As you watch her command the screen as the younger sister of legendary detective Sherlock Holmes, it is no mystery why British 16-year-old Millie Bobby Brown is taking Hollywood by storm.
Her assured performance in new Netflix movie Enola Holmes, which she also had a hand in producing, is the only clue you need as to why she is about to become one of our top leading ladies.
The actress, who is already worth an estimated £7.8million, moved from Dorset to the US aged eight after her parents sold everything so she could pursue her dreams.
At 12 she landed the part of Eleven in Netflix sci-fi hit Stranger Things. It earned her £275,000 an episode and – aged just 13 – an Emmy nomination.
And now she is once again setting the streaming giant alight with her portrayal of Sherlock’s little sister.
Unsurprisingly, her phenomenal rise has caught the eye of Hollywood bosses who believe she could soon command as much as A-listers Jennifer Lawrence, 30, and Emma Stone, 31 – who take home £11million a film.
Producer Jonathan Sothcott, of Shogun Films, said: “Millie’s the real deal, she’s at the top of everyone’s radar. Her star is only going to soar.”
In Enola Holmes, she stars opposite Henry Cavill, Helena Bonham Carter and Sam Claflin as she investigates her mother’s disappearance and gets caught up with a runaway lord.
Calling the young, intelligent Enola a “superhero”, down-to-earth Millie is proud of her producing debut.
She told the Sunday Mirror: “It was empowering. There’s a set of nerves that come with it because you’ve experienced producers that are on your set and you just have to fit in somehow.
“But I had a great team, a crew that made me feel so comfortable with sharing my thoughts and ideas.”
She also praised director Harry Bradbeer, who made TV hit Fleabag.
She said: “He’s an amazing director, he made me very comfortable expressing my thoughts and really valued them.”
Millie’s parents Kelly and Robert were living in Marbella, Spain, when she was born. The family moved back to the UK when she was four and settled in Dorset.
She showed early promise in school plays at Pokesdown Community Primary in Bournemouth.
After recognising their daughter’s talent, the couple moved the family to Florida when she was eight.
Millie enrolled in a weekend stage school and, aged nine, landed a TV role playing a young Alice in Once Upon a Time in Wonderland.
Then an agent urged the family to move to Hollywood. Once there, Robert was introduced to British-born manager Melanie Greene, who saw Millie’s talent immediately.
The youngster quickly landed bit parts in NCIS, Mod- ern Family and Grey’s Anatomy, and was shortlisted for bigger projects such as Spielberg’s The BFG. But she kept missing the starring roles.
With Hollywood taking its financial toll, the family took the agonising decision to return to the UK.
Millie hit her lowest ebb after an unpleasant experience with a casting agent.
She said: “She told me I was too grown up. She made me cry.”
Later that day she auditioned for Stranger Things and just weeks later was on a plane back to the US, wowing critics with her performance.
Last year Millie made her cinema debut in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, and she will return in next year’s Godzilla vs Kong.
Talent manager Prof Jonathan Shalit said: “Being nominated for an Emmy at 13 set her on an incredible path.
“There’s no actress in the world who is as compelling as Millie.
“Her humility and honesty shine.”
Millie has an older sister Paige, 27, and brother Charlie, 22, and a younger sister Ava, eight.
The family split their time between London and Atlanta, Georgia. Of the days before her success, Millie has said: “We went through tough times. There were lots of tears along the way.”
But despite the hardships, Kelly and Robert were convinced Millie had something special.
Robert said: “My other children watched cartoons. Millie watched musicals – Chicago, Moulin Rouge, Annie and Bugsy Malone.
“She’d belt out a tune. She was performing from day one.”
The proud father is also the one who keeps her grounded, insisting: “She’s a kid. She has homework and chores. Everything else is a bonus.”
That “everything else” includes being the youngest person ever on Time magazine’s list of the world’s 100 most influential people, and becoming Unicef’s youngest Goodwill Ambassador.
With her fellow Stranger Things cast members, she also met then US President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle at the White House.
She recalled: “I walked into the Oval Office, shook his hand.
“He said, ‘I watched you dance at the Emmys’. And I was like, ‘Oh my God that’s kind of crazy’.”
Millie says her childhood heroes were Selena Gomez and Miley Cyrus as Hannah Montana.
But it is the careers of Natalie Portman, Angelina Jolie and Jodie Foster she hopes to emulate.
She said: “They make me feel very empowered. That’s when I know I’ve been impacted by someone.” Her mum Kelly and gran Florence are inspirations too. She added: “My grandmother is my female hero and an amazing woman. My mum is my everything.”
And she also feels inspired by novelist Nancy Springer, who wrote the Enola Holmes Mysteries “about a young girl finding herself in a chaotic world around her”. Millie said: “I felt like I was also finding myself in a chaotic world. This film gave me inspiration.”
Last year, Millie had her first heartbreak after splitting from boyfriend of 10 months Joseph Robinson, 17.
She said: “It’s horrible – everyone goes through it. You’ve just got to listen to a bit of Taylor Swift, drink a nice cup of tea and get over them.”
It is not her only pearl of wisdom in this strangest of years.
She said: “I learned that being alone is a good time to find yourself.
“For teenagers right now it’s a challenging time because you’re afraid to be alone. You’re afraid to be lonely.