Why Millie Bobby Brown Is "Scared" to Wear the Color Red

The actress talks with InStyle about her new Pandora Me campaign, her favorite fall trend, and why she steers clear of red clothing — at least for the time being.

Millie Bobby Brown Pandora Me Campaign
Photo: Courtesy

Did you know that Millie Bobby Brown has a total of seven piercings in both ears? She shares this fact with InStyle as she sits barefoot in an armchair, discussing her new role as the face of Pandora’s Pandora Me collection, which is meant to target a Gen Z audience.

“I love piercings,” Brown confirms, adding that she’s even considering having a piercing party for her upcoming 16th birthday. “With my friends, I'm like, ‘Let's go get piercings. Let's go do our cartilage.’ And they're like, ‘Uh, you're a little crazy.’”

Millie Bobby Brown Pandora Me Campaign
Courtesy

Naturally, this gig seems like the perfect match. In Pandora Me’s campaign, Brown had the chance to model a variety of earrings and charm-embellished jewels, all of which she curated herself — and yes, a few pieces have sentimental meaning.

“The blue moon charm represents the first blue moon in 2004, which was the 19th of February, which is my birthday,” she tells us. “I have a necklace of it, too. For me, I somewhat believe in everything planet- and zodiac-related. When Mercury is in retrograde, it's like the world's ending.”

Millie Bobby Brown Pandora Me Campaign
Courtesy

When Brown isn’t doing press or filming shows like Stranger Things or her upcoming movie Enola Holmes, the actress says her outfits are a bit different than the off-the-shoulder top she has on during the interview. She usually wears a T-shirt and jeans while hanging out with friends, and often completes the look with a specific statement accessory.

“Hoops are my go-to,” she admits, stating something that fans likely noticed when scrolling through her Instagram. “Then, adding charms to them, they feel personal and yours. I always find jeans and hoops look cool. Although when I wear dresses, it's more studs.”

Millie Bobby Brown Pandora Me Campaign
Courtesy

As for a fall trend that Brown is loving, the 15-year-old’s pick isn’t jewelry-related, but rather something unexpected.

“I actually went into a store the other day and bought really oversize sweaters. Like mum sweaters, though. I looked in the mirror, I was like, ‘Oh, I look like I'm going to go pick my kids up from soccer practice.’ I thought, ‘I need to make this cool.’ I was wearing really cool sunglasses and went all out on the jewelry, and I asked my mum, ‘Okay, do I look young now?’ And my mum was like, "You still look pretty…old.’ I was like, ‘Okay, I'm going to put on some cool sneakers and hope for the best.’”

Despite being down to try tricky trends, Brown says there is a shade she doesn’t wear, even though she considers it to be a power color.

“I think red is quite beautiful on women, but I've never worn red, actually,” she says. “I’ve always been a bit scared. On the rack, I'm like ‘Oh, it's so womanly.’ When you wear that, that's a boundary that you cross over with style. ‘Okay, this is what I'm going to be now.’ I'm just so not ready for that — I'm 15. I'm like ‘No, I still want to wear the pink, poofy dresses.’ I get scared.”

Millie Bobby Brown Pandora Me Campaign
Courtesy

While Brown loves fashion in real life, it's also an important part of her job. Costumes help her get into character — especially if said character is from a different time period or decade, like with Enola Holmes.

"I would go to set and have pajamas on," she says, launching into a story about her time on set. "And they'd say, ‘Okay, can we rehearse?’ So I would go in and, it sounds weird, but I wouldn't feel good. I would be like, ‘Oh, my performance is not that good.’ The director, Harry Bradbeer, would always say, ‘It's because you don't have the costume on.’ And I'd always be like, ‘No it's not. I just don't know why, I'm just not doing good today.’ But, once I put my corset and my dress on, immediately it was like, ‘Oh, that's it!’ It totally impacts your performance — for me anyway. I would change immediately and become Enola. Especially with the corset — my posture changes and my accent is more British than usual. And for Stranger Things, it helps too. In season three, when I wore that cute, colorful jumpsuit, it really did make me feel fun, and young, and free, and single — El was single at the time, and very heartbroken. But it felt really right.”

Pandora Me ranges from $10 to $90 and is available to shop now.

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