Sundance First-Timer Hailee Steinfeld Thinks Park City Is "Crazy" But "Cool"

With its gorgeous mountains, quaint Main Street, and local haunts, Park City seems like it would be a super chill place to be. Not during the Sundance Film Festival, though—a.k.a. the one time a year this cute town completely transforms into a mini Hollywood. Even the stars feel it. Hailee Steinfeld could hardly believe the scene, she told us when she stopped by our pop-up portrait studio at the Grey Goose Blue Door Lounge on Friday.

“Everything has been crazy so far,” said the 18-year-old, who’s at the fest making the rounds for her flick Ten Thousand Saints, which co-stars Emile Hirsch and Oscar nominee Ethan Hawke. “From sitting on the plane to the airport to getting around, there are just so many people!”

But she knew what she was getting into. “I’ve been warned about Sundance,” she said. “Everyone told me it’s crazy, it’s mayhem, it’s chaos. But, at the same time, there’s something so cool about just feeling like you belong to a community and I’ve really felt that here. I haven’t even been here that long, but that’s a really cool feeling.”

So, what’s her Sundance survival strategy? “Drink a lot of water, get a lot of sleep, eat a lot of food. Do your own thing.” Well, that’s pretty great advice for life in general, so we’re going to follow her lead!