Hailee Steinfeld‘s assembled an impressive collection of genre-based roles over the years. She’s best known for voicing Gwen Stacy, aka Spider-Woman, in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Kate Bishop in Hawkeye, along with Vi in the hit Netflix series Arcane. Just this year, she was a major part of the horror hit Sinners and turned in what’s arguably one of the best performances of her career. Steinfeld’s most interesting role, however, doesn’t involve her shooting webs or drinking blood. Dickinson, an AppleTV+ series starring Steinfeld as the titular Emily Dickinson, ran for three seasons and features a unique vision of Dickinson’s era.
‘Dickinson’ Puts Its Own Unique Spin on Emily Dickinson’s Life
Far from being a standard retelling of Emily Dickinson’s life and writing career, Dickinson takes a left turn by featuring modern dialogue and pop culture references in its narrative. Emily plays air guitar to Lizzo, disguises herself so that she can attend poetry classes, and even enlists in the Civil War by the series’ end. It’s essentially the inverse of Baz Lurhmann‘s Romeo + Juliet, yet it works because the cast approaches the dialogue with the utmost seriousness. Dickinson also introduces a love story spanning the entire series, as Emily is in love with her brother’s fiancée, Sue Gilbert (Anna and the Apocalypse‘s Ella Hunt). Depicting a lesbian relationship in period times, especially with a real-life historical figure, could have been a recipe for disaster — but Dickinson pulls it off due to Steinfeld and Hunt’s intense chemistry.
Dickinson also tackles themes of feminism throughout its run, and not just through its protagonist. Emily’s mother (Jane Krakowski) starts to grow out of her more old-fashioned views over time. Her sister Lavinia (Anna Baryshnikova) starts seeking out her own love interest, which was unheard of in those times. Sue does eventually marry Emily’s brother, yet still loves Emily and pressures her to publish her poems. By Dickinson‘s end, most of its female characters end up in far different places than where they began.
A Cast of Impressive Guest Stars Populates ‘Dickinson’
Dickinson‘s first episode, “Because I could not stop,” features a trippy sequence where Emily has a face to face conversation with none other than Death, who’s played by Wiz Khalifa of all people. It’s not the first time the series would feature a prominent guest star as a historical figure. John Mulaney appeared as Henry David Thoreau, Nick Kroll brought his droll sensibilities to Edgar Allen Poe, and Ziwe stole the show as Sojourner Truth. These figures fit perfectly into Dickinson‘s world, particularly because these authors were alive at the same time as Emily Dickinson, but also because their presence brings plenty of humor to the forefront.
The most important guest star might have flown under people’s radar at the time, but it’s an actor that people are currently familiar with. Ayo Edebiri guest starred in Season 2 as one of the Dickinson’s maids, Hattie, who also happened to have a connection to the supernatural. That connection was made manifest in the Season 2 episode “The Only Ghost I Saw”, where Emily and Hattie hold a seance to determine Emily’s future in writing. It’s not the only time Edebiri would play a historical figure, but it’s a huge stepping stone to her current career.
‘Dickinson’ Is Fueled by an Incredible Performance from Hailee Steinfeld
It’s safe to say that Hailee Steinfeld’s performance as Emily Dickinson is far from the real-life Dickinson. While Dickinson was never married and reportedly spent most of her life in solitude, Steinfield’s Dickinson is a firebrand; she goes after what she wants, and is determined to make it as a writer despite opposition from her family. Her performance helped catapult Dickinson to the top of the streaming charts during its run, while also serving as one of Apple TV’s first series. Season 1 was met with lukewarm reviews, but Seasons 2 and 3 recieves near-universal acclaim. Dickinson features arguably one of Hailee Steinfeld’s best roles, and an unorthodox yet entertaining approach to history. If you love her work in Sinners, the Spider-Verse movies, or Hawkeye, you definitely need to check this series out.
