Hailee Steinfeld goes full awkward in Edge of Seventeen
LOS ANGELES — In “The Edge of Seventeen,” angsty teen Nadine lays out a simple theory about the world’s two types of humans: “The people who radiate confidence and naturally excel at life and the people who hope those people die in a big explosion.”
Nadine might have really mixed feelings about Hailee Steinfeld, the actress portraying her in the coming-of-age drama in theatres Friday.
Talk about naturally excelling in life. At 19, Steinfeld has already been Oscar-nominated, has an exploding singing career, graces the cover of hip magazines like Nylon and is part of the Taylor Swift Squad, the prominent BFF clique that surrounds the pop superstar.
Stepping into the lounge of the Four Seasons hotel in 4-inch heels and a stunning Elie Saab dress, Steinfeld insists that she and her fictional character meet perfectly in an inner cringeworthy place. Really.
“I don’t even know where to begin on that. My life is a constant effort trying not to be awkward,” says Steinfeld. “I fear awkwardness and I am awkwardness. I’m just better at hiding it.”
Chalk that up to the prodigious acting skills of Steinfeld, who has grown up on movie screens since making a splash at 14 with her breakout role in the Coen brothers’ “True Grit.” She has demonstrated true career tenacity, following up as Juliet in “Romeo & Juliet” and joining the hit a cappella singing franchise “Pitch Perfect 2.”
First time writer/director Kelly Fremon Craig was mired in a year-long search for the central “Seventeen” character Nadine, who clumsily navigates high school life and discovers her best friend is dating her perfect brother. Then Steinfeld auditioned.
“That person you see out there in all of those photos, that is not the person who sat down and auditioned,” says Fremont Craig. “Hailee embodied everything, every nuance about Nadine. She just got it.”
It took work to physically make the transition. Steinfeld would wear “next to no” makeup and frizzy hair for Nadine and welcomed real facial blemishes. “Because if I didn’t have them, they’d just be putting them on anyway,” says Steinfeld. She played raw in scenes where Nadine toilet hurls after experimenting overly with alcohol.
“This movie has no shy approach to anything,” says Steinfeld.
Nor is Steinfeld shy about saying how she connects to Nadine, despite being a member of Swift’s all-perfect posse.
“I met Taylor years before there was a squad,” says Steinfeld, who calls the changing group of celebrity friends “supportive and empowering.”
“But here I am portraying a character who I identify with, regardless of who people think my friends are,” says Steinfeld. “In no way am I on the other side of this character.”
How much of a legit dork is Steinfeld? While juggling concert dates, a hit single (her “Starving with Grey and Zedd” peaked at No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart), frequent trips to the recording studio for her upcoming album and work about to begin on “Pitch Perfect 3,” Steinfeld took off with a childhood friend to a posh Laguna Beach, Calif., hotel.
“We ordered room service, everything off the kid’s menu, from Bob the Builder pancakes to chicken fingers and French fries,” says Steinfeld. “It’s always more fun ordering off the kid’s menu.”