If you’ve already watched Netflix’s Damsel, then you probably recognize Brooke Carter, as she plays the sweet little sister to Millie Bobby Brown‘s character Elodie. J-14 sat down with the young actress behind Floria, where she revealed what it was like working with the Stranger Things star, the “inspiring” advice she gave Brooke and so much more. Keep reading for our exclusive interview.
Damsel premiered on Netflix on March 8, 2024, and follows Millie’s character Princess Elodie, who agrees to marry a prince in order to save her kingdom, only to become prey to a fire-breathing dragon. Along with Millie and Brooke, the cast includes A-listers such as Robin Wright as Queen Isabelle, Nick Robinson as Prince Henry and Angela Bassett as Lady Bayford.
Brooke, 13, revealed to J-14 exclusively that while it was first “intimidating” meeting such renowned actors while on set for Damsel, she quickly took it as an opportunity to learn more and says she grew “a lot” as an actor thanks to the experience.
“I sat down and I’d watched them do their individual scenes and take away tips and tricks from them,” she told J-14, before revealing the “biggest tip” Millie gave to her while on set.
“I feel like the biggest tip that I could use in daily life and on other projects is one that Millie gave to me. She’s like, ‘If you need to say no to something, say no,'” Brooke explained, before giving an example from set.
“They got me to do some awkward positions in some of the scenes just to help with the camera levels, and they were like, ‘Are you all right with this?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m fine.’ And Millie was like, ‘Brooke, if you’re not all right with it, it’s okay to say no.’ Which has definitely helped me a lot.”
As Millie is no ~stranger~ to being the youngest person on a film set, Brooke said having her around was “inspiring” and helped push her to work even harder.
“I feel like seeing her on Stranger Things and then how much she’s grown on Damsel, that was definitely quite inspiring knowing that I can get to that one day,” she said of the former child star. “Because, obviously, before Damsel looking at myself then and then looking at myself now, there was such a massive difference. She definitely pushed me to work harder on my acting skills.”
The 13-year-old also gave a quick explanation to her character in Damsel, Floria, who she says is quite different than Millie’s Elodie.
“She is quite an uplifting and chatty character, which is quite the juxtaposition between her sister,” Brooke explained. “Her sister is quite bold and brave, whereas Floria is more vulnerable and sweet. So, to the story, she’s definitely there to lift the mood.”
The British actress revealed that while she related to her character’s personality IRL, she created a PowerPoint presentation on Elodie to better prepare for the role!
“I’m quite a chatty, confident person, so I was able to relate to Floria. I read through the script and I took loads of different bits and pieces about Floria and I made a PowerPoint about her,” she explained. “So I put in how she would walk or dress in daily life, how she would react to certain situations. And then I took some of the director’s feedback and built on the character.”
As for a possible sequel to Damsel, Brooke says she’s “definitely down” — and even gave her own thoughts on what it could be about.
“The ending of the film has been changed quite a lot. And the one that they’ve chosen, I think it’s the one that where Millie goes away, I feel like the sequel could always be like me and my stepmother going to find Millie or Millie comes back and then something happens again with Floria. So yeah, hopefully it’s something like that.”
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