So far you have worked with both Jeff Bridges and Harrison Ford, and these are two actors who have really changed the way actors approach their work in movies. How did this affect the way you bring a sense of depth to your performance at this early stage in your career?
Hailee Steinfeld: Both Jeff and Harrison have the most incredible work ethics that are so inspiring and so intriguing. Sometimes I’ll have a time in a three month shoot where it’s the second to last week and you’re like, “I’ve got this.” You can relax, you know everybody, everything’s good and it’s all good. But with them, there’s none of that and they’ve been doing it their entire lives, and there’s never a point where they’re sort of relaxed in a way. They are always on their game, they are always giving 100%, and even when the camera is not on them they’re giving the other actors 100%. I just think that is so incredible, given they have been doing it for so long. It’s easy to feel like you could just sort of give out a little bit a couple of weeks in, but I think it’s so incredible the way they work and the way they carry themselves. They are two of the most incredible actors and the most incredible people.
I was just inspired by the way they do that. Not necessarily what they do as actors, but what they do as people inspires me as well. Some of the time it’s not so much what they say but what they do that you are able to watch and pick up on and take with you. There were plenty of those things that I have taken with me from the both of them.
You were working with a lot of young actors in this movie. What was the conversation like on the set, knowing that you were going to be in the presence of Harrison Ford who played Han Solo?
Hailee Steinfeld: Oh man! It was like, “Are you going to ask him anything about it?” “Are you going to ask him?” “No.” “Because I’m not so you should cause I’m not gonna.” “Well you should because we want to know.” And then he comes on set and we’re like, “Guys, guys stop. He’s on set, we gotta go to work.” It was a lot of banter between all of us of just like, “Don’t freak out.” “But I wanna freak out because he’s right there!” We were all super, super excited about working with him, and not only working with him on any movie but a science fiction movie was a dream.
It’s nice to see Harrison Ford working in outer space again.
Hailee Steinfeld: Yeah. Asa and I didn’t really put that together until a couple of months ago when we were like, “That is like the coolest thing ever!” Just to be able to say that, just to be a part of this with him was just the coolest thing ever.
You said that Ender’s Game was like nothing you had ever done before, but you’ve already done a western, you’ve done Shakespeare, sci-fi, a comedy and a drama or two. Are you finding it more difficult to find things that you’ve never done before?
Hailee Steinfeld: Yeah I’ve done everything (laughs). Obviously every story is very different. I am definitely attracted to these different genres and these different roles and different time periods of all these films that I’ve done, but I don’t necessarily look for different things so I don’t have a hard time with it. I love any story that has good heart in it, so I guess I can say I don’t have a hard time looking because I never really look. I just kind of see the good in all of it.
Do you have a dream role?
Hailee Steinfeld: You know, I’m one of those people who will go and see a movie and say I really want to do that exact thing, and then I’ll go see a movie the next day and I’ll say it about that one. So I guess I don’t have a specific dream role yet.
What keeps you grounded these days? When do you have time for family?
Hailee Steinfeld: I don’t know. I guess my parents have raised me really well. I owe a lot to them. But I think that I’ve found the perfect balance between knowing that I’m having these crazy opportunities of doing what I love and going back to school and going back to my family. I’m doing what I love to do and I realize that some of these opportunities are rare and crazy and insane and I love that, so I think I’m able to see that and not get carried away over anything.
What do you do on a day off?
Hailee Steinfeld: Sometimes I’m just hanging out and not really doing anything. Watching movies, baking, just hanging around.
Do you have any favorite memories of Oscar night when you were nominated for True Grit?
Hailee Steinfeld: Oh man! Oh so many! I was really nervous that day and I ate a really big breakfast and then I didn’t eat anything until we got into the theater. So my mom has like a bag of snacks, right? And Jeff Bridges is sitting in front of us with his beautiful wife Sue and Mila Kunis is sitting in front of us as well, and she kept turning around like, “Hey mom, what snacks do you have?” And then there was a moment where Jeff Bridges and Kevin Spacey came over to me and we were just kind of talking a bit, and somebody somewhere in the room took this wonderful picture of the three of us talking and it’s the coolest thing ever. I love looking back on pictures from that night because all those memories come back. That was such an incredible night, every minute of it.
That concludes our interview but we’d like to thank Hailee for taking the time to talk with us. Be sure to check out Ender’s Game, in theatres this Friday!
