Rising starlet Hailee Steinfeld may be young, but already, she boasts a pretty impressive resume.
Born on 11th December 1996, Hailee made her first entertainment breakthrough when she cinched a role in 2010’s “True Grit”. We call it “breakthrough” because her portrayal of Mattie Ross would go on to earn her a nomination for the Academy Award for “Best Supporting Actress”, the Screen Actors Guild Award for “Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role”, and the BAFTA Award for “Best Actress in a Leading Role”.
She also played Petra Arkanian in the 2013 sci-fi film “Ender’s Game”, Juliet Capulet in the 2013 film adaptation of William Shakespeare’s romantic tragedy “Romeo & Juliet”, Zooey Renner in the 2014 crime film “3 Days to Kill”, and Emily Junk in the musical comedy “Pitch Perfect 2“, just to name a few.
After “Pitch Perfect 2”, it was announced that she had signed a recording deal with Republic Records. Needless to say, she’s becoming Hollywood’s fast favourite. Get to know the multi-talented star a little bit better via our fun facts:
1. Started from the bottom now she’s here
Believe it or not, Hailee was just 8 years old when she first got into acting. She initially appeared in several short films to gain experience, starting with playing the role of Talia Alden in the award-winning short film, “She’s a Fox”. She went on to make several television commercials and guest appearances on television programs before landing her first film role in “True Grit”.
2. Home-schooled since she was 12
Because her burgeoning career kept her so busy, she missed a lot of education. Eventually, Hailee dropped out of mainstream education and started on a homeschooling programme. According to The Arizona Republic, it was also largely due to bullying. ”(Bullying) was a factor. Along with (my film) schedule picking up. I was the new kid in school so that came into play. There was no second thought, because it was all around a not-so-great experience,” Hailee was quoted as saying.
3. The face of a true red carpet fashionista
In addition to her acting career, she also has done modelling work. Before becoming an actress, she was modelling for popular brands like Gap, Nike, and Guess. She was hired as the face of high fashion designer label Miu Miu shortly after “True Grit” was released in 2011. At that time, Hailee was only 14 years old, so the campaign was met with mixed response as certain parties thought that she was “too young” to model for the brand. But hey if you’re born with it, flaunt it, we say 😉
4. Winning “True Grit” right from the very beginning
In 2010, Hailee went to an audition for “True Grit”, an American Western film directed, written, produced and edited by the Coen brothers (of “Fargo” and “Hail, Caesar!” fame). Not only did the film eventually catapult her into new heights of fame, Hailee was actually selected out of 15,000 girls for the role of Mattie Ross. Talk about winning right from the very beginning!
5. She made a “bad boy jar” for the “True Grit” men
You’d think that starring alongside Oscar-winning actors Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon must’ve been a million and one types of pressure. But not for Hailee, no siree. She made the men on set put money into a “bad boy jar” every time they cursed. “I charged $5 dollars for the ‘f’ word and a dollar for all the other words,” Hailee told Access Hollywood. But the men retorted with a little rule of their own. “They were like, ‘This is not fair! You cannot do this!’ So, they decided right there they had to designate me a word. That (word) was ‘like’ So, if I said the word ‘like,’ I had to pay 50 cents,” Hailee added. She ended up with $350 and donated it to an Alzheimer’s Foundation.
6. Hailee’s future plans include someday becoming a director
Well, it isn’t entirely surprising that she has goals and dreams. She has previously mentioned that she wished there were more female directors in the film industry. “There’s a different energy with a female director, a female at the head of the production. I don’t prefer one over the other, but they’re definitely different experiences, and I would love to have more of them,” she says. Fans will have to wait awhile but being director is definitely in the plans for Hailee!
7. The amazing Steinfeld gene and talent pool
So here’s something that not many people know – Hailee has an older brother named Griffin Steinfeld and as you can see from the picture above, he’s pretty good looking! And not only is he good looking, but we hear that he’s also a professional NASCAR driver. What is this crazily amazing Steinfeld gene and talent pool?!
8. Her cameo appearance in “Bad Blood”
In 2015, Hailee appeared as part of Taylor Swift’s squad in the dramatic music video for “Bad Blood“, alongside Lena Dunham, Ellen Pompeo, Karlie Kloss, Selena Gomez, Ellie Goulding, Gigi Hadid, and Cara Delevingne. “Taylor called me when she telling me about the video, and she was like, ‘I’ll send you the treatment and it’ll explain it a lot better, (but) there’s going to be three of you!’ And I was like, ‘That’s going to be awesome. I have no idea what this is, but I obviously trust her and this is going to be amazing,” Hailee told USA Today. And amazing it was because as “The Trinity”, Hailee played 3 people and rocked a futuristic white armoured top and a sullen gaze.
9. Adding another feather in her cap – singing
In “Pitch Perfect 2”, Hailee surprised the world with her singing voice when she released a cover version of “Flashlight”, the song she sang in the film. In 2015, she signed a recording deal with Republic Records. Her debut single “Love Myself” was released along with a music video in August 2015, which reached the top 40 on multiple international singles charts and has been certified platinum. Her debut EP, “Haiz” was released in November 2015.
10. “Haiz” is actually something that her fans call her
What better way to ensure that your fans are heavily involved with your life and that you’re constantly thinking of them than to name your debut EP after their nickname for you? In an interview with Rolling Stone, Hailee said, “Haiz is something that my fans started calling me for a while. I felt as though if I titled it Haiz, it would kind of make it feel like they had named it, in a way. Obviously, this is my first time releasing more than just a single, and I’ve been so excited, and I’ve had so much support from the fans, so I really wanted to make it feel as if this was something from me to them.” Aww, such a sweetie 🙂
We’ll leave you now with Hailee Steinfeld’s latest single, “Rock Bottom” featuring DNCE. Enjoy:
Sources: Hailee Steinfeld Wiki, wetpaint, GlobiesFeed, The Arizona Republic, “True Grit” Wiki, Access Hollywood, USA Today, Marie Trepanier, wired / Featured image from Rolling Stone.
