Hailee Steinfeld 'Never Had a Problem Speaking Up for Myself' Thanks to 'Incredible Women in My Life'
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The 'Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse' star opens up about the impact friends like Florence Pugh and Taylor Swift have had on her
Hailee Steinfeld has not only survived child stardom, she's thrived in her transition into adulthood.
In this week's issue of PEOPLE, the actress, 26, says that's thanks to, in part, having "a lot of incredible women in my life from a very young age."
"I've never had a problem speaking up for myself," she says. "It starts with my mom and my grandmother. I have my cousins who I've always felt like I could look up to. They're incredible mothers and incredible businesswomen.”
Beyond her family, “I've had the opportunity to work with some incredible female filmmakers who have inspired me within the field that I'm in by owning their power,” Steinfeld adds. “Not abusing it by any means, but understanding that they have it. Learning from them and how they use it has been incredible to experience firsthand.”
Related: Hailee Steinfeld Has Officially Left Her Comfort Zone
Since her Oscar-nominated breakthrough performance at age 14 in 2010’s True Grit, Steinfeld has carved out successful careers in film (she’s been a part of the Pitch Perfect and Transformers franchises), TV (she starred in the Apple TV+ show Dickinson, which ran from 2019 to 2021, and the 2021 Disney+ mini-series Hawkeye) and music (her pop hits include “Love Myself ” and “Let Me Go”).
Along the way, she made a friend in superstar Taylor Swift, who asked her to appear in her “Bad Blood” music video in 2015 after meeting her at a pre-Oscars party several years earlier.
“I mean, you get a call from Ms. Swift and you run to the phone,” she says. “It doesn't even matter what's about to be said on the other side. You run to the phone, you pick it up. It was the coolest to be a part of her music video with so many incredibly talented, empowering women. There were three of me that day, too, which was quite cool. To be a part of Taylor's world and her vision was an honor, truly. I’m literally chasing the dates of her Eras tour trying to figure out when I can make it.”
She also became friends with Florence Pugh when she made a guest appearance on Hawkeye.
“I'll never forget the moment I met Florence,” she says. “We were well into shooting Hawkeye at this point, and obviously, she had Black Widow at that time, but I could see how it could be intimidating to walk into a show and a foundation that's already been built. Watching Florence walk on set like she had been there since day one was incredibly exciting and inspiring."
"She is so wickedly talented and has the best sense of humor," she continues. "It's just amazing to be around. We hit it off very quickly. It's always fun to find friends in all of this, and to be able to stand back and watch her and cheer her on from afar has been a very exciting thing for me.”
With her return as Gwen Stacy in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse in theaters June 2, Steinfeld hopes to inspire others.
"Being a part of something that resonates with people of all ages, especially young people, is always so exciting to me," she says. "This is a film I wish I had when I was younger. There's so much heart in this character and in this story."
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