-

What an end to 2018 for Hailee Steinfeld! Not only does she voice Spider-Gwen in the recently released and already beloved Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, but now she also headlines one of the strongest installments of the Transformers film franchise, Bumblebee. The movie takes place in 1987 and Steinfeld steps in as a teenager named Charlie. After suffering a family tragedy, Charlie is having a tough time fitting in and feeling like herself. She cherishes her memories of working on old cars in the garage with her father so she's thrilled to finally get the opportunity to fix up a car of her very own. And it just so happens that that car is a beaten-up yellow VW bug.

Steinfeld is electric from start to finish in Bumblebee but one of the stand-out components of the movie is the chemistry she shares with Bumblebee, an astonishing achievement given how often Steinfeld had to act opposite nothing. With Bumblebee rolling into theaters nationwide on December 21st, I got the opportunity to talk with Steinfeld about being part of two major franchises with dedicated fanbases, the truly incredible time she had making Bumblebee, and more. You can hear about all of that in the interview at the top of this article and for more on the making of the movie, click here for my conversation with director Travis Knight.

Here’s the official synopsis for Bumblebee:

On the run in the year 1987, Bumblebee finds refuge in a junkyard in a small Californian beach town. Charlie (Hailee Steinfeld), on the cusp of turning 18 and trying to find her place in the world, discovers Bumblebee, battle-scarred and broken. When Charlie revives him, she quickly learns this is no ordinary, yellow VW bug.

 

Paramount Pictures Corporation (PPC), a major global producer and distributor of filmed entertainment, is a unit of Viacom (NASDAQ: VIAB, VIA), home to premier global media brands that create compelling television programs, motion pictures, short-form content, apps, games, consumer products, social media experiences, and other entertainment content for audiences in more than 180 countries.