Falling in love can be intoxicating, terrifying, and feel like an emotional roller coaster. But budding superstar Hailee Steinfeld, in full-blown heart-emoji heaven for the first time, can’t wait for the ride.
Hailee doesn’t want to talk about her boyfriend. But the 21-year-old Oscar nominee, pop singer, and former Swift Squad regular is more than willing to use the L-word. A lot.
“When you fall in love,” she tells Cosmo, “you pick up on the tiniest things about yourself. I am one to spread out on the mattress and take up every inch of space. Now I don’t want to do that anymore. I want to make as much room for you as possible.”
“You start doing things for this person and going out of your way to make them happy.”
By now, it’s safe to assume the “you” she’s talking about is Niall Horan. Photos of Hailee smooching the former One Directioner have gone viral online, and the two have left juicy crumbs for fans—Hailee sporting a T-shirt with Niall’s face on it; Niall extolling her awesomeness on Twitter.
Her newest song, “Used to This”—one she wrote and debuted on tour with Charlie Puth this summer—is about sharing breakfast and lying in bed with someone. (Niall recently told Cosmo that he’s a “fantastic cuddler,” so Hailee may not want to make too much room on that mattress.)
“You start doing things for this person and going out of your way to make them happy,” she says about falling deep for the very first time. “And when you see them happy, it makes you happier. When you love who you are with that person…there’s nothing that compares.”
Well, maybe a few things could compare. Like being catapulted to fame at 14, after a mind-bendingly mature performance in 2010’s True Grit. Like costarring with Hollywood heavy hitters such as Woody Harrelson and Viola Davis. Like walking the red carpet at the Met Gala, dripping in diamonds, and having front-row seats at New York Fashion Week.
“I realized, I’m not going to stay here and feel uncomfortable just to fit in.”
And like carrying her own Transformers blockbuster, Bumblebee, out December 21. (Hailee will also have a role in December’s animated film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and play Emily Dickinson in Apple’s upcoming show about the beloved poet.)
She has done all this—and handled her fledgling romance—under a halo of good-girl moxie. In fact, it appears the California native from a fitness-focused family (her dad is a personal trainer; her uncle launched the workout sensation Body by Jake) has sailed through eight years in the spotlight without a single misstep.
It’s pretty much impossible to find a speck of dirt on Hailee. Ask a former Page Six gossip columnist if she’s ever heard tidbits about the starlet that were less than celestial. Nada. Ask a veteran entertainment reporter if she recalls coming across any negative stories. No dice. Try scrolling through top-secret celeb “blind items,” infamous for exposing Matt Lauer and Harvey Weinstein before the mainstream media did. You’re in luck, sort of. There are some posts with Hailee’s name attached…in the rare “kindness” category.
There’s a reason Hailee hasn’t been caught by TMZ smoking cigarettes or dancing on club tables. “That side of it has never been my thing,” she says. Not that she didn’t try. Years ago, she hit up a party, hoping to meet new people. “I got completely shut down by everyone and maybe it’s because I didn’t have a red Solo cup in my hands. I realized, I’m not going to stay here and feel uncomfortable just to fit in.”
“I got completely shut down by everyone, maybe because I didn’t have a red Solo cup in my hand.”
Still, she’s hyperaware that she didn’t have a typical teenage life. “I used to go on Facebook and see all my friends dressed up for winter formal or homecoming or prom,” she recalls. “I would think, Even if it’s the worst night, I’ll never know what that feels like.” But she also bypassed the cruelty of high school social dynamics, the struggle for straight A’s, and yes, the trauma of young heartbreak.
So she’s not holding back on love now, even if things don’t work out. “I want to know what that’s like,” she says. “It’s terrifying and amazing and feeling absolutely everything and being slightly afraid.”
Good thing she’s found a release: While filming The Edge of Seventeen, she says, “I remember feeling so exhilarated after a scene where I was screaming the whole time. It was like, Whoa, I’ve never done that! Not because I never allowed myself to or because someone wasn’t allowing me to emote. I just never had a reason to.”
With three major acting projects, a long-awaited album in the works, and a paparazzi-bait new romance, she now has plenty of excuses to let it all out. Loudly.