The pop anthem Love Myself and raw angst in The Edge Of Seventeen made me a Hailee Steinfeld fan! (Angst comes naturally to me. Have you seen all my rants on Instagram?!) When Fan Expo Canada announced she’s coming to Toronto, I signed up immediately.
I discovered Hailee Steinfeld in the movie Begin Again. Then The Edge Of Seventeen introduced me to Haley Lu Richardson who played Hailee’s best friend and became one of my favourite actors. Hailee was also cast as the lead in Carrie Pilby based on Caren Lissner’s book, but had too many scheduling conflicts.
Hailee recently married Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen and they make quite a power couple! But if you think I caught a glimpse of her wedding ring at Fan Expo, think again.
Our meet and greet was super quick. While waiting in line, staff said that you can’t hug or touch her. Totally understandable – you’re there to make memories not catch germs. Unfortunately, this made it more awkward than previous meet and greets. Usually, you’d put one arm around each other. The instructions to keep a distance made the whole encounter feel stiff, as you can see in our photo. Why did other fans get to stand closer while I felt like I was posing in the pandemic?
Moving through the photo op line at Fan Expo felt even more rushed on Sunday. Hailee had 5x as many fans waiting to meet her compared to my shorter lineups in Toronto for Ben McKenzie and Scott Patterson. Perhaps they should cap the number of fans buying photo ops to ensure you can enjoy it and provide clear instructions. You’d be able to connect with Hailee in a smaller, less chaotic environment but that also sounds impossible.
Considering she’s a fixture at the Met Gala, Hailee shouldn’t have worn an oversized blazer and baggy jeans. I swear by neutral colours for photo ops and her outfit was nice in theory, but her proportions were off. Her clothes made her look much wider, so it was an unflattering choice.
Update (December 2025): Hailee Steinfeld is pregnant! That explains the oversized clothes I mentioned. I didn’t want to start any rumours at the time, but it makes total sense now!
Hailee Steinfeld officially wrapped up Fan Expo Canada 2025 with a Q&A. She struck me as very mature, as reflected in her outfit and responses. Of all her characters, she said that she’s most like Nadine from The Edge Of Seventeen and I loved that. The hard-working actor left fans with the best advice from her A-list co-stars: “Don’t take life too seriously and always have fun!”
Toronto’s only a couple hours from Buffalo, so I hope she comes back soon and wears her hair down next time. She’s probably more silly than stiff behind the scenes!
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