Hailee Steinfeld on 'Marie Claire' cover

FILIPINA/AMERICAN actress Hailee Steinfeld is the cover model for Marie Claire magazine's February issue.

Her interview covers a wide range of subjects, including her first crush, favorite TV show but her eyes light up when the subject turns to her music.

“As an actor, I’m masked by characters, protected by them. But as a musician, it’s my story, my voice, my face,” she explains. “It’s me on that stage talking about that horrible experience I went through and [saying,] ‘Here, I’m going to sing about it.’ It’s such a different kind of vulnerable. To connect with fans, there’s pressure in feeling like I have to do things that I’m uncomfortable with, in terms of opening up enough about myself.”

It seems that she's been around forever, but she's only 21. She broke onto the scene with her Oscar-nominated role in True Grit when she was only 14.

The busy actress/singer followed up her role in The Edge of Seventeen, for which she earned a Golden Globes nomination for best actress, with a singing role in Pitch Perfect 3, which is in the theaters now. She is finishing work on Bumblebee, the Transformers movie due out December 2018.

Here are some more tidbits from her interview, courtesy of a Marie Claire preview:

On being in love:

“I’m trying to protect myself and have a bit of a guard up, but I also want to fall in love and know why love hurts.”

On advice she'd give to her younger self:

“Listen to yourself. So many people will try and steer you in a certain direction—not saying that that’s the wrong direction at all—but you have to know what’s right for you. Trust yourself, follow your heart, and do what makes you happy. Don’t forget to live for yourself.”

On using her platform for good:

“I’ve worked hard and gotten to a place where I have a voice: How can I use it? What can I, as a human, as an artist, do?”

The Marie Claire February issue will be on the stands Tuesday, Feb. 9. 
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