What is Hailee Steinfeld's ethnicity? Here's why her Sinners role was deeply "personal" to her
17 April 2025, 16:53
Hailee Steinfeld has opened up about playing Mary in Sinners and how the role relates to her race and family history.
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If you've watched Sinners you may be wondering if Hailee Steinfeld is really part African-American like her character.
Ryan Coogler's new supernatural horror film Sinners is quickly becoming one of the must-see movies of 2025. Set in the 1930s, Michael B. Jordan plays twin brothers, Smoke and Stack, who return to their hometown to start their own juke joint. However, their plans go awry when they come face to face with actual vampires on their opening night.
In the film, Hailee Steinfeld plays Stack's ex Mary, who is part Black, and Mary's race plays a vital role in the story. Now, Hailee has explained why the multi-racial role mean so much to her "personally" in a candid new interview.
Watch the Sinners trailer
Just like Mary, Hailee Steinfeld has multi-racial heritage. Her dad is Jewish and her mother is mixed race. Hailee's late maternal grandfather, Ricardo Domasin, was half Filipino and half African-American. In Sinners, Mary says one of her grandparents was Black. Sinners is the first time Hailee has played a role that actively explores her own heritage.
Discussing the role and why it meant so much to her, Hailee told People: "It had such an impact on me personally. Therefore, I feel like the least it can do is make an impact on those that watch it. I think it affected all of us so personally and so deeply. I do believe that you feel that and you see that when you watch this movie."
Expanding further on how she relates to the role, Hailee added: "I'm so grateful for the deeply personal connection that each of us have [to the material], mine being with my family history, with my grandfather, who I wish was still here to answer all the questions that I have that making this movie raised."
Separately on Good Morning America, Hailee said: "Part of my research included understanding my own family history a bit better, which I am grateful for."
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