Hailee Steinfeld Essentials

Plenty of singers become actors and plenty of actors become singers, but few achieve the synergy of Hailee Steinfeld: The LA native has seen success in both, often at the same time, sometimes in the same role. After being nominated for an Academy Award for her debut role in 2010’s True Grit, she appeared in several major dramas (Ender’s Game, Romeo & Juliet) before joining the playful a cappella picture Pitch Perfect 2. It was there that Steinfeld discovered she had a serious voice, and transformed into a pop star nearly overnight. Her sound, sleek and subversive, wraps big, cheerful pop melodies in unexpected packaging: “Starving” featuring Zedd falls somewhere between folk ballad and pop banger, and “Let Me Go” pairs Alesso’s boisterous EDM inflections with country crooning from Florida Georgia Line.