Few actors have successfully maintained two careers in the way that Hailee Steinfeld has. While some fans wonder if Hailee is still making music, the fact is that she's definitely moving forward in both the worlds of songwriting and acting. She actually released her second EP, "Half Written Story" in May 2020. Of course, 2021 has been extremely busy for Hailee given that she's had to make both her acclaimed AppleTV+ series Dickinson and The Marvel Cinematic Universe's Hawkeye. Because of this, the Academy Award-nominated actor is almost certainly better known for being an actor than she is a singer. And that's saying something given how successful her music has become. But did Hailee even want to be an actor?
In a Q + A interview with Vanity Fair about True Grit, Hailee revealed that her cousin inspired her to take up modeling and acting when she was just 8-years-old. Of course, she had to ask her parents' permission first. But when Hailee asked her mom, she was forced to make a choice... commit to acting or let it go. Here's the truth about how Hailee became an actor and how her mom impacted her decision.
Hailee's Mom Wanted Her To Be A Good Actor Not Just An Actor
When Hailee asked her mom, Cheri Steinfeld, if she could sign up with a modeling agent and inquired about acting, she was given a condition... And that condition was that she had to do acting classes. There's was just no way that Cheri was going to let her daughter pursue something that was so engulfing without figuring out if she was really meant to do it or not. Of course, there was also the fact that Hailee's family didn't have a lot of money. Pursing acting was a big investment. So, she had to commit or quit. While Cheri didn't quite force Hailee into acting she almost certainly forced her to become a good actor and not just do it without thought. This choice solidified Cheri as Hailee's manager, a position she still holds to this day.
"I went to my mom and I asked her if I could do it, and for the acting part of it, she made me study for a year. For the modeling, I signed with a print agent before I signed with a theatrical agent, so I had been doing that for about a year before the acting really started to pick up for me," Hailee explained in the interview with Vanity Fair.
Not only did it take a year for acting to really pick up for her, but Hailee admitted in an interview with W Magazine that her mom wouldn't really let her pursue the craft professionally until she had completed some training. After about a year of acting classes, Hailee went out and started booking work and swiftly got herself an agent. Her debut performance was in a guest-starring role in a show called Back To You. Although the first time she was ever in front of a camera was in a Soda Pop Girls commercial.
Of course, the role that made Hailee famous was Mattie in True Grit. Her performance earned her an Oscar nomination. She was just 14 at the time.
The Truth About Hailee Steinfeld's Relationship With Her Mom Cheri
Hailee clearly has her mom to thank for a portion of her success in Hollywood. After all, it was Cheri who tried to instill a sense of pride and dedication to the craft. This, of course, paid off in spades. Not only has she made an impressive net worth, but she's also world-famous. Although the success she has experienced hasn't changed her relationship with her mom or the rest of her family.
"My relationship with my family remained the same, my friends through the years have changed but the core of them are still in my life and my rocks are all there," Hailee said in an interview with the GMA Network before talking about her mom's impact on her career. ’m so lucky to be so close to my family. And I think with everything I do in life, with everything I do through my work, I realize it more and more. I think this year especially has taught me to greatly appreciate the people closest to me. Not being able to see them, being separate, not being able to see them, their whole faces, it’s a weird…I’ve grown to really appreciate the people that are closest to me. And even through Emily Dickenson, growing up in a household where her parents didn’t see her, they didn’t understand her and I have…my mom who drove me to four auditions a day, five days a week, we lived out of a car. I would not be here speaking to you if it weren’t for my mom."
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