A conversation with Millie Bobby Brown of 'Stranger Things'

(SPOILER ALERT: This article contains spoilers from the first season of "Stranger Things," now streaming on Netflix.)

MANILA, Philippines – In her breakout role as Eleven from the hit Netflix series "Stranger Things," Millie Bobby Brown plays a mysterious, frightening and dangerous child, whose telekinetic powers still cannot hide her innocence and need for a family.

Many of the series' most memorable scenes involve Brown's Eleven – from saving a friend from a leap to death to her obsession with Eggo waffles, to submerging herself in salt water to enter the "upside-down," and eventually, to saving everyone in the small town of Hawkins, Indiana.

Brown's remarkable performance in the critically acclaimed show has gained her a legion of new fans, including "Breaking Bad" star Aaron Paul, who interviewed her for a magazine and later told Jimmy Fallon The Tonight Show that he wanted to adopt the 12-year-old actress.

Though Brown admits that the recent months have been overwhelming, she is taking her newfound success in stride, and even considers her fans her friends. She has no problems admitting that the show – a mix of horror, sci-fi, and supernatural, all based in the 1980s – frightened her, and like her fans, Brown too is wondering what has become of her character after the first season's cliffhanger finale.

Q: Were you scared of the show?

Millie Bobby Brown (MBB): Yeah, I really was. I was scared of myself. I was like, wow, "Eleven is evil." But yeah, the beginning bit, the boys were laughing at me, because I was sitting there, and we had this preview on the set. So we finished, I think it was (episode) three and four, and the directors were like, we have a screening tonight. I was like, "Yes, yes, I'm so happy!"

So we all got together, the crew and everyone, we watched episode one and two, and the first episode... the scientist pops out, I jump up and I was like "No, oh my god! No" and the boys were like, "Chill out, Millie!" And I was like, "No, that's scary!"

And the demogorgon! Because once we were in the void, and the Duffers (the creators of "Stranger Things") like to tease me a lot because they're like my big brothers, and they ... I was in the void, and there was this monster sound that had to go off. I just thought, you know, that the first AD could go "roar," or something like that. No! They got sound department in, and they put speakers out, and it was like, "ROAR," and I ran! I was like, "help, help, I'm dying!" So yeah, I get scared very easily.

And the boys like to scare me. They'd be like, "Hey Millie, come in here," and I'd come in the room and they'd just scare me, and I'll be like, "No, stop, I'm only a child."

Q: Which scenes were the most difficult to film?

MBB: You know, it's really crazy because everybody thinks, "Oh, the one where you come down the hall is probably the hardest." I'm like, "No, it wasn't, it's very easy for me and I don't know why." That scares me. When I was doing it, it was so much fun. There were two men, and I got to try and bite them. I was like, "This is great! I love this!" I got to fight, and I got to use my boxing moves, so I was like, "This is great!" And they're taking it. So yeah, that was pretty easy. And for me to cry, that's easy.

It's when I don't have to cry, and when I can't cry. I can't cry when it's cold. I went out into the quarry one night, and in the scene where we find Will's fake body, and we all come out and Mike's really upset with me, and I couldn't cry. I was like, "Cry!" I was like, "I'm not crying! I'm not crying!" And the boys were crying, and I'm like, "This is unbelievable." I'm going down the lake, just cry, cry. I'm listening to music, but I'm not crying. I'm not crying! So I've got to do something other than cry.

Q: How does it feel to act in a period piece, because the show is set in the 1980s?

MBB: It's completely different. I'd never expect something like this. When I got the script, there were (references to) '80s movies – the "Goonies," "Stand by Me," "E.T.," stuff like that, and I was like, "Oh, I like this. It sounds good." And when I actually got onto the set, I found these cars in this junkyard. And we had an amazing set that we filmed in. It was really amazing.

The set was fantastic, the props department. I never knew what a record player was, like never. I was like, "What is that, over there?" It's like on a stick and it's got a circle in it... and they were like "That's a vinyl." And I was like, "Okay." So I got it for Christmas. So I'm very into '80s stuff now.

Q: If Eleven is in the upside-down, what do you think she's doing right now?

MBB: She's with Joyce's dog. She's grooming the dog in the void. Yup. She's having a mani-pedi with the demogorgon, stuff like that. But I have no idea, really.

Do you know I'm still kind of processing what it actually means? Upside down, I still don't even get it. I don't understand it though, and people are like, "Everybody else does! Why don't you?" And I'm like, "I want to, but I don't." I know what the upside down is, but the void? It's my mind? Me and Winona (Ryder, who plays Joyce Byers) are like, I don't understand. We've given up.

Q: Name one strange thing about you.

MBB: Oh, that's a good question. You know, I do masks on my face, and I do them all the time, but I do them on the plane. So people come up to me, and I have this mask, and I'm like, "Can I have a Coke?"

And also, it's kind of annoying, but I have something wrong with me, right? And I get annoyed if people chew gum, or slurp. I'm like, just leave. So the sound of it. I'm like, so quiet, and I say, "You don't have to just munch. Just eat!" That's one strange thing about me. My big sister, she's the same. And my mum, when she has this chips, I'm like, "Mum, mum, just quietly." And she's like, "How am I supposed to eat it? They're chips! They're crunchy!" And I'm like, "No, they're not! Just suck on them, and then chew!" That was it.

Q: What was the most overwhelming encounter you've had?

MBB: You know... everything's been so - even not from celebrities. Like my fans, in general, the press have been amazing and so supportive. It's really been incredible, I am speechless. I'm friends with Maddie Ziegler (of "Dance Moms"), and I've watched her since I was like, tiny. I was like, Dance Moms, Dance Moms, Dance Moms! Then I saw her in "So You Think You Can Dance," and I'm like, "I can't believe it's you! I just can't believe it's you!" And she was like, "I can't believe it's you!" And I'm like, "Really? You know who I am?" She followed me on Twitter and it was the best day of my life, I was like, I'm set. It's really been amazing. Aaron Paul was interviewing me was like, incredible.

Q: Will you let Aaron Paul adopt you?

MBB: Yeah, I'd consider it! We said that we'd go to lunch, he'd bring the adoption papers, I'll bring my suitcase, we'll make a deal. And my parents said, "Can we just have you on weekends?"