British actress Millie Bobby Brown has opened up on how “soul-breaking” bullies forced her to switch schools.
The 15-year-old star of Stranger Things, who is making her film debut in Godzilla: King Of The Monsters, has been a vocal anti-bullying campaigner and last year was named the youngest ever Unicef Goodwill Ambassador.
Brown made headlines when she was forced off Twitter due to cyberbullies and she discussed the impact it had on her with actor Orlando Bloom for Glamour UK’s May issue, which is the first Activism edition.
She said: “I was bullied at school back in England.
“So, it’s extremely important for me to speak out against bullying.
“I actually switched schools because of it, it created a lot of anxiety and issues that I still deal with today.
“I have dealt with situations both in real life and online that are soul-breaking and it genuinely hurts reading some of the things people have said.”
Brown, who found fame starring as Eleven in Netflix’s sci-fi TV series Stranger Things, said it was “so exciting” to be named a Unicef Goodwill Ambassador, adding one of her goals was to combat “negativity” on social media.
She said: “Young people’s lives are increasingly under pressure. First of all, I want to make sure that children are protected from violence and exploitation.
“I also want to combat the negativity on social media – I have experienced it – it’s like a disease. It’s negative hate that is genuinely so horrifying to me. Climate change is so important too.”
Brown will reprise her role in Stranger Things when the third season arrives on Netflix in July.
She remained tight-lipped on the finer details but said the series is “like my baby” after she shaved her head to appear in it.
She said: “There’s not much I can say.
“But I can say it’s one of the most important things in my life. I am so excited about it because I worked really hard on it. It’s like my baby.
“I shaved my hair off for it, so ever since then it’s become one of my favourite projects I have ever done.”