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Hailee Steinfeld on ‘The Edge of Seventeen’ and its John Hughes ‘vibe’

Hailee Steinfeld, 19, hopes her new movie, “The Edge Of Seventeen,” will accomplish something important: showing teens they’re not alone.

“It’s a very honest telling of being a teenager in this world today and growing up and taking every single flaw there is and embracing them,” Steinfeld told CNN. “It’s a coming of age story for everybody in it.”

Steinfeld plays Nadine, a teen who can’t seem to fit in. It’s your classic narrative, played out in movies countless times before, but Steinfeld is hoping to bring it to a new generation of viewers.

“It’s got a very sort of John ‘Hughes-y’ vibe to it which I’m very excited to sort of give to my generation in a way,” she said.

The film, directed by Kelly Fremon Craig, also stars Woody Harrelson as Steinfeld’s teacher. “I love [Harrelson] so much,” Steinfeld said. “He was great.”

Steinfeld, who was nominated for an Academy Award when she was just 14 for her role in the 2010 film “True Grit,” is already garnering some Oscar buzz for this performance.

“It’s obviously always an honor when people recognize your hard work,” she said. “So I just hope people see this movie and relate to it as much as I did.”

“The Edge Of Seventeen” hits theaters November 18.

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Hailee Steinfeld, performing at Allentown Fair, talks about her ‘insane’ music, movie career

If there’s any new artist in show business who’s been blessed with success, it’s Hailee Steinfeld.

As an actress, her first feature role — as Mattie Ross in the 2010 remake of “True Grit” with Jeff Bridges when she was just 14 — got her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

As a singer, her first single, 2015’s soaring pop hit “Love Myself,” sold platinum and has 150 million views on YouTube.

And now, for her first tour, Steinfeld is the supporting act for Meghan Trainor, one of the biggest new pop stars, whose debut album went double platinum and had four Top 15 hits that among them sold 15 million copies.

The tour comes to the Allentown Fairgrounds grandstand Saturday.

“I mean it’s crazy,” Steinfeld, who hasn’t hit her 20th birthday, says in a recent call from the tour in Chicago. “The opportunities that I get and have worked for that have come my way are absolutely insane. And I feel very, very lucky and blessed to have been given these opportunities.”

Of course, talent may have something to do with it. Steinfeld already has another single, the teen romance anthem “Starving” with DJs Zedd and Grey. Released July 22 to coincide with the tour — it already hit the Top 25 on the Mainstream Pop chart and was rising this week.

She has another movie, “Edge of Seventeen,” scheduled for release Sept. 18, that she says has “a very sort of classic John Hughes vibe to it,” referring to the 1980s director of teen classics such as “Sixteen Candles.” Continue reading “Hailee Steinfeld, performing at Allentown Fair, talks about her ‘insane’ music, movie career”