During a recent interview on The Guilty Feminist, the Stranger Things actress addressed the long-standing issue. She told presenters Deborah Frances-White and Susan Wokoma that she has dealt with inappropriate behavior throughout her career, but that there has been a “gross” shift since she became a legal adult earlier this year.
“I deal with the same things any 18-year-old is dealing with, navigating being an adult and having relationships and friendships, and it’s all of those things,” she said during the March 31 sit-down. “Being liked and trying to fit in, it’s all a lot, and you’re trying to find yourself while doing that. The only difference is that obviously, I’m doing that in the public eye.”
Brown got her big break when she was cast as Eleven on the blockbuster Netflix program Stranger Things when she was 12 years old. The British-born actress turned 18 in February, a few months before the fourth season of the show premiered.
“It can be really overwhelming,” Brown said of being sexualized by the press and social media users. “I have definitely been dealing with that more in the last couple weeks of turning 18. Definitely seeing a difference between the way people act, and the way that the press and social media have reacted to me becoming of age.”
She continued: “But it’s gross and it’s true and so I think it’s just a very good representation of what’s going on in the world and how young girls are sexualized and so I have been dealing with that but have also been dealing with that for forever.”