That is a fairly specific consequence of becoming globally recognizable before most people have finished learning how to get through a school lunch break. Glamorous, in the way a spreadsheet can be glamorous.
How did the “Stranger Things” set shape her childhood?
Brown said her daily environment was mostly adult, technical, and built around production schedules rather than teenage conversation.
“I grew up with primarily men on crews - let’s change that - men over 40 years old,” she said. “So I heard a lot of adult talk growing up, and didn’t really talk about the things you’re meant to talk about as a kid.”
Brown described her childhood as more set chatter than classroom gossip.
“You hear, ‘Where’s the grip? Let’s grab a ladder,’ you know, that’s your whole conversation,” Brown added.
The result, she said, is a strange imbalance. She can talk easily about production details, but casual social chatter can feel less familiar.
“So I could talk to that person extensively for hours about different lens changes and shots, but I can’t talk to you about, ‘Oh my god, what bars do you like around this area?!’ I’m like, ‘I don’t know.’ So I do lack a little bit of that.”
How has Jake Bongiovi influenced her social life?
Brown said her husband, Jake Bongiovi, has helped her move into what she called a more social phase. She described him as “the most social butterfly” and the “complete opposite” of her.
“He went to boarding school and college, so he is like a social butterfly,” she said. “When I met him, I really tried to lean in more to that. So I’m in my social era.”
Brown and Bongiovi have been married since May 2024. Last August, they announced in a joint Instagram statement that they had adopted a daughter. They have kept the child out of public view and have not shared her name.
That privacy choice matches the broader pattern Brown described in the interview: she is still connected to public life, but more careful about what she lets close.
Why did she step back from social media?
Brown also said she deleted social media apps from her phone in 2021 and now has a manager post for her.
“I couldn’t do it anymore,” she said. “So I needed to hire someone, for my mental health, to take care of it for me.”
She made clear that the arrangement does not mean she has fully handed over her public voice. Brown said she still writes her own captions because she wants to maintain a direct connection with fans.
“I still want to feel connected to my fans,” she said, before adding that she does not want to read the reaction every time. “I don’t want to see what people have to say about it because I don’t care.”
It is not the most shocking media strategy in the world: say what you mean, then avoid the comment section. Many public figures get there eventually, usually after pretending for years that the internet is manageable.
What did the end of “Stranger Things” mean for her?
Brown played Eleven, also known as Jane Hopper, across all five seasons of “Stranger Things” from 2016 to 2025. The role turned her into one of Netflix’s defining young stars and followed her through most of her adolescence.
Brown said elsewhere in the podcast that wrapping the series was harder than she expected.
“It was very hard for me,” she said, adding that she fell into “a slight depression” after filming ended. “I would not have expected that coming off of the show. I’m a very happy-go-lucky person.”
For Brown, the end of the show was not just the end of a job. It was the end of the structure around which much of her childhood had been built: the crew, the schedule, the character, and the unusually adult workplace that came with it.
