Millie Bobby Brown is going on the defense when it comes to the backlash she’s received for her changing accent.
While on the Smartless podcast, the Stranger Things star discussed the criticism she’s received for alternating between a British and American accent.
“That was such a huge thing for a minute,” she said. “I actually call it the ‘accent-gate’ because it’s so frustrating because that was everywhere. Like for a second, everyone was talking about my accent, and they had a real problem about it. And I was like, ‘Guys, I’m married to an American.’” (Brown married Jake Bongiovi in May 2024.)
Given Bongiovi’s family speaks in American accents, Brown said she tends to follow suit since she’s surrounded by it. “When I’m around his family, I immediately go into, like, an American accent. But then I was just in England, and then the second I hear my mom and dad’s accent, I just go right back,” she said.
She equated the alternating with acting for a role: “You want me to play these characters, but you expect me not to morph into people. What I hear is what I do. It’s all part of it.”
Brown’s comments are not the first time she’s addressed the criticism she’s received over her accent.
In an interview last year with internet personality Max Balegde, Brown echoed similar statements: “I’m an actor. I grew up in the public eye. I grew up in America. I come to set, and I’m an actor and I adapt, and so I want to mimic other people!”
After online users pointed out her changing dialect while on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Brown explained, “I can’t help that when I’m around my fiancé, or when I’m with people like Jimmy Fallon, who have a very American accent, I wanna replicate it!
She also noted that she doesn’t “do it intentionally, and I’m sorry if it offends you, OK? But listen, I’m trying my best! I’m trying my best.”
Brown has also candidly addressed social media users and media who have commented on her physical appearance during the press tour for her new movie The Electric State, describing the comments as “bullying.”
In a near three-minute video shared on her social media, Brown said, “I grew up in front of the world, and for some reason people can’t seem to grow up with me. Instead, they act like I’m supposed to stay frozen in time, like I should still look the way I did on Stranger Things season one, and because I don’t, I’m now a target.”
She added, “The fact that adult writers are spending their time dissecting my face, my body, my choices, is disturbing, and the fact that some of these articles are written by women makes it even worse. We always talk about supporting and uplifting young women, but when it comes down to it, it seems a lot easier to just tear them down for clicks.”