. The story will take place a year later in the fall of 1984 and will deal with the portal that is still open to the upside down.

Stranger Things 2  hits Netflix sometime in 2017.

QUOTES EDITED FOR BREVITY.

SOURCE: WHITEHOUSE.GOV, YOUTUBE

‘Stranger Things’ Season 1 Spoiler Review

The Duffer Brothers have managed to blend 80’s nostalgia into an exciting and heartfelt supernatural thriller. The series doesn’t just echo the classic films of the 80’s, it’s DNA is made up of them. What is most impressive might be how it all blends together into something unique and refreshing.

The series opens with the vanishing of Will Byers and the launching of the investigation into his disappearance. Stranger Things earns its title as things quickly get strange and we discover there is a larger conspiracy at play in this small town after a young girl escapes from an experimental government facility. A young girl who recognizes Will when she sees a picture of him.

Stranger Things biggest strength is its characters. Hats off to the casting director for putting together a group of kids whose chemistry rivals that of The Goonies. Winona Ryder and David Harbour lead the series with fantastic performances but the series’ core is the friendship between the group of children, most notably the connection between Mike and Eleven. A relationship that mirrors E.T. and Elliot without becoming a rehash.

Millie Bobby Brown is a superstar. She delivers an extraordinary performance that steals the show and your heart. Millie packs a powerful and emotional punch into every word she speaks. She is able to express more emotion through her eyes than even most adult actors are capable of.

Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven in Stranger Things. (Netflix)

Stranger Things is so fantastic that its weaknesses feel more like nitpicks than actual weaknesses. There are a few scenes involving visual effects that could have benefited from a larger budget and/or more time, but they are easily forgivable. The series proves if you have great characters and a great story complemented by nearly masterful directing you can easily get away with less than stellar visual effects. The only real negative is the thin layer of cheese that comes with Nancy’s storyline. The teen drama could have been dialed back a bit but like the visual effects the series does not suffer from it. There’s just a few beats between Nancy and her Mother that don’t land right. You could argue there are plot holes in the overall explanation of what exactly is happening with the upside down but science isn’t always clear and Matthew Modine even admits they do not understand the monster they are dealing with.

In a time when we have an abundance of formulaic television series its refreshing to have a show that doesn’t waste any time with filler. The story is thoroughly engaging and constantly pushing forward building momentum to its satisfying finale. Stranger Things could easily have suffered from a lack of originality and seemed like a rip off of almost every classic 80’s film there is. But the production comes together forming something exciting and unique. From the directing to the music to the production design, Stranger Things captivates the mind and the heart taking you back to the simpler times of the 80’s when movies were hopeful and full of adventure.

9.8 – INCREDIBLE