Hailee Steinfeld Opens Up About Her ‘Break from Music’ – ryan

Hailee Steinfeld is dipping her toes back into the music world — and opening up about why she left in the first place.

The 28-year-old actress/singer, who stars in the upcoming action-thriller Sinnersalso sang a song for its soundtrack called “Dangerous.” It marks her first release since 2023 — and she’s excited about it, to say the least.

“I had taken a bit of a break from music, which was a very difficult decision to make, but I wanted to focus on my acting,” Steinfeld told Collideradding that she “was happy to be doing that.”

“It goes without saying, but… music is a love of mine and a huge passion and something that has played a very strong role in my life in more ways than one,” the star continued, “and having had the opportunity to make music through the years of my own is something I will never take for granted.”

The “Love Myself” singer is not only excited to return to music, she’s also excited about being part of the 1930s-set vampire flick — which stars Michael B. Jordan in a dual role as twin brothers — because of how integral music is to it, she told Collider.

“I felt so, so lucky to be a part of a movie like Sinners where music is such a huge part of it,” she told the outlet. “This is the dream — for me to be acting in a film that is so driven and moved by music. I was able to open the door again to work on something that I’m very, very, very excited about and can’t wait to share more with people.”

“It’s been a long time,” the Edge of Seventeen actress added, “and I didn’t realize how much I missed it.”

In the same interview, Steinfeld also opened up about how crucial music was to forming her Sinners character Mary — a bold love interest to Stack, one of the twins portrayed by Jordan, 38 — and specifically, how she handles the grief from losing her mother.

“She will never not grieve the loss of her mother, but she’s looking for that sense of comfort that you do when you lose someone. In this case, it’s the music,” she said of her character. “Mary says (to Stack), ‘I’m not here to see you — I’m here for the blues. I’m here to hear my mom. I’m here to hear the thing that’s gonna bring me closer to her right now. I’m not here for any other reason.’”

Added Steinfeld: “The music is her home. The music is her safe space.”

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After releasing her last single (pre-Sinners), “SunKissing,” Steinfeld chatted with PEOPLE about growing up in the film and music industries — plus, what the future holds for her in both.

Coming off of her Apple TV+ series Dickinsonwhich ran from 2019 to 2021, she said she “was inspired by” titular poet Emily Dickinson’s “ability to write anything and everything.”

“She wrote knowing that no one would ever see it,” the star added, “and I feel like that’s the way you have to do it.”

At the time, the “Most Girls” musician also expressed a desire to dive further into other creative roles outside of singer and actress.

“I would love to produce more,” Steinfeld said. “I would also love to direct, but I think that would be later down the line. I really just want to act a ton.”