Hailee Steinfeld says playing poet Emily Dickinson made her a more “fearless” songwriter

David M. Russell | Walt Disney DTCIHailee Steinfeld says playing 19th century poet Emily Dickinson in the new Apple TV+ series Dickinson helped inspire her new music.

During her appearance on Live with Kelly and Ryan Thursday, the singer/actress says doing a deep dive into Dickinson’s work made her more fearless when it comes to her songwriting.

“One thing about Emily’s poetry is that…she doesn’t stick to any rules,” Hailee says. “And I love that because, you know, I think there’s this sort of daunting feeling when it comes to writing a poem or writing poetry — like, you have to live up to some expectation. And she just said what was on her mind. And that’s what I try and do when it comes to songwriting.”

In fact, as soon as the show wrapped filming, Hailee went right back into the studio in L.A.

“I feel like I have this more fearless approach to my writing after embodying this character, which I am really excited for people to hear the outcome,” she says.

Hailee’s already released a new song from the show, called “Afterlife (Dickinson),” which was inspired by themes of Emily Dickinson’s poems, including death and mortality.

Dickinson debuts on Apple TV+ on November 1.

Copyright © 2019, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.