Millie Bobby Brown, thanks to Stranger Things, has become one of the most coveted actresses in the world. The show's success, as well as her acting prowess, has, within five years, made her Hollywood's biggest star.

And, as much as her literal and fictional abilities have helped her rise, her parents have had as much, if not more, of a contribution to her success. They have made quite a few sacrifices and taken many risks to get her to a place where she could succeed.

But their involvement in her life and career has not always been positive or non-controversial. There have been times when Brown's parents have made life difficult for her.

Millie Bobby Brown’s Parents and Family Life

Millie Bobby Brown was born on February 19, 2004, to dad Robert "Bobby" Brown and mom Kelly Brown. She is a British citizen but was born in Marbella, a city in Malaga in the southern part of Spain.

She being born there was probably a coincidence — her parents are regular English vacationers on the Costa del Sol. She returns to her birthplace fairly often, although, according to reports, she does not speak much Spanish.

Brown even lived there for the first four years of her life before moving to Bournemouth, England, for the next four. Then, finally, Robert and Kelly packed everything up and moved their family to Orlando, Florida, when she was eight.

She has three siblings — Paige (born on December 27, 1993), Charlie, and Ava (born on January 20, 2012). Paige and Charlie are older than her; Ava is younger.

The move was a big one for the two kids they took, but especially for Robert and Kelly, who gave up almost everything they had for the move. The reason? Her acting career.

Millie Bobby Brown with one of her parents, her father Robert 'Bobby' Brown.

Millie Bobby Brown with her father, Robert 'Bobby' Brown. (Photo: Twitter)

According to an interview the Brown family gave to the Daily Mail, she revealed they sold everything they had to move to Hollywood so she could fulfill her acting potential. It even got to a point where the family was on the brink of bankruptcy.

"It was very hard," Brown told the publication. "There were lots of tears along the way."

Her parents had taken her and Paige to the US, but things got so bad that Paige went back to the UK. "She didn’t want to do it [America] any more," she told Daily Mail.

Melanie Green, her British-born manager, offered the family some financial support during this dire time and even let them stay at her place.

The nightmares, however, were not over for the Brown family. In 2015, everyone had to return to the UK and live at her aunt's house.

"I thought I was done," she said. And to add salt to the wound, a casting agent told her she was "too mature and grown up" for someone 10 years old.

Later that same day, unbeknownst to her, the Brown family's nightmares were to be over. Her parents urged her to do one last audition on tape, something she agreed to because it looked cool.

The audition was for her role as Eleven on Stranger Things, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Millie Bobby Brown’s Parents’ Controversies

Brown effectively became a star overnight, which comes with a lot of opportunities but also a lot of baggage. Robert, who was a real estate agent in the UK, and Kelly gave up whatever they were doing to handle her daughter's career after her success.

And in that came a big mistake on Robert's part.

When Brown took on El's role, she had no agency representing her. But every agency in the world was after her signature once the show came out.

With this demand, Robert reportedly tried to take advantage of the situation. Reports surfaced in October 2016 that said he demanded an upfront sign-in fee of $100,000 from agencies for the right to represent his then-12-year-old daughter.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the move, while not illegal, had raised many eyebrows. But it was also said that it was an ill-informed decision from Robert.

Further, his demands were also speculated to be his attempt at making back the money he had lost in the Brown family's struggling days.

This controversy subsided, and nothing of the sort has come up again. But Robert and Kelly were called out by many people again.

In July 2021, Hunter Echo, a then-20-year-old TikToker, made disturbing confessions about grooming and dating Brown when she was just 16. He even claimed her parents allowed them to live together for eight months.

Fans were outraged at this and lambasted her parents for allowing this to happen and using their daughter for money. Someone even started a Change.org petition demanding authorities investigate them for "exploitation and abuse."

The petition contained many accusations, like how Kelly looked for adult men for Brown to date, exploited her to make her sexually desirable in Hollywood, and others.

These accusations, too, have become a thing of the past, but fans probably do not have a good image of Brown's parents.