Hailee Steinfeld: 'Hollywood is creating better female characters'
Actress Hailee Steinfeld is confident she will benefit from the current push to create better roles for women in the movie industry.
Hailee, 19, who was nominated for an Oscar at the tender age of 13 for her role in the Coen Brothers' film True Grit, and stars in hotly anticipated coming of age drama The Edge of Seventeen.
Written and directed by Kelly Fremon Craig, The Edge of Seventeen
has earned rave early reviews since debuting at the Toronto
International Film Festival last month (Sep16).
And the star believes she gets more opportunities to play meaty
roles than previous generations of actresses as movies are
beginning to feature more integral female parts.
"Female characters are beginning to have more of a say in the
meaning of the film," she tells the BBC. "They're not just a love
interest or a sidekick or a best friend.
"It feels like these female characters are more empowering and
they're more meaningful and they have important things to say that
need to be heard.
"For me, anyway, it's a movement that's been happening for a while
and I'm lucky to be a part of it."
A number of major female Hollywood stars have spoken out about
equality in film in recent years including Jennifer Lawrence, Reese
Witherspoon and Emily Blunt.
Reese has even gone so far as to take control of her own production
company, Pacific Standard, in order to promote more female-led
movie projects.
The Edge of Seventeen, in which Hailee stars as a troubled
teenager, goes on general release next month (Nov16).