Design by Megan Tatem

Stan (noun): Based on the central character in the Eminem song of the same name, a 'stan' is an overzealous maniacal fan for any celebrity or athlete.

We've all been there: developed an unpredictable fascination with a movie, TV show, or—in the more acute cases—a particular character. But what about our cult obsession's cult obsession? What's the nature of these meta manias? In our new series Celebrity Stanclub, ELLE.com plays matchmaker between your favorite stars and their favorite stars.

First up: Breaking Bad breakout Aaron Paul, who decreed this interview request an "instant, spontaneous yes," hops on the line with 12-year-old U.K. import Millie Bobby Brown, Eleven on Netflix's throwback thriller Stranger Things, to discuss all things Hawkins, antiheroines, and holy sh*t haircuts.

Celebrity Stan Club Dossier:

Stanner: Aaron Paul, actor, age 36 (in Los Angeles)

Stanee: Millie Bobby Brown, actor, age 12 (in Spain with her family)

Date and Time of Call: Friday, August 12, 12 pm PST/9 pm CEST

Duration: 27 minutes

Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven in Stranger Things Courtesy of Netflix

Aaron Paul: Hi Millie! How are ya?

Millie Bobby Brown: I'm good. How are you?

I'm doing so great. Thank you so much for staying awake to speak with me!

No problem! I'm star struck over the phone. Thank you so much.

First of all, I love you. I have to start this off by saying that I'm just such a massive fan of yours. I mean, really, from one actor to another, I have such incredible respect for you. I really admire your work.

I'm literally tearing up.

It's really incredible. Did you always know you could act?

[Laughs] No. I never knew, like, exactly what I wanted to do. You know, I'm 12!

Yeah! This is very much still the first chapter of your life...

I sort of knew I was a bit of a drama queen. I always threw tantrums, so I knew I wasn't a normal child. I knew I wanted to do something.

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I'm so happy that you found this passion inside of you. A group of friends and I have a group chat in which we only discuss Stranger Things and how cool Eleven is. Do you get that a lot? Are people stopping you on the street?

A little bit, yeah. My hair's grown. And I've literally just gotten prescription glasses. So, I do look very much the opposite of Eleven. But sometimes I get recognized on the plane, or at airports coming over. And it's always very nice to see what the fans' perspectives are. It's really quite amazing.

How does it feel to have played, what I believe is, one of the greatest characters to have ever graced the small screen?

I mean, amazing. It's actually incredible to hear that from another actor. You know, it was just something that sort of—it's very overwhelming in the best way, I think. Obviously I am very grateful for it. I had a feeling—you know, myself, [the co-creators] the Duffer brothers, and the whole cast all knew what we wanted to achieve with this show.

What was the audition process like?

I was actually based in England at the time. And I had this audition tape come in; they gave us a little reel of The Goonies, Close Encounters, Poltergeist, that sort of thing. It was kind of like our trailer that we were to base our characters off. And my character was based off of E.T. I thought, This is very cool. I had never done a period piece before. I immediately fell in love with the whole experience itself: cutting off my hair, the script, my character. It was all phenomenal.

I grew up watching films like E.T., Stand By Me, Firestarter, and The Goonies. This entire show felt so much like a love letter, an homage to those films. So this was very much intentional?

Yes, but we also wanted to make sure that we weren't ripping off Stephen King and Steven Spielberg. [Laughs] We just wanted to respect them while also making it an individual project. But they definitely inspired us.

Aaron Paul has very little chill when it comes to Stranger Things

What I love about this show is that it takes place during the '80s, a time when kids ruled their neighborhoods on their BMX bikes. There were no cell phones in hand; kids' heads were up. Are you addicted to technology?

I'm the complete opposite [from most kids my age]. I could live without my phone. And one thing I'd love to do is experience having the freedom that kids had back in the '80s. Even when we were filming we weren't on our phones. We were sort of inspired! I love the beach and rock climbing and boxing and nature, so I like to stay away from my phone as much as possible.

That's so great to hear. I gotta tell you: My wife and I are constantly talking about you. We're constantly saying, Her parents must be so proud! To be honest, we wish that you were our child.

[Laughing] I wish you were my parents!

Mom and Dad Goals: Aaron and Lauren Paul

But, seriously, we could only wish our kid will be half as cool as you. Are your parents so proud?

I have three other siblings, so it's all very equal—even when I get a little cocky, which I usually do. My brother keeps me in a headlock. He says that I'm not a celebrity in this house. I think I'm really chilled out and grounded.

Of course you are. I love that. I found so many incredible videos of you singing on YouTube. You have such a beautiful voice! When did you start singing?

I started singing before I started talking. And that's the God's honest truth. I think it was something that I've always loved to do, even if I wasn't good at it. I just loved ballads. And, actually, I have really bad hearing in one ear. I always thought that maybe I can't do this because of my ears. But then I sort of thought, Why not post this and share it with the world?

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Did you ever sing on set? Have you ever heard Gaten [Matarazzo, who plays Dustin Henderson on the show] sing?

Oh my gosh! You're the first person I've ever heard say his name right. [Editor]

Doesn't he have such an amazing voice?

Yes, he has a phenomenal voice. You know, he was on Broadway for, I think, about a year. I was like, 'Wow! I'm from London; I've never had a singing lesson in my life.' And he'd come to our house in Atlanta, and we loved to practice and harmonize together. It was really cool to find someone in this industry who loves to sing. That's a really big bond we have, me and Gaten. Also Caleb [McLaughlin, who plays Lucas] loves to sing as well.

Oh, really? See, I love to sing, but I have a terrible voice.

[Laughs] I can only imagine Jesse in Breaking Bad singing.

Yeah. They tried to get me to sing in that band of his. And, I did. And then they were like, Maybe we shouldn't have Jesse sing...

I think Eleven could just burst out singing at any moment!

To get back to Stranger Things: When did they tell you that they wanted to shave your head?

Actually they were very clever. I got the call back and then I did a Skype meeting and there was nothing at all about head shaving! And then we flew over to L.A., and they were like, 'Are you ready?' And I was like, 'For what?' And I was next to Finn [Wolfhard, who plays Mike Wheeler], and Ross Duffer comes up to me and puts his hand out and goes, Bzzzzzzzzz. And my mom's like, 'No! That's not happening.' And I was like, 'Mom. You need to chill out; it's gonna grow back.' My mom was against it. And me and my dad were like, 'Come on. It's fine!' Today, actually, we went to an Indian restaurant and someone was like, 'Hello, young man.' That was like the 500th time someone called me a boy, and I'm really fine with it.

Now, Eleven is able to move things with her mind. Have you ever tried to do that yourself?

Oh, yes. All the time.

Unlike Eleven, "I don't mentally torture people—I physically torture people."

Me too!

I always wanted to be like Matilda. But it doesn't work, obviously. But I'd love to be able to be like, I'm gonna flip a van today! I had an ongoing joke with [director] Shawn Levy, who would go, 'Well, Millie. You can move things with your miiiiind.' He would say that every day. But, I go boxing. So I don't mentally torture people—I physically torture people.

That is so funny. Did you keep or steal anything from set?

No, I didn't steal anything. I stole ideas. Does that count? I stole the idea for a record player, and I got that for Christmas. [Laughs] I mean, they gave us a painting when we wrapped. My last night shooting was the [pivotal] scene with Finn. And, as you can imagine, it was really awkward. We got off set and they were like, We've got a present for you: And it was a painting of us when we saw Will [Byers]' body. It's really amazing.

Millie, second from right, was gifted a painting of this scene. Courtesy of Netflix

That was the last scene you guys shot?

Yup. They wanted to save it 'til the end. I was like, 'Whyyy are you tormenting me?'

Oh, man. That must have been so nerve-wracking for you both!

You know what? I was actually quite chill about it, to be honest with you. [Laughs] It was actually my dad who was like, 'Nooooope!'

I love your [and Mike's] relationship in that show. It was so beautiful to watch. Okay, I just have a couple more quick questions. On a scale from one to 10, how much do you love Eggo waffles?

[Long pause] Uhhhhh. D'you know what? I'm gonna say zero. They are absolutely disgusting.

I couldn't agree with you more!

I liked them at first. I was like, 'Oh! This isn't too bad!' It was just the amount of times I was doing it—seven or eight times. At first we had the blueberry and I was like, 'This is nice! I like this!' And then I was like, 'Okay. Now I need a spit bucket. I'm going to throw up.'

Have you heard anything about season two? Please tell me everything.

I'm gonna tell you everything...I've heard nothing. [Laughs] You know Netflix. We haven't had an official announcement yet. The Duffer brothers are open-minded. They're geniuses. I would love [a second season]. I think all of us would. Listen, if I know, you'll be the first one to know.

Will you please track me down and let me know?

So I've got an idea: You have Twitter, right?

Yes.

Okay, so I have Twitter. As soon as the Duffers tell me, I'll private message you. And I'm in L.A. in two weeks and we can go out for dinner.

DO NOT TEASE ME! Don't toy with my emotions, Millie. I just followed you on Twitter.

I'm deadly serious, Aaron. Deadly serious.

Please follow me back. Make my life complete.

Yes, of course! We can go to In-N-Out.

Millie Bobby Brown in Stranger Things Courtesy of Netflix

You are the best. Now, just one more thing, and then I'll let you go. You have already played the role of a lifetime. Is there a dream role left?

You know, in my head, I go by genres, and Eleven was my dream role in a sci-fi thriller. My dream role is to be in my first movie. All I want is to have my first movie, and then my life is complete. I've missed out on so many roles—The BFG, everything.

Ugh. You are such a sweetheart. Right before you go...My wife is staring at me. I think she loves me that much more because I'm talking to you on the phone. Can she just say hi to you for one second?

What's her name? Yes.

Her name is Lauren.

Of course.

Lauren Paul: Miiiiiiillie. You're so amazing!

Lauuuuureeen!

Lauren Paul: GIRL! You're just the best. You were my Woman Crush Wednesday on Instagram yesterday.

Oh my goodness! Thank you so much. Eleven is lucky.

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Lauren Paul: You're so amazing. I'm so excited to follow your journey.

Listen: Me and Aaron have arranged a dinner in L.A. in two weeks' time. Now, you bring the adoption papers. I'll bring my suitcase.

Lauren Paul: We're doing this. Don't toy with me!

Aaron Paul: You're the BEST. Thank you for doing this. Send love to your entire family. They did such an incredible job raising you. So, bravo!

Thank you so much. They're all here right now like, Aaaaaah! [Laughs]

Aaron Paul: I love you all. Congratulations!

[Screaming over loud cheering in the background] See you in L.A.!

See you in L.A. Enjoy Spain!

This interview been lightly edited for concision and clarity.

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