Hailee Steinfeld aiming for solid music career

CEBU, Philippines - Not all is what it seems when it comes to Taylor Swift’s tight-knit squad of gal pals. Just ask Hailee Steinfeld, whose friendship with the Grammy winner first blossomed a couple of years.

 The actress and singer opened up to Seventeen magazine’s September issue, along the way revealing the pair doesn’t hang out that often.

 “I think people think we spend a lot more time together than we actually do!” Steinfeld said. However, the “Pitch Perfect 2” star’s admission isn’t reason to sound the alarm on Swift’s famous friends.

 Hailee then followed up, “She’s amazing, though.”

 Speaking of her support system, Steinfeld is grateful she’s been able to move on from a painful past plagued by constant bullying. In fact, the 19-year-old revealed she went to school every day with a threatening target on her head.

 “There was a period of time where every morning at 7:02, I’d get a prank phone call at my house,” she explained. “That’s how I’d start every day, with a threat saying, ‘Come to school now. We’re going to kick your butt.’”

 To hide from bullies, Hailee says, “So I went to school early and went in the back way. And there would be times when I’d come back to my desk and have hand sanitizer all over my books and in my water bottle. People would come by and slam my locker shut when I was still putting my books in it. It was just the most absurd things that you are supposed to see only in the movies.”

 Despite her hardships, those real life moments helped Steinfeld prepare for her role in “The Edge of Seventeen,” where she plays an awkward teenager living in the shadow of her all-star older brother.

 “This girl goes through experiences I totally went through, where it felt like it was the absolute end of the world,” the Oscar-nominated actress said. “Just having so many moments where you question who you are and what it is that you’re good at and what you feel good in.”

 Moving forward, Hailee says she has her sights set on establishing a solid music career. Her debut single “Love Myself” quickly climbed the charts last year and she most recently teamed up with Zedd and Grey for “Starving.”

 “I want to make the best first album I can possibly make,” Hailee admitted. “And I want to get to a level where I can headline my own arena tour. I know that I can make it happen. It’s just the beginning. I see the future being really big.” (FREEMAN)