5 Ways Hailee Steinfeld's Best Performance Is In Dickinson (& 5 Why It's Still The Edge Of Seventeen)
Hailee Steinfeld is one of the most exciting young performers working in the film and television industry today. First getting her breakout start with an acclaimed turn in the Coen brothers' True Grit remake, Steinfeld has steadily amassed a repertoire of high-quality roles (she'll next pop up in Disney Plus' Hawkeye series) to pair with her successful music career, as well.
However, there remains some debate over which performance of Steinfeld's is her best. True Grit showed immense promise, but the 2016 film, The Edge of Seventeen, and the Apple TV+ series, Dickinson, have both risen to the top to become the roles most associated with Steinfeld. As such, both have quality arguments for being her best work.
10 Dickinson: What She Does Not Reveal To Others
The cast of Dickinson is an engaging, talented one, but for the most part, Steinfeld's interactions with them as Emily Dickinson reveal very little. She's tasked with keeping a great many personal and intrapersonal secrets from friends and family.
It's not easy to pull off a performance that relies heavily on obfuscation. But Steinfeld manages to act this way with grace and gentility. She makes even the withheld information riveting.
9 The Edge Of Seventeen: More Family Dynamics
As Nadine Franklin in The Edge of Seventeen, though, Steinfeld's performance wouldn't work if she didn't aptly play off the other family members in the film's ensemble cast, like Woody Harrelson.
The family dynamics can be fraught on Dickinson, but there's even more gurgling tension throughout The Edge of Seventeen. Each relationship is different, though, and Steinfeld is able to turn her role in an instant, depending on the recipient of her interactions.
8 Dickinson: Explosive Romance
One character with whom Emily does share her true self (especially by the end of season two), though, is Sue. There are plenty of moving interactions between Emily and Sue, even when she keeps other loved ones at a layer-clad arm's length.
The romance Emily and Sue share is truly explosive and Steinfeld sells every beat of emotion, lust, and love depicted in the series. It takes a lot to get the core and heart of a series correct, but Steinfeld rises to the task of the whole show's trajectory resting upon the performance.
7 The Edge Of Seventeen: A Whole Story In One Line
The best quote from The Edge of Seventeen comes towards the end of the film when Nadine states very simply, "You have a great day, too," to her mother. It's a line that seems basic but tells a whole story of character development in just a few words of harmony and acceptance.
Steinfeld sells the line beautifully. Too many actors would play the moment in a banal manner or try to deliver it with tearful realization. But Steinfeld recognizes the gravity of the moment and marries it to the everyday nature of the character dynamics. It's a beautiful moment that she crushes.
6 Dickinson: Natural Narration
Emily Dickinson also receives the benefit of delivering a number of gorgeous lines, thanks in large part to the fact that the character is reciting some of the greatest poetry ever written, courtesy of the Amherst native.
It's still required that Steinfeld carefully consider her line deliveries here, too, though. Many of the poems are recited as narration, which could come across as cheesy. But there's just enough earnestness and weight in Steinfeld's narration that it feels very naturally woven into the episodes.
5 The Edge Of Seventeen: Impressive With Less Experience
One advantage Steinfeld is pulling from for Dickinson is that she now has roughly a decade of acting experience under her belt. At the time of The Edge of Seventeen, though, she was operating at about half of that - and she still turned in a coming-of-age all-timer.
There are shades of her Edge turn that come through in Dickinson, meaning the latter may owe more to the former. She built her Nadine role out of very little, which makes it all the more impressive.
4 Dickinson: Emotional Interiority
Still, pulling out a performance as Emily Dickinson is not so readily doable as a story about other, more modern authors might be. After all, Dickinson was a famous recluse and any portrayal of her will rely on emotional interiority throughout.
Yet, Steinfeld truly shines when this emotion bursts forth from her being and cascades all over the light-slanted window in her yellow house bedroom. Almost every scene seems to have Emily on the verge of tears and it's through Steinfeld's empathetic performance that it shows as more moving than grating.
3 The Edge Of Seventeen: Coming Of Age In Under Two Hours
On Dickinson, Steinfeld has the advantage of being able to build up the character and learn and grow with her over the course of multiple seasons. For The Edge of Seventeen, though, she had to depict an entire coming-of-age for a character in an hour and forty minutes.
Granted, it's not the first time a performance like that has been done. But it still requires impeccable acting work. Steinfeld creates a wholly lived-in performance that she then has to leave behind when the movie comes out. As authentic as Nadine feels, that's a real achievement.
2 Dickinson: Leading The Series
While The Edge of Seventeen centers around a lead performance by Steinfeld, it's Dickinson that requires her to be much more of an anchor. The movie has an ensemble feel with some truly seasoned veterans. But on Dickinson, it's Steinfeld setting the tone for perhaps the first time in her career.
The empathy and affection oozing from the performances of her other fellow young thespians all stem from the tone and atmosphere she sets at the top. As a producer on Dickinson, too, the show is as much her baby as it is creator Alena Smith's. Her acting proves her to be worthy of this leadership development.
1 The Edge Of Seventeen: Insecure Outcast
Frequently in teen comedies based around outcast characters, it can be easy to go too big with the performance. Actors can follow into archetypal depictions if the script isn't strong enough to support them.
In The Edge of Seventeen, though, not only was the screenplay phenomenal but so was Steinfeld's nuanced portrayal. She rightly played Nadine as an outcast, but as someone who was more insecure than rebellious and still figuring out her life. The high school media box can certainly be constrictive, but Steinfeld never allowed it to rein her in.
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