For most of us, a new job might mean a new wardrobe and first-day haircut; however, actors are often signing on for much bigger changes. Case in point: Millie Bobby Brown, who plays Stranger Things‘ Eleven. Back on the first season of the show, she introduced herself to the audience with a totally shaved head—a bold look, especially for a then-12-year-old. As it turns out, the change marked a big moment for her as well: Brown recently shared a video of getting her head shaved at the start of filming with a caption explaining just what it meant to her.

In the clip, we see her looking a little wary at first—and then incredibly excited once she glimpses the final result. It’s clear the excitement stuck: Brown captioned the video with a message about how shaving her head was actually really empowering—an incredibly self-assured stance for a preteen to have after drastically changing what so many people consider to be an integral part of their identity.

“The day I shaved my head was the most empowering moment of my whole life,” she wrote. “The last strand of hair cut off was the moment my whole face was on show and I couldn’t hide behind my hair like I used to. The only image I had in my head about what I could possibly look like is Charlize Theron in Madmax. As I looked at myself and couldn’t see my old self, I realized that now; I have a job to do and that is to inspire other girls that your image or exterior part is not what I think is important. What I find important is caring, loving and inspiring other girls. Thought to share my thoughts during this life changing moment. ?”

She also alluded to this back in July 2016—right after Stranger Things first premiered. When it came to the decision of whether or not to shave her head, she told Glamour.com, “I thought to help and inspire people that it’s OK to have short hair, and it’s cool. Society tells us nowadays that it’s not cool to have short hair [because] boys have short hair, and girls have long hair—and, you know, I thought, ‘Why not be different and not have the blue eyes, the long blond hair?’… I wanted to also show my dedication to this project because I loved the script. I love my character. Hearing that Winona [Ryder] and such a great cast was involved with this, I thought, ‘I have to do it.'”

For women especially, hair is an external signifier that traditionally reflects both social and cultural norms, as well as even more personal parts of our identity. But going without it seemed to prove one thing for Brown: It’s what’s inside Eleven—and all of us—that empowers us the most.

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–Here’s Everything We Know (So Far) About ‘Stranger Things’ Season 3
–Millie Bobby Brown and Khloé Kardashian Just Had a Love-Fest on Twitter

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