After watching Sinners, I’m so excited to see what future movies Hailee Steinfeld chooses to appear in. In addition to Steinfeld, the cast of Sinners includes Michael B. Jordan, Jack O’Connell, Wunmi Mosaku, Li Jun Li, and the film also features a breakout performance from Miles Caton. Because of its exceptional cast and its thematically rich story, reviews for Sinners have been incredible, with Screen Rant’s own Mae Abdulbaki giving it a score of 9 out of 10. While I love the entire cast of the film, Steinfeld is definitely someone who stood out the most to me in Sinners.
In Sinners, Steinfeld plays Mary, a woman who returns to Mississippi following the death of her mother and eventually gets bitten and turned into a vampire. Mary is actually one of the few characters who technically survives to the end of Sinners, which is great since Steinfeld is so exceptional in the role. Before Sinners, Hailee Steinfeld’s best movies included True Grit, The Edge of Seventeen, and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. However, I don’t think it’s crazy to claim that Sinners is now potentially the best movie of Steinfeld’s career.
Sinners Is A Completely Different Type Of Role For Hailee Steinfeld
Sinners’ Mary Is A More Mature Role For Steinfeld
Steinfeld is an actress who rose to fame at a very young age. She was only 13 years old when she was cast in 2010’s True Grit, which was directed by the Coen brothers. Because she started her career in Hollywood at such a young age, Steinfeld has mostly played teenagers or young adults in her most popular movies and TV shows. For example, she plays a teenager in The Edge of Seventeen, Bumblebee, and animated projects such as the Spider-Verse movies. Because of this, she is mostly ᴀssociated with coming-of-age-type roles.
However, Steinfeld plays an adult woman in Sinners, which allows her to showcase a different side of herself. In the Ryan Coogler-directed horror movie, it is surprising how vulgar Steinfeld’s character is. In her first scene, Mary tells Stack exactly what she thinks of him, and is not afraid to mention some of the things they have done together. Then, once she becomes a vampire, Mary uses her Sєxuality to seduce and eventually turn Stack. Audiences are not used to seeing Steinfeld’s characters act like this, which suggests that Sinners is the start of a new chapter in her career.
Hailee Steinfeld’s Great Dramatic Performance In Sinners Shouldn’t Be A Surprise
Steinfeld Is A Critically Acclaimed Actor
Steinfeld impressed me in practically every one of her scenes in Sinners. However, I probably shouldn’t have been so surprised by her performance. After all, she is still one of the youngest Oscar nominees of all time. Steinfeld earned an Oscar nomination in the Best Supporting Actress category for her role in the aforementioned True Grit, which is quite a mature movie. In True Grit, Steinfeld plays Mattie Ross, a young girl who hires a lawman to help her get revenge for the death of her father.
Steinfeld should be the lead character in more films in the future.
Other than True Grit and Sinners, Steinfeld hasn’t starred in a lot of mature movies and TV shows. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, though, as she has still appeared in plenty of amazing projects. For example, even though The Edge of Seventeen is undoubtedly a comedic coming-of-age movie, it still garnered incredible reviews and features a great leading performance from Steinfeld. In fact, The Edge of Seventeen actually proves that Steinfeld should be the lead character in more films in the future.
Furthermore, Steinfeld also led the cast of Dickinson, which ran on Apple TV+ for three seasons from 2019 to 2021. Similar to The Edge of Seventeen, Dickinson also blends comedy and drama, and proves that Steinfeld excels in a leading role. In the series, Steinfeld plays acclaimed writer Emily Dickinson, who explores things such as society, gender, relationships, and family in the 19th century.
Sinners Proves Hailee Steinfeld Needs More Roles Like Mary
Steinfeld Should Play More Mature Women In Future Movies
From all the aforementioned projects, it is clear that Steinfeld is an incredible actor. However, after Sinners, I hope that she is able to pursue more mature roles. Throughout her career, Steinfeld has starred in several different franchises and many comedy films. It has been amazing to watch her excel in major franchises like Transformers, the MCU, and the Spider-Verse series. However, it is also possible that these franchises have held her back from pursuing more mature roles.
Oftentimes, actors can garner a reputation for playing a specific type of character. Since Steinfeld rose to prominence when she was quite young, it’s possible that studios still view her as someone who is best suited to play teenagers. However, Steinfeld’s role in Sinners could definitely change people’s perception of her. Since its release, Sinners has been a huge critical and box office success, and looks like it is bound to be one of the best movies of the year. Therefore, Sinners will very likely open up many new possibilities for Steinfeld moving forward.
Hailee Steinfeld’s Future After Sinners Is Bright
The Next Chapter Of Steinfeld’s Career Starts Now
Following Sinners, it is obvious that Steinfeld will continue to star in critically acclaimed and popular projects. However, she surprisingly doesn’t have many projects lined up after her recent horror film. In fact, the only upcoming movie featuring Steinfeld that has been announced is Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, which is currently scheduled to be released in 2027. Additionally, Steinfeld will also definitely reprise her role as Kate Bishop in the MCU at some point. It’s possible that she will appear in either 2026’s Avengers: Doomsday or 2027’s Avengers: Secret Wars.
The post-credits scene of Sinners suggests that Steinfeld could also appear in a sequel, but Ryan Coogler has admitted that he hasn’t thought that much about making a follow-up film.
Other than movies that are part of these mᴀssive superhero franchises, Steinfeld doesn’t have any other film roles lined up. In my opinion, this is actually a good thing, since it means she will likely be available to star in more mature films following the success of Sinners. After watching her in Sinners, it’s likely that studio executives and casting directors will seek her out for more mature films. This means that Sinners truly could be the start of a new chapter for Steinfeld’s career, which could see her play more complex characters in the coming years.
