Molding herself into the image of Eleven has been a challenging task for Millie Bobby Brown. She had to go through mental exhaustion and physical strength to put that face on. Stranger Things has always placed big rocks in her way that Millie had to pass through every time. She did this in season 4 when she has to face her blocked memories to reveal the secrets of the past that connect Hawkins to Upside Down.

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In this season, we also saw a younger version of Eleven played by Martie Blair, whom Millie herself guided throughout the shoot. However, the face of Eleven’s character was digitally drawn after taking the flashback shot with Millie and Martin from season 1. And Millie shared the whole story of how she managed things with Martin at the shoot and got that exact presentation out. 

Millie Bobby Brown practiced extensively for the mirror scene in season 4

The revelations of volume 1 of season 4 were indeed shocking for viewers. However, it took actors hours to prepare for these scenes. For instance, in the scene where Eleven enters her subconsciousness and sees a bunch of kids solving puzzles in the rainbow room, Millie had to take guidance from the creators to understand the sequence of actions. 

“I had to really sit down with the Duffer Brothers and Shawn Levy to understand what specifically was happening, who was playing what and how that happening, who was going to work out,” said Millie during a Variety interview.

In Stranger Things season 4, when looking in the mirror, Eleven had to see her past. The younger Eleven was hiding so many truths about the past. This is why the mirror sequences were important in season 4 volume 1. So, Millie flew to LA and participated in a process called the Lola Machine.

Through the process, she acted out all of Martie’s scenes, capturing all the movements and expressions. The creators also went an extra step by taking some scenes from Millie’s Once Upon a Time in Wonderland to get the 9-year-old look of the Enola Holmes actress right. Moreover, she personally coached and directed Martie on her scenes and how to embody Eleven.

All this hard work paid off because while the VFX was see-through, the impact of those scenes was huge.

Stranger Things season 4 volume 1 is currently streaming on Netflix.