Hailee Steinfeld: Travel has educated me

Hailee Steinfeld sees the world as her classroom.

The 18-year-old actress started being home schooled after she appeared in 2010's True Grit and has appeared in many films since then, such as Begin Again, Romeo and Juliet and Pitch Perfect 2. Her career means she travels a lot, which Hailee believes makes up for not being in a traditional learning environment.

"I haven't even graduated from high school yet – and I've realised in the last four years, with all the travelling I've done and all of the movies I've made, that the world is my classroom. I've experienced things I don't know you can necessarily get from reading a history book," she told British newspaper The Independent.

That doesn't mean the star puts no emphasis on education though. She realises how important it is and would like to go to university at some point, but doesn't think that's realistic at the moment.

"I would love to pursue that when I'm in a place where I can give myself to an education for four years – because I do find that balancing school and work is like working two full-time jobs. It's not easy," she explained.

Hailee realises how lucky she is, not just because of her job but also due to her family. Her parents have supported her in all she has done, just as they did her brother, who is a racing driver.

"I think there's a lot of pressure: 'Where are you going to college and what are you going to study' In my community that's a big thing with the parents. The difference in my family, I think, is that my parents always supported my brother and I 100 per cent with what we wanted to do – and luckily we found something that we're decently good at that makes us happy," she smiled.