The Untold Truth Of Hailee Steinfeld

Hailee Steinfeld began her domination of the film industry the moment her first movie, True Grit, introduced her to the world. When she was only 14 years old, she was nominated for an Academy Award for her debut role as Mattie Ross, which launched her career even further than the young celebrity ever could have imagined. She has since had roles in projects like Ender's Game, The Edge of Seventeen, Bumblebee, Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse, and Dickinson, among countless others.

As if her filming schedule wasn't keeping her busy enough, Steinfeld made her way into the music industry after showing off her singing skills in the hilarious Pitch Perfect franchise. Since then, the star has toured the country, produced a television series, and been nominated for even more awards for the roles she's depicted on the big and small screens.

Steinfeld's humble personality and powerful on-screen presence continue to bring her success. However, there's a lot more to this talented actress than what meets the eye. This is the untold truth of Hailee Steinfeld.

Thinking back to working with Oscar Award-winning actors Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon at such a young age on True Grit, when she delivered a movie performance that was practically flawless, Hailee Steinfeld told W magazine, "If I had to make that movie right now, I would be incredibly intimidated." However, when she was 14 years old, she wasn't afraid to speak her mind on set. To create a more kid-friendly environment and refrain from letting her co-stars' mouths run wild in the western, Steinfeld created a "bad boy jar," where every time an actor cursed, they had to put money in.

"They were like, 'This is not fair! You cannot do this!'" she told Access. "So they decided right there they had to designate me a word." To get Steinfeld to participate, Bridges and Damon chose a word that many teenagers still today are guilty of over-using. "That word was 'like,'" Steinfeld added. "So, if I said the word 'like,' I had to pay 50 cents."

By the time the filming of True Grit had wrapped, Steinfeld had collected $350 in the "bad boy jar," which she ended up donating to an Alzheimer's foundation.

Since Hailee Steinfeld began working at a young age, she seemed to miss out on many defining childhood moments. Her first kiss? "My first kiss was actually on-screen, which I don't consider my first kiss," she told W magazine. 

And not only did she have her first kiss in front of a film crew, but Steinfeld became incredibly nervous after learning that her character had to kiss two boys in the film — not just one! "One of the guys ... he was shorter than me. They had to place him on an apple box. ... It was very awkward." She noted, "One of them made a comment about like, 'I'm just going to pretend like I'm kissing my mom.'" Steinfeld laughed thinking back on it, adding, "Pretty sure that's not the thing you say before you kiss a girl, but alright."

Steinfeld did experience the real thing later. "First real kiss was at my house that I grew up in by my front door," she said. It seems like her past experience didn't help her out, though. "It was a little messy!" Steinfeld noted.

Hailee Steinfeld's debut single "Love Myself" went double platinum (via Republic Records). She's since made music with Zedd and Florida Georgia Line, among others. On top of that, she's known as one of Taylor Swift's friends and even appeared as part of Swift's squad in the singer's "Bad Blood" music video. Yet there's another musician out there that Steinfeld would love to collaborate with.

Following up on the rumors that she was about to release new music with Demi Lovato in 2015, Steinfeld revealed that, unfortunately, the rumors weren't true. However, she divulged to 104.3 MYfm, as captured in a since-deleted YouTube video, "That is like a definite goal of mine!" Steinfeld added, "I would love to work with her. I really admire her."

Coincidentally enough, the two previously met on a plane ride to San Francisco. "It was the best flight, one of the best flights I've ever been on, because it was one of those where you didn't want it to end," Steinfeld said. "Demi and I were playing each other's music and having like listening parties 3,000 feet up in the air, so that was pretty cool." 

Spending countless hours on the road with some of the biggest names in the music industry is an absolute dream come true for Hailee Steinfeld. The actress-turned-pop singer has opened for major talents such as Charlie Puth and Katy Perry (via Concert Archive). With good always comes bad, though, and when Steinfeld was asked what the worst part of her job was, she admitted that travel comes with its ups and downs. "The travel can catch up to you," Steinfeld told the Zach Sang Show. She explained that it is especially unpleasant whenever she finds herself sick. "That's always the worst part, when you're literally unable to do anything, and then your body is telling you when it needs rest," she added.

The busy star sure does keep a jam-packed work schedule, as she is constantly alternating between music and movies, but even people like Steinfeld need a break sometimes. "Sometimes, I've learned to do nothing," she said. "But sometimes, it's the worst and you feel like the most unproductive person in the world." Don't worry, Hailee! You've definitely accomplished more than most women your age!

All the energy required for touring the country and putting on a show are major reasons why pop stars must be in great shape to perform. Hailee Steinfeld, like most musicians, spends countless hours working out to prep for a tour, and, thankfully, fitness is something that Steinfeld has always been passionate about. It's actually in her blood. "I work out with my dad who is a personal trainer, and we do a lot of circuit training, a little bit of kickboxing, I dance," she told KTLA 5. He treats her like any of his other clients too. "No excuses," she told Access. "That's when I get Pete, not my dad."

Her father can even be seen making a special appearance in Steinfeld's music video "Most Girls." "He taught me many years ago how to kickbox, and I wanted that to be a sort of set-up in the video," she told the Today show. "So I had him on set to make sure I was doing everything right, and then snuck him in."

Her uncle, Jake Steinfeld, also happens to be the creator of the fitness program "Body by Jake" (via KTLA 5)!

When Niall Horan posted a birthday message to Hailee Steinfeld on Instagram in 2017, rumors began to swirl of the pair's romance. Months later, photos surfaced online of them kissing (via Daily Mail).

"You start doing things for this person and going out of your way to make them happy," Steinfeld told Cosmopolitan in 2018, potentially about Horan. "And when you see them happy, it makes you happier. When you love who you are with that person... there's nothing that compares."

Unfortunately, the two split up by the end of 2018, but, shortly after, Horan released a song called "Put a Little Love on Me," which fans associated with the end of the celebs' apparent relationship. About writing the song, he told The Sun, "I'd just gone through a breakup and it was all very real. It was very easy to sit down at the piano and speak and see what happens." 

In 2019, Steinfeld was reportedly spotted with ex-boyfriend Cameron Smoller, and Horan was seen hanging out with Selena Gomez, so it's probably safe to say that the two have moved on.

Hailee Steinfeld's busy work schedule forced her to be homeschooled. However, she could still relate to the struggling high schooler she played in The Edge of Seventeen. "I sort of felt that not having a traditional high school experience worked to my benefit with this character," Steinfeld, who's had a stunning transformation over the years, told Variety, "because being placed in a functioning real high school during the school year, and the bell would go off, and we would have to stop shooting 'cause all these kids would be filling the hallways of the high school. I was like, 'This is what anxiety really feels like.'" She noted, "I was really able to feel that sense of alienation because I hadn't experienced that."

She told Cosmopolitan, "I used to go on Facebook and see all my friends dressed up for winter formal or homecoming or prom," adding, "I would think, 'Even if it's the worst night, I'll never know what that feels like.'"

Feeling like an outcast was what Steinfeld truly had to portray in the film — not just a high schooler.

Along with the highly coveted celebrity lifestyle comes multiple red carpet appearances. Who doesn't dream of the glitz and glamour of wearing a gorgeous gown with expensive shoes and diamond jewelry? There is one accessory, however, that, up until 2019, Hailee Steinfeld had never been spotted wearing during any of her premieres — real earrings. "I've worn clip-ons before to events," she told PopSugar of her non-pierced ears in 2016. "Which is always super nerve-racking because I'm paranoid they're going to fall off."

Sure, Steinfeld's parents trusted her to make the life-changing decision to pursue acting at the young age of 8, so they also let her decide if she wanted to pierce her ears.  Steinfeld admitted that the decision came with a lot of pressure. "My mom wanted me to be old enough to make my own decisions about piercing my ears, and now that I'm old enough, I've decided I'm too indecisive," she added.

In April 2019, she posted to her Instagram a video of her getting her ears pierced. "I finally did it," she wrote.

Even compared to the challenging emotional roles that Hailee Steinfeld portrayed in True Grit and The Edge of Seventeen, acting alone with nothing other than a tennis ball on a stick has got to have been the hardest for her. "It's definitely up there on my list of things I didn't think I could do until I did it. It was definitely a challenge," Steinfeld told the Today show regarding her role in the Transformers spin-off Bumblebee.

Though she held a similar role in Ender's Game when she worked alongside other actors having to pretend that things on a green screen were actually around them, Steinfeld told MTV News that Bumblebee had her acting a lot of these types of scenes out without anyone there. "With Transformers, being in the real world, having every element except the one that actually might matter the most, is quite difficult," she said.

The film's writer, Christina Hodson, applauded Steinfeld for her portrayal of the character. "She is so good in our movie," Hodson told Metro. "It is such a hard thing to do. She is acting against nothing for so much of the movie."

Whether Hailee Steinfeld is on tour playing her music to fans everywhere or promoting her films in a foreign country, there's one thing she looks forward to whenever she's traveling. "It's safe to say I've had a cheeseburger in every part of the world I've ever been in," she told On Air with Ryan Seacrest.

Despite her lavish-looking lifestyle, Steinfeld isn't looking for anything too fancy when it comes to her burger either. "I just go plain," she said. "Meat, cheese, and bun." It's just the basics, which Steinfeld admitted she sometimes gets embarrassed by. But there's one thing she'll splurge on. "Avocado, if it's available," she added.

Really, anywhere Steinfeld goes, she is up for a burger. "Republic Records had a Grammy afterparty last year and there was an In-and-Out Burger truck," she told Vice in 2016. "There was one burger they were giving everybody, I was like, 'Is there any way you can do this plain?'" Thankfully, they did!" She noted, "I'm actually embarrassingly plain."

In 2019, Hailee Steinfeld decided to make a move from the movie screen to the television screen. She plays the lead role of poet Emily Dickinson in Apple TV+'s appropriately-titled series Dickinson. "I truly felt like this was so different from anything that I had read," Steinfeld told The Hollywood Reporter. Immediately upon reading the script, she knew she had to be involved. "I wanted to show up as something more than just an actor," she said. "I wanted to be a part of this on a deeper level." So in addition to working as an actress, Steinfeld took on an additional role as executive producer on the series.

Since playing Dickinson, Steinfeld felt even more inspired to write music upon finishing up filming the first season. "Overall, after playing this character, fully embodying her and learning to appreciate her and her work, I have a more fearless approach to my art in all aspects," she said. In true Steinfeld fashion, she has one of her own songs, "Afterlife," appear in the series.

When Hailee Steinfeld was just 14 years old following the release of True Grit, the young Oscar-nominated actress told CBS News, "I get so starstruck. It's not even funny." And that still is true to this day. The humble actress admitted to Good Morning America that she still freaks out whenever she sees other celebrities — or when she sees her face on a billboard (via Vogue). 

She told MTV News that one of the highlights of her career was meeting Justin Timberlake at a screening for True Grit. "I had just watched the movie, and my family was there. ... I see him across the room, and I'm like, 'I gotta do it. I have to do it. Mom, hold my bag.'" She continued, "Before I can say anything, he was like, 'You were so great in the movie.'" Upon meeting the young actress, Timberlake shared in her excitement and asked how she felt about the night. 

"For whatever reason, don't know where this came from, but out of my mouth flew, 'I don't really care about the movie. I'm just more excited that you're here!'" Steinfeld shared when thinking back on it. "And that was my first time meeting Justin Timberlake."

Hailee Steinfeld was hilarious in Pitch Perfect, dramatic in The Edge of Seventeen, and powerful in Bumblebee, but there's another role that the actress would like to take on some day — a superhero. "Definitely on my bucket list," she told MTV News in 2017. "New year. New me. We'll see what happens!" Batgirl, she admitted, was the first superhero that came to her mind.

Though not Batgirl, toward the end of 2019, it was reported that Steinfeld may be playing one of the lead roles in Disney+'s Marvel superhero series Hawkeye. However, it seems that the news has been kept quiet like many other Marvel projects in development. When asked by Variety about her excitement going into a new television series following Apple TV+'s Dickinson in October 2019, Steinfeld reportedly seemed flustered and said, "That, I don't know about! I don't know. I have no idea what you're talking about." 

As an actress with lots experience, Hailee Steinfeld has worked with many incredibly creative people in the industry, and it seems a love for storytelling behind the camera is wearing off on her. While acting as executive producer on Dickinson, Steinfeld told The Hollywood Reporter, "It would be really fun to produce projects that I'm not necessarily acting in."

"I want to direct, I want to produce, I want to create a story of my own," she shared with Entertainment Weekly. "Anytime I'm in the studio with these incredible writers and producers, I want to know how to work the control board. I want to know how to produce a song. I want to do all of it. I just need to pace myself because I get overly ambitious sometimes. I want to do all of it right now." 

Steinfeld has accomplished so much for her age already. We're pretty sure she has plenty of time left with her successful career to make all of her dreams reality!