Hailee Steinfeld reflects on Filipino-Black heritage for 'Sinners' role

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January 13, 2026 | 11:51am

MANILA, Philippines — Oscar-nominated actress Hailee Steinfeld looked back at her Filipino-Black heritage as a pivotal part of her role in Ryan Coogler's "Sinners."

Hailee portrays Mary, the former flame of one of Michael B. Jordan's two characters. Mary is part-Black from her mother's side but passes as white, though she has personal ties to the Black community.

The line Mary threads in "Sinners" is touched upon especially as she is the first major character turned into a vampire, who in the film are portrayed by Irishman Remnick (Jack O'Connell) and a married Klansmen couple.

In an interview with the New York Times, Hailee discussed how the role of Mary made her think of her maternal grandfather Ricardo Domasin, a Filipino and African-American born in Panglao, Bohol.

"I feel like I've been on the doorstep of this for a long time and this character is what pushed me to sort of truly live in myself," Hailee told the American newspaper.

Hailee shared to writer Brian Josephs that she has always been proud of her family history, but her character Mary gave her the opportunity to look into it deeper.

Related: Fil-Am Hailee Steinfeld recalls 1st meeting with 'Sinners' director Ryan Coogler

"One of the most difficult parts of this for me was not having my main connection to this character and her history, my grandfather, here and alive to call him up and ask him questions," she added.

The part-Filipino actress admitted that she has a long list of questions to ask her Filipino grandfather if she was given the chance to talk to him.

"I certainly would have asked him more about his personal experiences," she continued. "Just how he was able to maneuver, and how he was able to get to a place of feeling proud, knowing that probably wasn't something he felt, hard to say, maybe the majority of his life."

The actress also said there were people who for a long time, like Mary, "wake up every day and have to make this decision of where to live in this gray area and have to live unapologetically in that because they've chosen the life that they've chosen."

"Sinners" won Best Original Score and the Cinematic and Box Office Achievement award at yesterday's Golden Globes and is considered a frontrunner in this year's Academy Awards in March. 

RELATED: Fil-Am Hailee Steinfeld praises 'Sinners' composer Ludwig Goransson