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It’s hard to imagine Stranger Things without Millie Bobbie Brown as Eleven, but what if Game of Thrones had called first? Stranger Things may have had a different Eleven. Brown auditioned for a role on Game of Thrones—and luckily for Stranger Things fans, she never got a callback.

Millie Bobby Brown smiling
Millie Bobby Brown | Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images

‘Game of Thrones’ has a notable cast

Game of Thrones, the long-running HBO hit that inspired the new prequel, House of Dragon, has a massive following. The show is about nine rival families who all want to sit on the Iron Throne and rule the Seven Kingdoms. 

Game of Thrones‘ ensemble cast has many notable members, including Kit Harrington as Jon Snow, Lena Headey as Cersei Lannister, and Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister.

Emilia Clarke and Sophie Turner rose to fame as fan favorites Daenerys Targaryen and Sansa Stark, and both became A-list actors after eight seasons on the show.  

So who did Brown want to play on Game of Thrones? 

When Brown auditioned for a role on Game of Thrones, she was rejected and almost quit acting, according to a rumor. Jimmy Fallon asked her if it was true when she appeared on the show, and Brown said:

“I think I was just very disheartened by the rejection, which is something that I tell everyone — this industry is just full of rejection 24/7…You get ‘no’s, a lot of ‘no’s, before you get a ‘yes.'”

Of course, Brown stayed in the game, and something better came along. Luckily, “something better” came along quickly. And it was just in time because when she didn’t get Game of Thrones, Brown had decided that her next audition would be her last. She said that breaking into the industry was becoming too difficult.

Call it fate because her next audition was with Netflix executives who called her two months later to say they wanted her to join the cast of Stranger Things. The first episode debuted in 2016 when Brown was only 12 years old.  

If the folks over at Game of Thrones had made a different decision, Brown may have played young Lyanna Mormont, Insider reports, and she told Fallon she had really wanted the role. Bella Ramsey, also 12 years old at the time, ended up getting the part.

Brown seems like she was born to play Eleven 

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Thankfully, Brown ended up in the role she was meant to play when she joined Stranger Things cast six years ago. As Eleven, Brown has telekinetic superpowers on the show—and the character was actually based on E.T. Some of her most notable scenes were in Season four when she had to spend nearly 12 hours filming in a sensory deprivation tank. 

Eleven was submerged to try to access her memories, and Brown was fully committed to portraying the complex character. Even celebrities love Eleven. Rapper Megan Thee Stallion said, “…just tag me in the show, or make me Eleven’s best friend. I’ll be Twelve.” Brown is still a part of the Stranger Things cast, which just debuted its fourth season after a three-year hiatus, but she’s also gone on to become a star.

She made the jump to films when she scored the role of Madison Russell in Godzilla: King of the Monsters in 2019 and Godzilla vs. Kong in 2021. She also plays the title character in the film Enola Holmes and the sequel, Enola Holmes 2.   

And there’s no shortage of new films that we’ll see her in next, according to IMDb, including Damsel, The Thing About Jellyfish, The Girls I’ve Been, and The Electric State. Oh, and besides acting, she’s now a beauty mogul with her brand, Florence By Mills. 

As if that weren’t enough, there are rumors that she may join the Star Wars universe.

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