Millie Bobby Brown on working with Russo brothers in ‘The Electric State’
Millie Bobby Brown in The Electric State. PHOTO: NETFLIX via The Straits Times / ANN
NEW YORK — When Millie Bobby Brown was 13 and still a newly-minted star from breakout sci-fi hit series Stranger Things (2016 to present), she was invited to visit the set of the superhero blockbuster Avengers: Infinity War (2018).
And she was so impressed by what she saw, she made it a personal goal to someday work with the movie’s American directors, brothers Anthony and Joe Russo.
The opportunity finally presented itself with The Electric State, a retro-futuristic adventure comedy debuting on Netflix on March 14 and directed by Anthony, 55, and Joseph 53. The pair also helmed Avengers: Endgame (2019) and the last two Captain America movies (2014 and 2016).
Set in a dystopian version of 1990s America, The Electric State follows Michelle (Brown), a teenager who is on a journey to find her missing brother, with the help of a mysterious robot and a smuggler named Keats (Chris Pratt).
The movie also stars Stanley Tucci and Ke Huy Quan and features a voice cast that includes Brian Cox and Anthony Mackie.
Brown, 21, remembers her first time seeing the Russo brothers in action.
“I had the privilege of going to set on Avengers to watch the Russos direct when I was 13. I was filming Stranger Things and they invited me,” the British actress says at an event in New York in late 2024.
“I remember watching them direct and thinking, ‘I want to be an actor and work with them. Like, that’s so cool.’
Years later, Brown’s father brought her a screenplay for The Electric State, which is based on the 2018 graphic novel of the same name by Swedish artist Simon Stalenhag.
“I read it and immediately fell in love with Michelle.
“And the fact that the Russos were attached just made me so excited. I had finally reached my dream of being able to work with them.”
(From left) Cast members Ke Huy Quan, Stanley Tucci, Woody Norman, Millie Bobby Brown, Chris Pratt, directors Joe and Anthony Russo, Giancarlo Esposito and Jason Alexander. PHOTO: REUTERS
It was also her first time working with Pratt, whom she met years ago at an awards show.
The 45-year-old American actor – best known as Star-Lord in the Guardians Of The Galaxy superhero sci-fi film franchise (2014 to present) – remembers that first encounter.
“She was so sweet and innocent and pure, and it’s been awesome to watch her career take off,” says Pratt, who also starred in the Jurassic World sci-fi adventure trilogy (2015 to 2022).
“So I was really eager to work with her, and we did have a lot of fun.”
Chris Pratt (left) and Millie Bobby Brown in The Electric State. PHOTO: NETFLIX
Brown – an animal lover with a menagerie of dogs, cats, goats, sheep and donkeys at her Georgia ranch – also kept things interesting by bringing her pets to set.
This included a procession of puppies as well as a lamb, which all had to be wrangled by her husband, American actor Jake Bongiovi, 22, who is also the son of rocker Jon Bon Jovi.
Recalls Pratt, 45: “She was surrounded by all these animals.
“They would yell ‘cut’, she’d go to her phone and she’d find a home for some pygmy goat to be adopted, and was organising a (truck) full of pitbull puppies to be taken to Indiana.
“She’s got such a huge heart, such a love for animals, and such a love for Jake, who was on set every day.
“So we had a great time and we became fast friends,” says the actor, who is married to American author Katherine Schwarzenegger, 35. The couple share three children – two girls aged four and two, and a five-month-old boy. He also has a 12-year-old son with his ex-wife, American actress Anna Faris, 48.
Brown did feel a bit guilty for swarming the set with her animals, though.
“I felt really bad, actually, for the Russos, because I would bring in a wagon of puppies and I’d be, like, ‘It’s a night shoot, I’m keeping up morale,’” she says, laughing.
The Electric State premieres on Netflix on March 14.
