Summary
- Hailee Steinfeld landed her breakthrough role in True Grit at just 13 years old, beating out 15,000 other young actresses.
- The Coen Brothers auditioned thousands of girls for the role of Mattie Ross, seeking a fast-talking and self-assured actress.
- Hailee Steinfeld bonded with her co-stars, including Jeff Bridges, and impressed them with her talent, earning praise for her performance.
Hailee Steinfeld was just 13 years old when she beat out 15,000 other young actresses for the role of Mattie Ross, a young woman looking to avenge her father's murder in True Grit. She would ultimately earn an Oscar nomination for her role.
She told The Early Show Friday in 2011 why she fell in love with the role in the western. "I loved the material, the role itself, and the film overall, the story," she explained. "... And it was the first time going in reading for this that I could say to myself, I was 110 percent prepared and ready to go and show that."
Hailee Steinfeld starred alongside Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon in the remake of the iconic John Wayne movie in 2011. "I haven't had too much experience and haven't done a lot of onscreen stuff," she explained. "But I've been studying for six years, studying acting and taking classes and everything. Honestly, I think that all those years of hard work kind of paid off with this."
How Hailee Steinfeld Landed Her Breakthrough Role In True Grit, Alongside Jeff Bridges
While the Coen Brothers found it easy to find their lead in Jeff Bridges, it wasn't so easy to find their Mattie Ross. They need a fast-talking, self-assured actress aged between 12 and 17. They described her character as “sassy, fearless and sure of herself," something Hailee Steinfeld delivered in the movie.
The iconic filmmakers auditioned more than 15,000 girls via online video submissions and held open casting calls from November to December 2009 in Arkansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. The girls were asked to read the scene in which Mattie negotiates with horse trader Col. Stonehill and verbally wrestles him into submission.
“Ninety percent of the kids just get eliminated for one very obvious reason: They’re not actors in any sort of natural way,” Joel Coen explained. “Beyond that, the screenplay, as a reflection of the novel, is written in a very particular kind of language, so it’s almost like casting a verse player.”
A month and a half before the film was set to start production, the Coen brothers finally decided on their Mattie. Hailee Steinfeld was just 13 years old, with only a few short films and minor TV roles under her belt.
To land the role she auditioned with the Coens and her co-stars Jeff Bridges, Dakin Matthews and Barry Pepper. “Just the thought of it was kind of intimidating,” Steinfeld recalls about the audition, where she was up against three other child actors. “But the minute I met [Bridges], I realized that he was just there to do a job — and I’m there for the same reason, and I kind of clicked with him and the Coen brothers.”
What was her advice to any child stars auditioning? “If I can give any advice to any of those girls,” she says, “it would just be not to give up.”
How Hailee Steinfeld Felt Working With Acting Legends During True Grit
Hailee Steinfeld went from being an unknown in Hollywood to working with iconic Oscar-winning actors. Although she spent most of her time on-set Jeff Bridges, she says she bonded with all of her costars. “With each of them, every minute we would get to talk, I was telling myself, ‘Hailee, take advantage of the time you have with them,’” she told People.
“I wasn’t in the position to ask all of the questions I would want to ask, but if I had one, I knew that each of them would be ready and willing to answer [it]."
Luckily, her co-stars were impressed with her talent. Matt Damon, who plays Texas Ranger LaBoeuf, says he was floored by Steinfeld’s talent from the first scene they shot together. “I saw the notes they were giving her, and they were some pretty complex adjustments,” he recalled.
“And we’d do the scene again, and she’d just nail it. I remember looking up at [cinematographer] Roger Deakins and saying: ‘Is she doing this stuff every day? Is she that good?’ And he just nodded to me and said, ‘She’s that good.’”
How Hailee Steinfeld Stays Grounded After Childhood Fame
Despite being thrust into the spotlight at just 13, Hailee Steinfeld has managed to avoid the public growing pains that have happened to many of her peers. The Into The Spiderverse star credits her family for keeping her grounded.
"The people in my life, family and my close inner circle have remained the same; they're my rock, and they're keeping me grounded," she explained. "They love and care about me and will whip me back into shape if I ever step out of line."
"Nothing in my life, in fact, has changed — other than my schedule," the Dickinson star, explained. Although she admits she had to give up some teenage milestones.
"I remember all my friends were going to a winter formal or a homecoming dance, and I was either at home or working," recalls Steinfeld.
Although admits she "definitely made up for it" by attending premieres and awards shows, including the 2011 Academy Awards. "I think about the dress that I was so excited about and was made so perfectly [by Marchesa]. I remember the red carpet and how freaking massive it felt and then getting in there and sitting around the most iconic and incredible people."
Although she probably didn't appreciate her Oscar nomination, which she lost to Melissa Leo, until later. "Looking back on that, I really feel like I'm so much more aware of what that meant now, then I could have done then," she told the Independent in 2016.
