18 Things to Know About Actress and Singer Hailee Steinfeld

Hailee Steinfeld is no stranger to fame. She started acting at the age of 10, and at age 13, she was cast in True Grit, playing Mattie Ross — a role that earned her an Oscar nomination. She is the ninth-youngest nominee ever at the Oscars. Oh, and she’s also a pop star.

With her blockbuster lead debut coming this fall in the Transformer origin story Bumblebee (Steven Spielberg was the one who suggested a female protagonist for the film), we figured it was time to give you 18 things to know about the actress-singer Hailee Steinfeld.

1. She has a Jewish dad and a Filipino mom. Upon visiting Manila in 2016, she said, “My grandpa is half-Filipino. My mom’s dad… and one thing I learned very early on about Filipinos is how much passion there is, how much pride there is being Filipino and as little as there is in me, I really do feel so connected to the culture and to being here, I can’t believe I haven’t been here before. I’m so happy that I am here finally. It’s so incredibly important that I can come somewhere so far from home and feel like I’m home.”

2. She joined Instagram way back in 2012, posting a picture of her sparkly shoes in a recording booth.

3. She started homeschooling in the middle of sixth grade, which is around when her acting career launched.

4. Her older brother, Griffin, is a NASCAR driver. Her mom posted this very cute selfie of the whole fam:

5. She’s in Taylor Swift’s squad. Kinda. You can see her in the Bad Blood music video, but in 2016, she said, “I think people think we spend a lot more time together than we actually do!”

6. She released her debut album, Haiz, in November 2015. (You may know the song “Love Myself,” about female masturbation. We don’t agree with any other interpretation!!) Unfortunately, the album got very lukewarm reviews.

7. She’s currently on tour, opening for Katy Perry (Taylor’s enemy! Gasp!).

8. Her acting chops are hella impressive; she’s starred in Begin Again (an underrated movie!!), Romeo & Juliet as Juliet, Ender’s GamePitch Perfect 2 & 3, The Edge of Seventeen, and so many more.

9. Just need to focus on Begin Again for one second: She was in this movie with Keira Knightley, Mark Ruffalo, James Corden, Cee Lo Green, and ADAM LEVINE. So RANDOM! SO FUN! (It also has a great soundtrack. Basically, everyone should go watch Begin Again!)

10. She was just cast in a TV series Dickinson, about Emily Dickinson’s coming of age years, slated to premiere in 2019.

11. She’s a fantastic actress. Seriously. As one Vulture article, “Hailee Steinfeld, Please Stay a Move Star,” explains, “Rather than offer advice to Hailee Steinfeld, who doesn’t need it, we have a simple plea: Please keep making movies like [The Edge of Seventeen], box office be damned. You can do the music thing if you want, but don’t give up on playing abrasive, often unlikable, and fascinating characters.”

12. She’s good pals with Camila Cabello, the Havana (ooh na na) singer.

13. There’s speculation she’s dating Niall Horan, formerly of One Direction (he’s the blonde one). He wished her happy birthday in a very sweet Instagram post:

(She commented back, “I don’t either but it makes me really happy😂thank you niall james ❣” ARGUABLY FLIRTY. Though in his original caption, “Love ya hails” is so friend-zone-y. But it really seems they’re dating now.)

14.  When she’s not singing, acting, or maybe dating a former boy band member, she says, “I love being outdoors. I used to play basketball but I was getting too many injuries so I gave it up. I used to play soccer too.”

15. She really loves making music: “Pitch Perfect 2 was what I used as the perfect bridge into making music, because it felt like it made sense. It wasn’t necessarily random in terms of: here I am as an actor, now I’m releasing music. It was like: here is something I also really love to do.” And as she told Marie Claire in January, “As an actor, I’m masked by characters, protected by them. But as a musician, it’s my story, my voice, my face. It’s such a different kind of vulnerable.”

16. Related to her music career, we can’t stop thinking about these purple boots she wore to the Grammys (she has very enviable style, tbh):

17. She’s a regular at the Met Gala. This past year, she decided to stay away from overt Catholicism:

18. And she’s only 21. Go, Hailee!

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