In Dickinson Season 2, Emily may finally have a shot at fame. The sophomore season picks up as Sue urges Emily to accept an offer from The Springfield Republican editor Samuel Bowles, leading Emily to confront the idea of actually becoming a published poet -- and what kind of impact that could have on her comfortable life in Amherst, Massachusetts.
Speaking to CBR, Dickinson star Hailee Steinfeld broke down Emily's Season 2 conflict and how it led her to challenge her own view of fame. She discussed why Emily's passion for writing fascinates her, as well as how the show explores "what it means to be alive." She also teased Emily's upcoming predicaments, why she is excited for her role in Disney+'s Hawkeye and more.
CBR: Season 2 finds Emily really struggling with the idea of fame and what that would mean for her as a poet. How has that resonated with you?
Hailee Steinfeld: I think the curiosity and possible confusion that Emily has towards fame is, I found, more relatable to me than her struggle, necessarily. But I love that this season really challenged me into a way of thinking about fame that I never have before.
It's really not anything I've thought much of, which I don't think is a good or bad thing. I've always been really focused on my work, and that's why I do what I do, and that's the part I love about what I do, and everything else is just kind of a bonus, I guess -- just kind of comes with the territory.
But with Emily asking herself all these questions, I myself had to think of what my answers would be in it, and it was challenging to find what those were. So this season was fun for me to kind of dig into this world of what my life is, personally.
What is something about Emily's Season 2 journey that shocked or surprised you?
I think there has never not been something about her or her story that hasn't shocked or surprised me, whether it has to do with the way she reacts to a certain situation, handles herself in a certain situation, or just purely gets herself into. I mean, there's always something, especially in this show.
I guess what I'm always fascinated by, though, is how she always goes back to her writing, because that's what makes her feel alive, and that's what this show is. It's constantly exploring what it means to be alive. The show this season goes into so many different directions, and it always comes back to that.
Even though she hits these roadblocks and these writer's blocks, she gets through it, and I think with a year where we've had so many obstacles present themselves in front of us, we've had to get through it and overcome them. So that's something that always fascinates me about her, is she always manages to do that.
What excites you the most about your role as Kate Bishop in Disney+'s upcoming Hawkeye series?
You know, I don't even know where to begin. I'm so excited to bring her to life, a character that is loved by so many, and there are so many amazing characteristics and elements of Kate Bishop in the comics that we are bringing into her in the series. It's been so fun to figure out what those are and how we're interpreting them and how we're bringing them to life.
I've already had a few moments myself, where I'm like, "This is so wild!" I've always been a fan of comics; I'm a very visual person. So I've always been drawn to just the visual aspect of them and being able to feel like I can flip through it and really digest it easily. So this is so fun, because I feel like I'm seeing these comic books in front of my face every day at work, which is a very cool thing.
So I feel like I've had total moments where I'm like geeking out and got to play cool, but I'm just so excited to bring this character to life because there's so much about her, like I said, throughout the comics and from what we know of her history that I get to pull from, which is a dream.
The first three episodes of Dickinson Season 2 will release Friday, Jan. 8 on Apple TV+. The series stars Hailee Steinfeld as Emily Dickinson, Anna Baryshnikov as Lavinia Dickinson, Adrian Enscoe as Austin Dickinson, Ella Hunt as Sue Dickinson, Jane Krakowski as Mrs. Dickinson, Toby Huss as Mr. Dickinson, Chinaza Uche as Henry, Finn Jones as Samuel Holmes and more.