hey welcome to gold derby i'm
christopher rosen i'm joined by hailee
steinfeld the star
and executive producer of dickinson
second season of which
uh is available now on apple tv plus it
premiered earlier this year
i actually wanted to start there with
you haley uh what did you learn about
playing emily dickinson in season one
that you were excited to maybe explore
further in this season too
ooh well anything and everything i had
come across her poetry in school but i
really didn't know much about her so
um all of the discoveries that i made
about her in season one i was just
of course excited to be in the tv space
and have the opportunity uh
that i have never had before and going
back and really digging a little deeper
into this
into this character into the family
dynamic and into the space and world
that she lives in
um with her poetry being the foundation
of all of that right she didn't move
around much she didn't leave her
uh well she didn't leave her room let
alone her house uh
at all really so um getting into
her mind and and that crazy imagination
of hers right what's so exciting about
this show is we take these
poems that are
four lines sometimes less sometimes just
a few more and and we dig into
what what writing these specific poems
might have looked like
um and that allows me to take a ride in
death's carriage and
find myself at an opera and um going
through all of these
incredible uh what end up being these
really amazing episodes uh
which is has been such a dream but um i
think i was most excited about
going into season two having
won the right to become a writer in
season one
being able to comfortably talk about my
poetry and publishing my poetry and
being a writer in front of my family
um and going into a completely different
headspace of
whether or not i want to then be
published uh and and kind of diving into
this world of like
celebrity culture and this outburst of
technology
uh that that we see in season two um i
was i was excited
to sort of dig into that
yeah i mean like that i think is a
really uh interesting part about this
season obviously so much of it is about
you know that fame for lack of a better
word like you said celebrity culture
and like kind of like i guess emily's
pursuit of that and then also the
repercussions that come
from you know that kind of public
recognition obviously you are you're an
actress you've
been a famous uh for a while i guess how
much of
your own experience were you able to
bring to that arc as you know this
season progressed
so i'll say that you know i had a
uh i don't know if difficult is
necessarily the word
i guess at times a difficult time
understanding
where emily was in season two and and i
realized once it was over if only i'd
realized it sooner
um that it was because i
was sort of close to it and and the
headspace that she was in
in just solely trying to figure out what
fame is and what it means
it's not something i haley have really
put much thought into
um i consider my relationship to fame
healthy
um it's never been it's always been
about the work for me so anything that
kind of comes
along with it is just a bonus
um i'd consider so i
had to think a lot about what she was
thinking and because i didn't have the
answers i felt a little bit lost but
she was right so i guess it worked um
but yeah it was um just digging into
to finding what what again what it means
and where where
i was at and as far as in terms of
bringing my own personal experience i
think it was just
being in a very similar headspace that
she was in that i was able to kind of
you know share yeah yeah you mentioned
like your relationship
with fame is pretty healthy i guess like
was there anything
that you did this like playing her and
going through these things like did it
help
did it did you recontextualize or even
like reconsider
certain things that maybe you hadn't
thought about about being a famous
person i guess
for lack of a better word you know yeah
i mean i think that
in specifically in episode
uh six which is split the lark um
there's a conversation that emily has
with the opera star out of lake may
and and it's a really heartbreaking
conversation that they have
um and i found it to be just that
personally because
you know it wasn't until again there
were moments during this season that i
had these
these realizations and these little um
you know
discoveries that made me um either think
or question or
uh you know become more aware of what
fame might be right or is uh
and in that conversation emily goes from
being so
incredibly moved by this performance by
this person by her voice by
her movement everything about her and
when she hears her say
she looks her in the eye and just says
what city are we in what time is it
where are we i this was that was just an
act that was just a
a performance you know it's it's no
different than it was last night it's no
different than it'll be tomorrow and
there was a crazy moment where i was
just like this is it can get to that
point right where you're going going
going and you don't even know where you
are anymore you don't know what time
zone you're in and
and it's it's a scary thing because you
can get wrapped up in it you can kind of
lose sight of
the goal you can lose sight of your
happiness of who you are um
and that's a thing that happens and and
i i
thankfully have an incredible family and
team of people that kind of keep me on
track but that that i've
my head has wandered my my you know
mind has wandered into those spaces of
just being
so mentally exhausted that you don't
really know
you know you just lose sight um but it
was that it wasn't until that
conversation happened that scene
happened that i kind of had that
that you know those thoughts yeah
the other episode i really i mean i love
the whole season honestly but the other
episode i want to talk a little about
was episode eight
i found that one uh really great i think
it's i'm nobody um
you know emily is uh you're you're
invisible throughout that episode i
i think just from a technical standpoint
i was so impressed with how you're like
not your the characters are not seeing
you and i guess you can talk a little
about the logistics of just even
executing that because i felt like that
was like really well uh
really well done and performed it's like
but obviously like you know it's a
practical thing it's not like a visual
effect so like
you're right about that uh yeah
the first scene we shot of that episode
was the scene where i come down
to the dining room and lavinia and mrs
dickinson are in there and i
um we had not shot any other part of the
episode yet and that was the beginning
of it so
it was truly a moment of it was a much
longer rehearsal than
than normal um because we were trying to
figure out
from a sound perspective the overlap
like how is this not going to totally
screw us over
um and just from a you know practical
standpoint of like these two people are
having a conversation and they're
distracted by the fact that i'm here and
i'm like chiming in and pitching in and
um you know trying to get their
attention when they do it it was a very
strange thing and it took us a minute to
figure out but when we did we were
smooth sailing uh but it was a it was a
it was a weird thing to
first of all imagine right like i
guess there have been times where i mean
for instance this show comes out i would
love to be a fly on the wall in a
screening room right and hear what
people are saying but then it's like do
you really because
it's not all going to be great and and
emily goes through these harsh
realizations of
you know what she's asking for or what
she thinks she wants might not be after
all
um but that was a fun episode shoot yeah
and you mentioned like i mean the
heartbreak
i felt like another like your emily's
relationship with sam i felt like was
also like really i just really enjoyed
that maybe enjoy it's not the right word
but i would really appreciate like
you and finn playing off each other so
well but also like the idea that
you know she kind of falls for him
because he shows an interest in her work
and then the kind of that getting
that rug getting pulled out from under
her i thought that was really
heartbreaking and i think we
you kind of really expressed that so
well in the performance i guess can you
talk a little about like
how you like you know how you thought
about those scenes towards the end of
the season especially and like you know
maybe working
within on those in the in those scenes i
guess i thought they were really good
yeah thank you so much i finn is
wonderful he uh
i always love um now that we're three
seasons into this show when we have
guest stars come on and and
you get to see these people just come
into this world that is already
established and they have to kind of
jump right in or it's a it's a
moving train and if they don't jump on
then they're you know hanging on for
dear life and and it's so amazing to see
these actors come in and just like
hold their own come in bring a new fresh
perspective to the show and a new energy
and it's
it's something finn did so incredibly
well and he really came into the thick
of it
and um brought so much
entry and mystery to this character that
made it so
desirable for emily um there was
something about him that she couldn't
figure out and she was gonna make it her
goal to do so right
and you know the intentions
were in question from both from everyone
involved sue
sam emily um sue towards emily and vice
versa and to say it's all
it's a big triangle um
but it was amazing to play through those
scenes because i think
with emily
being introduced to this person by the
one person that she
absolutely trusts and loves and and
understands and and who sees her for who
she is
she couldn't possibly feel like sue
would ever do anything
to spite her right so she falls into the
lap of this
this man who paints this picture of a
glamorous world of what publishing her
poetry might be like and and he paints
this picture of
you know if you want if you want to do
this i can do this for you and
it you can't do this without me and so
emily is so intrigued by it until
and like you said it gets sort of ripped
out from under her and she falls for
this
this this person and the idea of this
person and what this person has to offer
um
and that happens that happens a lot
right i mean there's a there's a
manipulation
and um a sense of
you know people being
promising when they're when they're not
necessarily and and
there are more than one obstacles as far
as what she's trying to overcome with
this one person uh but i love finn like
i said and he was so awesome to to play
through those scenes with
and then you mentioned sue i mean
obviously the season ends with uh you
know
em and sue kind of like reaching a new
stage of their uh probably relationship
and like you're
like i think you mentioned this earlier
but like they're not really on the same
page throughout most of the season
i guess for season three um you know
like what are like
what are your expectations there i guess
and like what are you guys talking about
for what you're hoping to do in the next
season
well we are very much in the middle of
it um and
oh what can i say i'll say that you know
with ending season two with these
two characters promising themselves to
each other
right and they have all along although
life has
absolutely gotten in the way and this is
somebody
sue is her best friend her lover her
sister-in-law her muse mentor there are
so many different roles that she play
that they play for each other
um that they continue to do so as as
season three goes
on as the show goes on so it's been
wonderful just to be able to come back
and have the opportunity once again to
get into the you know get into a new
dynamic a new
uh a new dickinson you know it's
it's we're at a different point in all
of their lives and um
it's going to be a fun one i'll say yeah
i'm excited for it we're talking today
the oscars are tomorrow
uh so we're here at gold derby i have to
ask you about your oscar nomination it
was 10 years ago i was looking at it so
that's a
right because i remember it like it was
yesterday i was i was i'm sure you did
too i guess i was but i was wondering
like
you know i i read an interview i think
with you at the time where you were like
oh it was like a dream come true to get
nominated for true grit obviously people
are watching this they don't know i
can't imagine they don't but
nominate the best scoring actress one of
the youngest nominees ever i guess has
your
how is your perception of the nomination
or thoughts about it evolved i guess in
the last 10 years as you've kind of
grown up and like gotten
you know become more of an adult and
stuff i guess yeah sure well i will say
you know when i when i
got nominated i
i was very young um i had just finished
my first movie
i all like we shot the thing and it came
out and we ran the press for all of the
awards circuit in one year i mean it was
just
it was a whirlwind to say the least and
i i remember
two things very vividly i didn't know
when
the nominations were being announced i
didn't know the date i didn't know when
it was happening
my team was very great about now looking
back they were really good at like not
making it a a thing
um and
this sorry if this is long-winded but
i'm thinking about it now and all of
these memories are coming back um
but i i do remember overhearing a
conversation
my mom had gotten a call saying that
they wanted me to go
into town and stay at a at a hotel
should i be nominated i can wake up the
next morning and do press right
and my mom was like absolutely not what
do i tell her when it doesn't happen and
we're at that hotel and we have to drive
home right and
and i was like well thank god that
happened right and sure enough the next
morning the announcement was made first
thing and i again still didn't know it
was coming so it came as
a tremendous surprise and and what an
incredible one um
and i got there and one of the first
sort of interviews that i did somebody
had said to me
uh do you know that your title has
forever changed and i truly
did not understand what they meant i i
absolutely did that thing that i did in
90 of my interviews when i was 14 where
i just was like
and i acted like i knew what they were
talking about when i didn't and um
and obviously shortly after i knew what
she was talking about and
i will say it's an absolute honor
at the highest honor um but i'll say
after shooting this season season two of
dickinson
um i do think i i have realized
more that and i'll say sorry too that
that
during that time i made this movie with
people who who do it for the the art and
for the work and to better themselves as
artists and and to make a great
piece of cinema um for no other reason
and and
it just so happens to be that they're so
damn good that it happens every time
they make a film
um but it wasn't it was never a thing to
me that it was like this is something
you have to be
this is the goal here right we got to
get nominated for at least this amount
or you have to do this
or whatever it was never part of a
conversation and it was never
anything that i felt pressured uh about
or stressed about
um but i think now having
gone 10 years uh since then and and
having continued to work with incredible
people i've i've realized that
it's still about the work it's still
about going every day and being the best
performer and learning and asking
questions and never
um being afraid to ask questions or or
be ashamed of not knowing the answers i
think i'm i'm just getting started i
i do remember it like it was yesterday i
can't believe it's been 10 years but
um i i i'm so grateful to
be in a place where my work is being
recognized because here i'm
playing a character who in her lifetime
wasn't and
i i am incredibly incredibly grateful
for the for that for that honor it's a
it's a real privilege to to be in this
position
um to have a voice and have a platform
but uh but yeah i don't know i think
it's my my take on it hasn't altered in
that i do still
feel very strongly that it's it's it's
the work for me it's about the work
the last thing here before i wrap up and
i know we have to go you mentioned like
the work and i was
i mean i've been thinking like obviously
just prepping for this and like thinking
about all this
you're you're done so many things i feel
like even since like true grit like
different genres different like you know
obviously you're gonna be in hawkeye you
did the voice and spider first like
dickinson i feel like you have done so
much comedy like edge17 i guess is there
you know talking about the art and the
work is there something what are you
excited to do in the next
you know couple of years uh that you
haven't done or is there something like
you know from as an actress that you're
like
you know like really excited to try like
either a genre of film or something like
that because i just feel like you're so
my impression of you is that you're
really versatile and like you're able to
do
just a lot of different things really
really well and i think that's kind of
rare so i guess like what are you hoping
to do next or is it just going to be
more
will you have more uh you know hawkeye
or dickinson season 4 hopefully or
whatever it is
maybe um you know i have to say i i feel
so excited about entering a new phase in
my life if that makes sense
um as i as i get older
you know the roles are naturally
changing and
um there's a whole world of roles that i
haven't even been introduced to because
uh you know i i'm not there yet and i'm
getting there and i'm so excited about
that and and
you know genre wise i never thought i'd
be in a western and after that i never
thought i would be doing a sci-fi so
as far as the trajectory and genres i i
couldn't have dreamt of a better way for
all of those to have fallen into place
the way they did
um so i just can't wait to see what the
future holds i
i feel so lucky i get to work with so
many incredible filmmakers and
writers writers um that are creating
these
these roles but again i i'm looking
forward to like this next
the next 10 years because i think a lot
um
a lot is changing uh in film and
television a lot's changing for me
personally and
um i feel like i'm you know growing and
improving and um i i again feel like i'm
i'm so fired up i'm just getting started
so i i'm looking forward to what's
what's coming for me what's out there
nice uh hailee steinfeld the star of
dickinson season two is on apple tv plus
thank you so much kelly for doing this
really appreciate it
thanks christopher thank you see you
soon