Hailee Steinfeld
Photo: Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic
Before Hailee Steinfeld took the stage at the 16th annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards on Friday evening (January 14) to collect her prize in the Best Young Actor/Actress category , she chatted with MTV News about a story aside from her breakout performance in “True Grit.”
A few weeks ago, Steinfeld told J-14 magazine that “Glee” star Lea Michele had snubbed her during an encounter, going so far as to make her cry. When we caught up with her, we had to get to the bottom of the story. “When I auditioned for ‘True Grit,’ I was on the Paramount lot, and that’s where they film ‘Glee,’ and I saw her after my audition and I was wearing, like, 1800 [period clothing],” Steinfeld recalled, adding, “It was so embarrassing.” The 14-year-old breakout actress went on to say, “I saw her, and I went up to ask her for an autograph, and it was just really bad timing, and I was so embarrassed because of what I was wearing. The only thoughts that were going through my head were, ‘Oh my God, Lea Michele thinks I’m a total freak.’ ” Still, Steinfeld is keeping a positive attitude about the whole thing, assuring fans, “Everything is totally fine.” Since then, the story has been reported as a “misunderstanding” and that it was actually a PA, not Michele (who had another snub story go viral, when it was reported that she was openly rude to photographer Patrick McMullen at 2010′s Time 100 event), who had turned Steinfeld away. Nevertheless, the “Glee” star (who ultimately apologized to McMullen via Twitter) released a statement to GossipCop that read, “I heard Hailee was upset and feel terrible. The Glee schedule is so jam-packed that the PA probably pulled me so that I wouldn’t be late to set. I never meant to hurt her feelings. She’s an extraordinary talent and I look forward to meeting her one day.
