As her new film The Edge of Seventeen opens in cinemas, Hailee Steinfeld is looking forward to the reaction of critics and audiences to what she feels is a ground-breaking take on the teen movie.
The trailers may make it look like another lively comedy, but Steinfeld says viewers are in for "an honest telling of being a teenager and growing up".
She says that reading the script was her first clue that this was going to be different. "I remember feeling like I've experienced so much of what this character has gone through, and in no way have ever been able to express it," she says. "It speaks to the idea of once you become one with yourself and who you are, nothing else really matters."
Hailee Steinfeld Stars in The Edge Of Seventeen
She feels like this is a movie for right now. "As much as I really do feel connected to the John Hughes films like The Breakfast Club and Sixteen Candles, I don't really feel like our generation has had that movie where we can watch it and feel like we're not alone," Steinfeld says. "Like we can watch these characters and we can feel like that is me. I think that one thing that's more geared towards our generation is the social media aspect. I think it talks about how we try and find validation through a number of followers or a number of likes, and we forget why we posted the photo in the first place."
Steinfeld was particularly able to identify with the journey her character Nadine takes through the movie. "It's a beautiful transition she has from the beginning to end," she says. "The trajectory of the character, from thinking that she's got the world figured out and the answer to every question, to then realising she doesn't, to then realising it's OK - reading that, it was so alive on the paper! To be able to just play it was an honour."
She also feels like the script empowers teen girls to break out of the mould. "I think it's the idea of young women and women in general, not feeling like they have to conform to a certain standard that's been created by society," Steinfeld says. "I'm about to be 20, and it's weird! So this movie kind of represents me as a teenager, and saying goodbye to that time in my life. This will always be there. It makes me excited to see what roles come with being a little older."
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