Hailee Steinfeld Parents: Everything to Know About Peter and Cheri Steinfeld

Hailee Steinfeld has spent much of her life in the entertainment industry, but behind her successful career is a family that has remained remarkably close. Her parents, Peter and Cheri Steinfeld, supported her long before True Grit turned their teenage daughter into an Oscar-nominated actress.

Peter built his career as a personal trainer, while Cheri worked in interior design and eventually became Hailee’s manager. Together, they helped their daughter navigate an industry that can be especially difficult for young performers.

Hailee has often made it clear that her achievements are connected to the sacrifices made by her parents and her older brother, Griffin. Her family encouraged her ambitions, but they also made sure she understood that becoming an actress would require patience and real work.

That combination of support and discipline helped shape Hailee from an ambitious California kid into an actress, singer and producer with a career spanning more than 15 years.

Who Are Hailee Steinfeld’s Parents?

Hailee Steinfeld’s parents are Peter Steinfeld and Cheri Steinfeld.

Peter and Cheri married on May 24, 1992. Their first child, Griffin Steinfeld, was born on January 9, 1994. Hailee followed on December 11, 1996.

The family raised their children in California, where Hailee eventually became interested in acting after seeing a cousin working in entertainment.

Her parents did not simply send her to auditions immediately.

When Hailee approached her mother about acting, Cheri wanted her daughter to understand what she was getting into. Hailee was required to study acting for about a year before being allowed to seriously pursue professional opportunities.

That decision says a lot about the way Peter and Cheri approached their daughter’s career. They supported the dream, but they expected preparation to come first.

Who Is Hailee Steinfeld’s Mother Cheri?

Cheri Steinfeld has followed several career paths during her life.

Before becoming an interior designer, she earned a cosmetology license. She later realized that cosmetology was not the career she wanted and went on to work as a flight attendant.

It was during this broader period of her life that she met Peter.

Marriage and creating a home together eventually sparked Cheri’s interest in interior design. Decorating her own house introduced her to an area that became a more serious professional interest.

Her career later took another turn when Hailee entered entertainment.

Cheri became her daughter’s manager and has remained closely involved with Hailee’s professional life.

That means their relationship has operated on two levels for years. Cheri is Hailee’s mother, but she has also helped her handle the business side of a complicated Hollywood career.

Cheri Has Managed Hailee’s Career

Working professionally with a parent can create complications, but Hailee has spoken positively about having her mother as her manager.

She has described Cheri as somebody who understands her better than almost anyone and, most importantly, somebody she completely trusts.

That trust was particularly valuable because Hailee entered Hollywood so young.

She was still a child when she started appearing in commercials and short films. By the time True Grit arrived, she was suddenly dealing with international attention, interviews and major awards events.

Cheri had been there before that success existed.

Unlike a traditional manager who might enter the picture after an actor becomes valuable commercially, Cheri’s connection with Hailee was never based on celebrity.

Hailee has said there are very few disadvantages to working with her mother and has described Cheri as both her manager and best friend.

Who Is Hailee Steinfeld’s Father Peter?

Peter Steinfeld built a career around health and fitness.

After moving to California in 1978, he studied business and nutrition at California State University, Northridge.

He later created his own personal training company, Better Shape-Up.

Over the years, Peter developed an impressive list of clients. His professional background reportedly included working with well-known entertainers such as Madonna, Glenn Frey, Ozzy Osbourne and Larry David.

His daughter eventually became one of his clients as well.

Hailee has turned to Peter when she needs to reach particular fitness goals for movies, touring or physically demanding roles.

Their training relationship can apparently become quite different from their normal father-daughter dynamic.

When serious preparation begins, Peter switches from supportive dad to professional trainer.

Peter Helped Hailee Prepare for Hawkeye

One of the clearest examples of Peter’s influence on Hailee’s career came when she prepared to play Kate Bishop in Hawkeye.

The Marvel role required much more than memorizing dialogue.

Kate Bishop is a skilled archer and fighter, meaning Hailee needed extensive physical preparation before filming.

Peter helped her train before production began.

Father and daughter spent months working on different fighting styles, hand-to-hand combat and exercises designed to strengthen the muscles needed for archery.

Once Hailee began taking archery lessons, their training became even more specific.

Peter’s experience meant Hailee did not have to look far for somebody who understood how to prepare her body for a demanding action role.

It also gave them another opportunity to combine their professional and family lives.

Peter Steinfeld Has Acting Experience Too

Interestingly, Hailee is not the only Steinfeld who has appeared on television.

Peter has a small collection of acting credits of his own.

He appeared in several episodes of Married… with Children and also had individual television appearances in shows including Happy Days, Sisters and Curb Your Enthusiasm.

His acting career was never comparable to the path Hailee eventually followed, but it gave him some familiarity with being around television productions.

Peter later appeared briefly in one of his daughter’s music videos.

In Hailee’s 2017 video for “Most Girls,” he can be seen coaching her during a boxing sequence.

It was a small appearance but a fitting one, considering his real-life career as a trainer.

Hailee’s Parents Made Her Prepare for Hollywood

Hailee became interested in acting when she was around eight years old.

Seeing her cousin get involved in entertainment helped spark that curiosity.

Cheri was willing to let her daughter explore the industry, but she did not want acting to become something Hailee entered without understanding the work involved.

Hailee spent considerable time learning before her career began moving forward.

She initially worked in print modeling and signed with a print agent before her acting opportunities became more serious.

Small roles and short films followed.

Then came True Grit.

Hailee’s performance as Mattie Ross earned widespread praise and an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

She was suddenly one of Hollywood’s most talked-about young performers.

The preparation Cheri had insisted upon made considerably more sense once the scale of Hailee’s career changed almost overnight.

Hailee Has an Older Brother, Griffin

Peter and Cheri are parents to two children.

Their eldest, Griffin Steinfeld, was born in 1994, making him almost three years older than Hailee.

Griffin followed a very different professional path from his sister.

He has been involved in race car driving and has also operated a solar panel cleaning business.

Despite having different careers, Griffin and Hailee remain extremely close.

Hailee has said their relationship has grown stronger as they have gotten older.

Griffin has also been part of the family support system that helped keep Hailee grounded while she spent her teenage years navigating an unusually public career.

Hailee Credits Her Family for Keeping Her Grounded

Hailee has never presented her success as something she achieved entirely alone.

She has repeatedly acknowledged the role played by Peter, Cheri and Griffin.

Her family remained a constant presence as she moved from True Grit into projects including Pitch Perfect, The Edge of Seventeen, Bumblebee, Dickinson, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Hawkeye.

Music added another demanding part of her career.

Through all of those changes, Hailee has said her family kept her grounded and made sacrifices that allowed her to pursue opportunities.

She has also connected her confidence and ability to speak up for herself with the women in her family, particularly her mother and grandmother.

Cheri’s combination of motherhood and business experience appears to have made a lasting impression on her daughter.

Peter and Cheri Remain Proud of Their Daughter

The relationship between Hailee and her parents appears to have remained close even as her life changed dramatically.

Peter has publicly celebrated his daughter’s achievements and the person she became beyond acting and music.

For her 27th birthday, he shared a particularly affectionate message expressing pride in the strong and talented woman she had become.

Hailee has returned that appreciation many times.

She has credited both parents with helping her become the person she is today and has spoken openly about how much their sacrifices meant.

That relationship may be one reason Hailee successfully moved beyond the child-star stage of her career.

Her parents supported the opportunities but also provided a stable world outside them.

Hailee Steinfeld’s Family Remains Her Foundation

Peter and Cheri Steinfeld played very different professional roles, but both became important influences on Hailee’s career.

Cheri went from cosmetology and working as a flight attendant to interior design and eventually managing her daughter. Peter built a career as a personal trainer and later used that experience to help Hailee prepare for physically demanding projects.

Their eldest child, Griffin, followed his own interests while maintaining a close relationship with his younger sister.

Together, the Steinfeld family provided the structure behind Hailee’s unusually early rise in Hollywood.

Her parents did not discourage an eight-year-old girl who dreamed about acting, but they also did not make success seem effortless. Cheri required preparation, Peter encouraged discipline, and the entire family remained involved as Hailee’s ambitions became a real career.

Years after True Grit introduced her to a global audience, Hailee still credits Peter, Cheri and Griffin as some of the most important people behind everything she has accomplished.