After becoming an Oscar nominee at age 14 for her remarkable film debut in the Coen brothers’ True Grit (2010), Hailee Steinfeld posed a conundrum to Hollywood—she was difficult to categorize. What to do with this intense young teen, who wasn’t a blonde or ethereal Dakota Fanning-type, nor an easy fit into one of the three standard film roles offered to young women: Ingenue, bombshell, or Manic Pixie Dream Girl?
Hailee Steinfeld: Thank you!
Exactly.
In ways, yes, absolutely. It helps already having one and knowing what it could be like if your best friend started dating him, and they would have their own thing and I would feel very left out of that circle. I think having a brother who is very good-looking and did go through high school and had a social life and went to parties and was on the football team—like, standing back and watching that—definitely helped, walking into this film and knowing that I had this preexisting experience. That I had a brother who was this, that, and the other, and I wasn’t. Luckily and thankfully, my brother and I don’t have nearly as much hatred for each other as I feel Nadine has for her brother.
It really did. The fact that in such a short period of time in anyone’s life so much can happen is shown in this movie. And going through high school, you might think—it’s four years of your life, and college is when you really start to figure it out. But in a way, four years is a very long time. Especially as a teenager, those years are crucial. I’m still in them; I’m still figuring life out.
Oh my goodness, my parents. My family. They’re my rock. They’re who I go home to every single day and they keep me in check.
