Hailee Steinfeld thinks Taylor Swift is an ''amazing friend''.

The 17-year-old actress has developed a close bond with the 24-year-old singer in recent years and the pair are often photographed out together, but the brunette beauty insists she prefers to keep their friendship out of the public eye.

Speaking in the May issue of Nylon magazine, she said: ''She's an amazing friend. I always get the, 'Tell us something nobody knows [about Taylor] question.' And it's like, we both respect each other tremendously, but we choose to keep our friendship out of the public eye.

''She's a really great person and an inspiration to me and many others.''

Despite being nominated for an Oscar award, the brunette beauty insists she's just a ''regular teenager'', but thinks her mother Cheri Steinfeld, who is also her manager, has helped her stay grounded after she was thrown into the adult world of Hollywood at such a young age.

She explained: ''As strict as my mum is, I have so much freedom. Everything I do, she does with me and I couldn't imagine it any other way.''