Now that Emma Watson is twenty-seven years old and has expended all Harry Potter movie roles, the world briefly thought there was a void where her child star place had vanished. As Watson continues to show her maturity via the film characters she chooses (from The Perks of Being a Wallflower–her first major post-Hermione movie–to The Circle) and her more recent bout of politically charged actions (including hiding books throughout subway stations in New York and London), the audience that once found her adorable in that little girl way–hopefully said audience did not consist of pedophiles–is in need of a new ingenue to fawn over. And that ingenue is none other than Stranger Things‘ Millie Bobby Brown.
From the moment she entered the frame of the show’s first season as the vulnerable and defiant Eleven, the world was riveted. Though she had previous TV appearances on the likes of Once Upon A Time in Wonderland, Intruders and Grey’s Anatomy, it was her star turn as a telekinetic government experiment that made her the darling of the collective of pop culture lovers.
Riding high on the clout of her newfound star power, Brown soon found herself modeling for Calvin Klein in January of 2017, leading her to get signed by IMG Models. Watson, too, quickly became a sudden sex symbol on the heels of playing Hermione, landing modeling campaigns for Burberry and Lancôme–though, granted she was twenty-one to Brown’s current age of thirteen. And while, yes, it’s gross that literal children are objectified in this manner to capitalize on the cachet of their youth-oriented roles so that their agents might later transition them to more “adult” projects, there’s no denying that the actresses themselves have a say in what they do–and why not cash in on the dough while you’re still doe-eyed?
The parallels between Watson and Brown don’t stop at being vaguely exploited for their youth (there’s just no way Watson would do a skin lightening advert now). Like Watson, Brown is also a British bird born in an outside European country, with Watson’s place of naissance being Paris and Brown’s being Marbella. Watson’s parents moved her back to England when she was five and Brown’s moved her back there when she was four. Watson, however, perhaps had a greater interest in acting based on how early she started performing in theater productions, cast at age nine for the part of Hermione to Brown’s twelve for the part of Eleven.
Despite their disparate tales with regard to how they “came up,” there can be no denying that a new British preadolescent princess has risen from the abyss to fulfill Watson’s since defunct salad days. And long may she reign.
