Hailee Steinfeld can’t make up her mind between winning an Oscar or a Grammy in the future. The 24-year-old is already one of Hollywood’s youngest nominees, landing an Academy Award nod in 2011 at just 13 for her performance in the Coen Brothers’ True Grit, as well as a Golden Globe recommendation in 2017 for The Edge of Seventeen.
The Californian has since notched up a string of pleasing performances in Romeo and Juliet and sci-fi thriller Ender’s Game alongside Harrison Ford. With her performances in Pitch Perfect 2, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and as Angel Recruit in Charlie’s Angels, she shows diversity in her acting in an industry that loves to pigeon-hole.
Add in TV work and a music career that’s taking off thanks to the success of a multitude of single and album releases, and there’s a lot to get excited about.
Now Steinfeld has lined up Hawkeye alongside Jeremy Renner. The Marvel mini-series, screening on Disney+, sees the actress take on the role of Kate Bishop, and it’s one she’s relishing.
Talkative, the actress and singer also reflects on the life lessons she wished she’d known about, plus collaborating with Taylor Swift.
STRIPLV: How easy was this project to fulfill through lockdown? STEINFELD: To have this sort of character to focus on during lockdown was actually a real relief. It sounds strange but to have this magnitude of a script and a plot and the whole Marvel thing that goes behind it with huge. Obviously, as an actress, I never want to let anyone down, but with Hawkeye, really, for the first time, it was a case of not wanting to let myself down. As well as that, Kate is such a cool, engaging, hugely energetic and acrobatic character to fulfill, so I knew I would have to be at my best 100% of the time if I was going to pull this off. So I think the fear factor and knowing what this character really means in the context of Hawkeye and Marvel and Disney, on top of that, was the thing that drove me forward, kept me energized, got me up early in the morning, and retained me focus to absolutely pull off this project. STRIPLV: How much of the character is scripted, and how much is you? STEINFELD: I hesitate to say the balance is 50/50, but when you’re looking at any character, you really need to put your own imprint onto it, or it would just feel regimented and flat. So the directors Rhys Thomas and Bert & Bernie have really given me the license to make Kate the person I want her to be. They’ve given me ideas visions over the character on a whole new way of embodying her that goes well beyond what’s written in the script or in the plot. And that’s really exciting for me because I feel I am working with directors. He totally wants this character to be as involved and automatic as possible. STRIPLV: What’s it like now being part of Marvel. How does that feel? STEINFELD: I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say this whole thing is the biggest machine you could ever want to step onto. Even Lucky, the dog is aware of how big this thing is, and Jeremy has been amazing in holding my hand through the process. Obviously, I’ve done a few big things in my career before now. I’ve been lucky enough to have a lot of recognition for that too, but sometimes the biggest projects don’t have the biggest budgets, and sometimes they aren’t the ones that you get the nominations for. Other times it all comes together, and you know from the very start you’re part of something massive, and that’s genuinely how it has felt with Hawkeye and Marvel, and I hope this relationship can really move on from now. STRIPLV: It feels like you have evolved, having played several roles in which you’ve been a teenager or played to younger audiences. STEINFELD: I immediately gravitated and felt pulled into teenage stories because they are real and not a huge distance from where I have been in terms of age. I have always made sure that movies I have done – in any age range – haven’t featured anything outrageous, overly fantasized, exaggerated depiction, or something I cannot relate to. That’s always been important to me, and it will continue to be important to me in the future. STRIPLV: What movies got it so wrong for you in the past? STEINFELD: There’s so many, and like, I get they’re… the goal of over-amplifying certain elements of high school or focusing maybe on what I would consider the wrong things, that was for the sake of the story or the humor, and I get that totally. STRIPLV: Back to the present day, and it feels as if you have grown and matured on screen, and yet you are still so young. STEINFELD: I’m heading towards my mid-twenties, and I must admit I still can’t believe that; it’s a very scary thought to me because I feel like I’m not equipped and have so much to learn. I certainly know that I don’t have it all mapped out, I don’t know all the answers, and maybe you’re never meant to have them all because that’s what we’re all trying to do, just figure out what we want to be in this world, where is our place? STRIPLV: If you could go back, would you? STEINFELD: Oh yes, way back. I’m one of those people who have a romanticized version of the past, and I’m lucky enough to have had lots of happy experiences. I think I would only go back if I could quickly press the reset button and find myself back in the present day. STRIPLV: What would you like to impart on your younger self of what you know now? STEINFELD: I really wish I didn’t care as much about what everyone else thought of me. That would be my one tip to my younger self. Who cares! Just concern yourself with yourself, and you can’t go wrong from there. I cannot tell you how freeing and liberating that realization was when I had it; it’s like one of life’s most important lessons. STRIPLV: So you don’t care what anyone thinks of you? STEINFELD: I really try not to. I mean, I still care a little, like everyone else; I’m only human. STRIPLV: What do you think back to that crazy time being nominated for the first time (for True Grit)? STEINFELD: I wish I had appreciated it more at the time. You know, I knew it was an honor to be in that company, but I was just not tuned in as to how big a deal it was. I was 13 years old, and I had other priorities. But it was the most amazing fairytale where I got to wear fairytale dresses and walk red carpets that literally went on for miles. I remember being told, especially for the night of the Oscars, just take it all in because it goes so fast. And you do, but you don’t really realize until it’s nearly over that’s it’s over, and it went by so fast. STRIPLV: Do you want to win an Oscar? STEINFELD: Oh yes, sure, I want one. That would be special. I mean, it can be a lifetime goal to work towards. Maybe I’ll get there, maybe I won’t, but I’ll work towards it. STRIPLV: Any news on Pitch Perfect 4? STEINFELD: Nothing. STRIPLV: I remember you being concerned you may not be invited back for number 3. STEINFELD: You just can’t ever tell where the writers are going to go. I mean, I wish as actors we had sway. And there are those who do. I am not one of them. (Laughs) I had such an unbelievable blast. It’s a really unique experience. Any chance to recreate that? I’m canceling everything to be there. STRIPLV: Those movies are also the perfect combo for you, considering your two careers. STEINFELD: That’s the thing. It’s a movie all about the music, and the love of music and love of music is a huge part of my life. And Pitch Perfect was the spark that ignited this new direction for me. That’s why I’m so passionate about them. They brought this whole new life that I always wanted. You know, recording, writing, and collaborating with guys like Zedd, I’m a huge, huge fan of his work. Meghan Trainor, I toured with, and she is the insanely sweetest person. I thought music was closed off to me in some ways because of the acting. And that was okay because I adore what I do. But the fact that Pitch Perfect and singing in that movie got me the meeting with Republic Records, who offered me a deal, and I got to produce and release my music, it’s the stuff of dreams. STRIPLV: Where do you feel more at home, acting or singing? STEINFELD: Like, I see it like, acting is my home. It’s very warm, it’s nurturing, I’m part of that community, to a certain extent, I mean I still feel new there too, but there’s a familiarity. But music, I’m the new girl who’s finding her feet. I’m the total fish out of water, don’t know what’s coming next, from which way where. I’m proving myself there, but I’m also proving myself in acting. And I don’t want to ever stop proving myself because it constantly pushes me, and that can only be a good thing. STRIPLV: Do you think you’ll ever collaborate with Taylor? STEINFELD: Ehhhh, I, she is an incredible artist, and we did collaborate in her music video, which was the most amazing experience we’ve ever shared together. STRIPLV: But what about working on a song together? STEINFELD: Anything is possible. STRIPLV: Do you think it’s bizarre that there is so much fascination with your friendship and the girl squad? STEINFELD: I honestly don’t think that way. With having so much going on being on the road and doing press and like, you know, we’re friends. She’s an amazing person. Everybody has friends. It’s nothing that unusual. STRIPLV: We should talk quickly about Emily Dickinson. How did it feel to reprise that? STEINFELD: I think in the same way as Pitch Perfect. When you return to something, it is amazing. She is someone who influences me and inspires me and to reprise that has been wonderful. There is a chaos about the whole process that throws you into a kind of momentum where absolutely you want to do your best for yourself and for your character, and it gives you almost a shield of protection. I mean, her poetry is a standard in itself, but to take that whole persona into drama and to really expand out a character and an era and a set of stories. It was just amazing.