Interview: Millie Bobby Brown Faces Godzilla: King of the Monsters

By: Lynn Barker

In the upcoming over-sized creature film Godzilla: King of the Monsters, popular teen “Stranger Things” actress Millie Bobby Brown plays Madison Russell, daughter of two famous scientists studying the monster “Titans” who have risen from the depths of the Earth in the past few years. Madison seems to have a special connection with some of them.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters Final Trailer

Millie reached stardom among fans of the Netflix series “Stranger Things” as the supernaturally powerful “Eleven” and has also impressed us with her unique, feisty, high-spirited approach to life and her singing ability. One of Millie’s fave singers is the late Amy Winehouse and she can do quite a good vocal impression of Amy’s style. Branching out, Millie is producing and starring in a film in which she plays the younger sister of famed fictional detective Sherlock Holmes.

Millie continues her role as Madison in the upcoming in 2020 film Godzilla vs. Kong. For now, let’s read what she has to say about Godzilla: King of the Monsters and the next season of “Stranger Things”.

Q: How did you prepare to play this character and what was it like to work with something that wasn’t there all the time?

• Millie: There was not much preparation. I physically trained for this role. I have a lot of running in the movie. Running takes a toll. I needed to prepare emotionally so I could run uphill and make sure I wouldn’t be out of breath before I got to the top of the hill. First time around I was like (she makes a gasping noise) so I kept practicing. I was training every day. So I trained physically for the role. 
• And, as far as acting with something that’s not there? You just do it. You just get there and you just do it. You imagine like something is there and you go “Ahhhhhh!”.  There you go and it came out pretty good.

Q: Can you talk about your love for or indifference for Godzilla since you were little?

• Millie: I’ll be honest. I was definitely not a fan of Godzilla which is a good thing because my character isn’t. She’s just a teenaged girl who is just learning. She’s learning about Godzilla and the Titans as she goes along. She doesn’t really know how she feels about him. But, I don’t know, I think her love and affection toward him grows in the movie and then also in Godzilla vs. Kong.

Q: Are you in that?

• Millie: Yes. I am. Unfortunately they were like ‘Okay. Do you want to be in the movie?’ And I was like ‘Oh. I don’t know’. No. (She’s kidding) of course, of course. It was amazing.

Q: What did you think of how Godzilla looked on the big screen when you finally saw him?

• Millie: I would say I was nervous about what the movie was going to be because I do that with everything. I just go into everything really negative. It’s kind of like guilty until proven innocent. It’s like ‘It’s gonna be bad. It’s gonna be bad. Oh my God, it’s really good’. That was me. It’s like I trust everyone else but myself. There are many things I’d like to change about my performance because I’m just like that. But I really like the movie. I think the CGI, the monster is (great) and everybody’s acting too. There is so much human emotion that I really enjoyed in the movie that’s never been seen before.

Q: Which of the Titan monsters did you like best?

• Millie: I think Mothra (someone says ‘because you got to touch her’). Don’t be jealous. But I think Rodan had a pretty cool entrance. I think for me Mothra because she’s the only girl and she’s such a hero. She’ll be like ‘What up guys? Who needs me?’ She’s got her nails done. She’s great. I love her. She’s gorgeous. She’s a pretty lady.

Q: Have you been getting a lot of movie offers since the success of “Stranger Things”? Do you just get offered a lot of genre (SciFi or horror) films?

• Millie: I don’t know. That’s what my team deals with. I get brought information. They’re like ‘Okay, well we think this is best’ and I usually make my sister read the script. I trust my sister’s instinct. She’ll tell me ‘Okay, you know what? You’re gonna love it.’ Then I’ll read it and if I love it and I want to do it, then I’ll do it but if I read it and I’m like ‘This is not going to be for me’ then I don’t. I get offered all different genres. I get offered comedies, thrillers, horror. It doesn’t matter about the genre for me. If I feel like I have a connection with the character then I’ll do it.

Q: You are going to play a detective soon?

• Millie: Yeah. Most of my stuff lately has been things I’ve actually found. I’m filming “Enola Holmes” (by Nancy Springer) with Legendary (production company) this summer. She’s Sherlock Holmes’s little sister. There is a book series about who she is and her journey. I actually found that and we are making it and I’m the producer on it. I don’t know how but I really want to be part of the creative process and I think it’s so important to help youth and to inspire young people to understand that there’s no boundary, no age to what you can accomplish.

Q: So cool! Why did you like working with “Godzilla” director Michael Dougherty?

• Millie: He’s a little crazy but one of the things that I loved is that he stayed true to the story. I think that’s important especially in such a legacy (film). You don’t want to just go AWOL with a story that people just absolutely love and cherish and wait for. Before I was on board, I went to a meeting with him and he said ‘Vera Farmiga is attached to the project (to play Madison’s mom).’ None of us were attached to the project. That’s what you do. ‘Vera Farmiga? I love her’.
• From the very beginning Michael knew what was going to happen. He didn’t change a thing about it either. Our scripts never really changed drastically whereas some of the things I’ve been on were like ‘Okay, the full storyline turns’. It was never like that with him. He knew what every monster was going to look like. He had everything planned; all the artwork and immediately I was like ‘Wow! He knows what he’s doing. There’s no questioning what he’s doing. I want to see this guy try and kill it’ and he killed it.

Q: What was it like working alongside Vera Farmiga?

• Millie: Vera is a very talented woman.. She has two amazing kids and she’s an incredible mother to her kids. She has this maternal instinct that comes extremely natural to her so to play her daughter was a breeze. You’re working alongside a seasoned, phenomenal actress. I could never fill the footsteps. I was just watching her like ‘Hi. Be my friend’. She was awesome and the scenes came out….it was just believable. You could tell we were a family unit and that was one of the things that we wanted to make sure happened onscreen and it did.

Q: But big conflict between them.

• Millie: Big conflict yeah. I can’t elaborate. I’ve been here before (in spoiler territory).

Q: Can you say anything about “Stranger Things 3”?

• Millie: “Stranger Things” season three is coming out July 4^th and we’re so excited for everyone to see it. We’ve worked really hard on it. We filmed this movie two years ago right after we were filming season three and season three is bigger, it’s better and stranger.

Q: How long will it run?

• Millie: I don’t know. I’m not the creator. Ask the Duffer brothers. I hope, a long time.

See Millie Bobby Brown in Godzilla: King of the Monsters in theaters now.

Express Yourself!

Are you a fan of “Stranger Things” or Millie Bobby Brown? What do you think is the coolest thing about her? Do you love movies about giant monsters? Which of the huge “Titans” is your fave and why? Talk it up with a comment and/or on your Kidzworld profile page!