Hailee Steinfeld Says Sinners Reconnected Her to Her Black and Filipino Roots
Hollywood’s latest supernatural
thriller Sinners is stirring up more than just critical buzz. For
actress and singer Hailee Steinfeld, the film has ignited a profoundly personal
and emotional journey that has left her stunned, introspective, and longing for
answers from a past she never fully explored until now.
The Oscar-nominated actress, best
known for her powerful performances in The Edge of Seventeen and
True Grit, as well as her voice role in the Spider-Verse films,
is revealing a side of herself that we have never seen. And it’s all because of
a story rooted in blood, history, and untold truths.
A
Character That Shattered the Surface
In Sinners, Steinfeld plays
Mary, a fiercely intelligent and emotionally haunted woman caught in the middle
of a brutal conflict in 1930s Mississippi where vampires prey on an isolated
town already suffocating under the weight of racism and generational trauma.
The film, directed by visionary
filmmaker Ryan Coogler, takes a bold approach by mixing horror and history,
blood and legacy, fear and identity. But for Steinfeld, the terror wasn’t just
on screen.
“I’m so grateful for the deeply
personal connection that each of us have [to the material],” Steinfeld said in
a recent interview. “Mine being with my family history, with my grandfather,
who I wish was still here to answer all the questions that I have that this
movie raised for me and making this movie raised.”
Her voice cracked as she shared
those words, echoing the weight of discovery. This was no ordinary acting role.
This was something else. This was about family. About legacy. About race. And
about roots.
An
Ancestry She Never Fully Knew
What many fans may not realize is that
Hailee Steinfeld’s maternal grandfather, Ricardo Domasin, was the son of a
Filipino father from Panglao, Bohol, and an African American mother from
California. Steinfeld grew up knowing pieces of this identity, but the reality
of her background remained something of a myster, untill now.
Filming Sinners became a
mirror that reflected questions she had never dared to ask. “This movie brought
me closer to my roots in ways I never expected,” she admitted. “It gave me a
hunger to understand where I come from. My grandfather’s life, the struggles he
faced, the cultures he carried I feel like I’m only now beginning to comprehend
what that truly means.”
She confessed that her grandfather
rarely spoke in detail about his experience, and now that he is gone, those
unanswered questions have become both a wound and a motivator.
A
Haunted Set and a Haunted Soul
According to multiple cast members,
the set of Sinners carried a chilling energy that often blurred the line
between fiction and emotional truth. For Steinfeld, some scenes left her in
tears. Others forced her to take long solitary walks to collect herself.
“Filming some of those scenes… I
couldn’t help but think of my grandfather,” she said. “There were moments when
it didn’t feel like acting. It felt like I was speaking for someone. For him.
For generations.”
She added, “There were days I walked
off set and cried not because I was scared of the horror, but because the
history felt so real. The pain. The resilience. The silence.”
Rediscovering
Her Voice Through Music
Adding another layer to her
performance, Steinfeld also contributed an original track to the film’s
haunting soundtrack. The song, titled “Dangerous,” marks her return to music
after stepping away for several years.