The Untold Truth Of Alana Haim

When Haim first exploded onto the music scene in 2013 with their first album, "Days Are Gone," they quickly made waves with their effortlessly cool, LA rock girl-group vibes. In addition to their straight-out-of-an-Urban Outfitters-ad type of charm, the three Haim sisters who helm the band — Este, Danielle, and Alana — also oozed charisma and personality, which quickly became a big part of the band's appeal. Plus, with songs like "The Wire," "Something to Tell You," "Falling," and "Want You Back" in their catalogue, the trio are clearly one of the most talented, exciting groups out there today.

Until 2021, the three Haim sisters were always a unit, performing, recording, and giving interviews together. However, when Alana was cast in the much-hyped Paul Thomas Anderson film "Licorice Pizza," she earned herself some well-deserved attention. In fact, her performance in the film even generated some Oscar buzz from the likes of Vulture, i-D, and Variety. Clearly, the youngest Haim sister is even more talented than we realized. Curious to learn a little more about her? Here is the untold truth of Alana Haim.

Alana Haim and her sisters grew up in Los Angeles — the valley, to be precise. As Este told Variety, "We grew up along Laurel Canyon on the Valley side, north of Ventura [Boulevard], in a city called Valley Village, which we affectionately call Valley Vill-ahh-ge, to make it a little more chic." For Alana, this has become a big part of her identity. "I'm a valley girl through and through, all day every day," she told Vanity Fair.

The actress-singer has plenty of memories of her childhood there. As she recalled to AV Club, she recalls Crossroads Trading Company on Ventura Boulevard, which was her first job, along with Pagliaci's on Ventura, Art's Deli, and Casa Vega. She continued listing off her favorite spots, including a hand car wash, Beaman Park, and Castle Park.

And as Paul Thomas Anderson told Variety, her natural Valley girl persona even helped her nab the part in "Licorice Pizza." "Alana looks like a girl from the Valley; she talks like a girl from the Valley; she is a girl from the Valley," he said.

Wondering how the Haim sisters are so good at making music together? Well, it turns out they've had plenty of practice. As their mother Donna explained in a video for Vogue, "From the time the kids were little, I think my husband found them instruments and said that we were going to make a family band and we started the Rockinhaim band and we played for charity." She added that in terms of instruments, "Alana got whatever we needed."

Rockinhaim mainly performed covers of classic rock songs, and, as the Haim sisters told The Guardian, their father had come up with the name in a dream. Eventually, when the Haim sisters grew up, they ditched their parents and renamed their group Haim. The rest is history. But, the family band has actually reunited for some concerts over the years (via Billboard). Could this family be any more adorable?

Alana Haim and her sisters all had pretty interesting bat mitzvahs — a Jewish tradition that celebrates a young woman's coming of age. Alana's bat mitzvah, as she explained to GQ, was particularly memorable.

"I wanted it to be 'masquerade,' but I didn't know the word, so it ended up being 'Mardi Gras.' It's so random," she said, explaining that she didn't even know what Mardi Gras meant. Nevertheless, her parents tried to help her pull it off.

They hired a small event space in an office building. Apparently, Alana spent the entire party trying to kiss a guy called Harell Dahari. "And he was like, No. Hell no. I got shut down," she recalled. Poor Alana. As she went on to explain, her braces didn't help. "If I could go back if I could, like see myself as a 13 year old, [I would tell myself] just wait until those braces are off," she said. "Your life is gonna change when those braces are gonna come off." Sounds like even Alana Haim had to go through those notorious awkward teen years.

Many musicians have a reputation of going a little wild — especially when they're on tour. However, the Haim sisters could not be more different than this stereotype.

For Alana, having quiet, low-key time after a show is hugely important. "There is nothing better than coming off stage and being all sweaty and not partying," she told Entertainment Weekly. So what do they do instead of hitting the town? "It's us in our Snuggies watching random John Cusack movies and eating post-show pizza," she confessed. For one thing, the sisters want to stay healthy so that they can keep performing for their fans. Plus, the girls apparently really enjoy the down time. In fact, the whole band is the same. "No one parties!" Alana said. Instead, they all prefer movie nights. Looking for proof? Just check out the picture of Haim hanging out with Taylor Swift in animal onesies with takeaway pizza after the Met Gala (via Refinery29). This band is literally the cutest!

By the sounds of things, Alana Haim doesn't just avoid parties after shows — she also likes to keep her social life pretty low-key at other times, too. In fact, unlike her sisters, she finds herself craving alone time.

"For me, I feel like I'm the only sister that really likes being alone," Alana told The Forty-Five. "I always love my me-time." Of course, even though Alana does crave me-time, she ultimately loves hanging out with her sisters.

"We're human, we need me-time," Alana told Pitchfork. But, she added, after about an hour, she usually starts to miss Este and Danielle. "I get FOMO. I think, collectively, one of us is always doing something dope and [the other two] realize we're just sitting in our apartments doing nothing, and we're like, 'We might as well just hang out.'"

"It's, like, the most proud I've ever been of our music," Alana Haim said of the band's third studio album, "Women in Music Pt. III," while speaking on the podcast "Table Manners." Based on her interviews, it's pretty clear that Alana is particularly fond of this album. For Alana, this album was her first chance to make music without catering to other people's expectations or rules about what they could or couldn't do.

"I think you can hear it on this record that we really do not give a f***," she told the Independent. In fact, she added, she and her sisters weren't even thinking about pleasing the critics or fans. Instead, they were writing songs that they enjoyed. "This is our record. It's our music. We refuse to fit in a box," she summed up. It's amazing to see Alana and her sisters breaking through the industry's boundaries and creating music that they really can be proud of.

In the song "Hallelujah," Alana Haim sings, "I had a best friend, but she has come to pass. One I wish I could see now." It turns out, these lines are based on something that actually happened in real life. When Alana was 20, one of her best friends died in a tragic car accident.

"It was a loss that changed my life forever," Alana wrote in a statement on Twitter. "Sammi was my everything, and coming to terms with the fact that she wasn't here, that I couldn't call her, I couldn't hug her, I would never see her bright smile and sparkling eyes ever again broke me."

As the sisters told The Forty-Five, writing the song gave them all the chance to work through their various tough times. Apparently, they all cried together while writing the song. And, according to NME, Alana's guitar even bears Sammi's initials, SKK, in black tape.

Being one third of one of the most popular bands around can't be easy. And Alana Haim was only 20 when she and her sisters rocketed to fame. At first, the young singer didn't really understand the importance of taking care of herself. "I had to go through many different kinds of traumatic things in my early twenties, and I think sometimes you push things away and you don't want to deal with things," she confessed to Coup de Main in 2017.

However, as she got older, she began to slow down and take time to heal from these traumatic things. "I think it really just comes with time. ... It's all a learning experience." As Alana explained, everyone has different ways of self-healing. For her, it's about making art, reading, travelling, or just doing something nice for herself. It sounds like Alana really has learned a lot about the art of self-care over the past few years.

Alana Haim found fame as a singer, but it turns out, she's also a seriously talented actress, too. In 2021, she starred in the Paul Thomas Anderson coming of age film "Licorice Pizza." To say that she blew critics and audiences away would be an understatement.

Of course, she wasn't exactly a natural choice for the role, seeing as it was her first film. Luckily, Anderson, who was an old family friend, saw something in her. Apparently, he sent her the script in an untitled email. At first, she thought her sisters were being considered, too. "I assumed that if he sent it to one Haim, he sent it to all three," she told Interview Magazine. But, it turned out the character was written especially for her. "I obviously immediately said yes, and then I immediately went to sleep and thought to myself, 'What did I just get myself into?'" Alana told the Independent. Fortunately, she stuck with her gut decision.

Even though Alana Haim has had plenty of experience of being in the spotlight, she was extremely intimidated by the prospect of starring in a feature film. As she told Interview Magazine, her only experience with acting had been in high school plays. "Shooting a movie was totally out of my depth," she said. "The first time Paul called 'Action!' I pissed my pants a little bit. And I kept looking at the camera." Clearly, it was a steep learning curve. As she went on to confess, she was even scared that they'd re-cast her role.

However, she quickly found her feet on set with the help of director Paul Thomas Anderson. She explained to the Independent, she would love to keep working with him as an actress. "He made me feel like I could accomplish anything," she said. "And that's how he's made me feel since the day that I met him."

The pandemic wasn't easy for anyone — especially for people who make a living performing to live audiences. For Alana Haim and her sisters, it was a tough time, not only because they couldn't go on tour, but also because they couldn't spend time together, as Este, the eldest Haim sister, has type 1 diabetes.

Alana ended up filling her time with online shopping. "I remember watching a puzzle go from 20 bucks to ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS! For a chaotic yard sale puzzle!" she told DIY Magazine. And while she did abide by COVID rules, the pandemic didn't stop her from marching in support of Black Lives Matter. "Everyone was safe and helping each other to use their voice; there are no regrets from me for doing that," she said.

Plus, the three sisters also stayed busy with online concerts and with the virtual press for their third album, "Women in Music Pt. III." Sounds like Alana was just as busy as ever, even in isolation!

In a 2021 interview with Vanity Fair, Alana Haim revealed what she called her "most prized possession." Apparently, it's a "Sisters of the Moon" necklace that was given to her by none other than Stevie Nicks. "When I had to take it off for the movie, I was so sad," she explained. "'But this is my power! Everything is in this necklace!'"

Of course, anyone would love to own something given to them by Stevie Nicks. But for Alana, this gift was extra special. In 2014, Nicks chose to invite the Haim sisters to her home from a New York Times interview. Apparently, Alana was fascinated by Nicks and couldn't take her eyes off her during the conversation — which is no wonder, considering the fact that she's a huge icon for the three sisters. After a three-hour long conversation, Nicks gave each sister her own necklace, inspired by a necklace that her own mother used to wear. "I already feel more powerful," Alana said when she got the gift. That must have been a truly magical day for Alana — no wonder she loves the gift so much.

Even Alana Haim can be a bit of a fangirl sometimes. Her biggest celebrity crush? Drake. In a 2014 interview with Cosmopolitan, Alana explained that she had a handmade Drake iPhone case. "I found these crazy Drake stickers, so I just stuck them on my phone. Basically, it's the best thing that now I get to see Drake's face on my phone 24 hours a day," she said. She went on to explain that she was "the biggest Drake fan of all time" — a bold statement, but it seems to be true. Apparently, she and her sisters used to fight over who would get "dibs" on him. "I want to marry Drake," she confessed. 

As a famous musician, Alana has actually met her crush in person. In 2017, she and her sisters were spotted attending Drake's birthday party! It must have been a total dream come true.

"We are too obsessed with each other. It's disgusting. I just love my sisters so much," Alana Haim told Cosmopolitan in 2014. One thing's pretty clear — the three Haim sisters are inseparable. As the youngest — Alana calls herself "Baby Haim," — she has relied on her older sisters a lot over the years. In fact, "Licorice Pizza" was Alana's first real solo project. "My two older siblings have carried me through life," she told Interview Magazine, "so it was jarring to be like, 'Oh, they can't get me out of this one.'"

The sisters even wrote the song "Hallelujah" about their love for one another. At first, they found it hard to open up about how much they cared for each other — "Every time we tried, we were like, 'Gross, like, why are we being so nice to each other? We are siblings, after all,'" Alana told Paper Mag. But in the end, they got it all down on paper — and as fans of the song will know, it's pretty clear that these three siblings love each other more than anything.