Hailee Steinfeld thinks it is important her and her fellow celebrities stick together.

Hailee Steinfeld

Hailee Steinfeld

The 'Starving' hitmaker - who counts Taylor Swift, Lena Dunham and Shawn Mendes as her good friends - believes it is crucial that everyone "bands together" in her industry.

She said: "Banding together - whether it's a group of women or a group of men or both - is awesome."

Speaking particularly about Shawn, she added: "I remember meeting him three years ago when I was just dipping my toes into the whole music thing and he inspired me to stay on. He's so kind and even then, I knew he was going to be a big star."

The 19-year-old actress and singer wants to use her fame to promote feminism, which she says has been the "elephant in the room" for some time.

She shared to the Winter issue of FASHION magazine: "For some time, feminism was the elephant in the room. Being a young female who has the honour of reaching thousands of people with one message is incredible. I've got a lot to learn.

"It is important to have the mindset of, 'I can do anything I want. I can be anyone I want. I can take on any challenge without anyone holding me back.' But knowing you're allowed to mess up and break down and make mistakes. Words like unbreakable, untouchable, perfect - that's so much for one person to handle."

Meanwhile, Hailee previously admitted she had a "hard time" making friends at school.

She said: "I was eager to meet people and I never considered myself an outsider. I never wanted to be an outsider. But I had a hard time finding someone who wanted to hang out with me. It was a very weird time for me."

Speaking about the girl squad, she added: "I can absolutely assure you that each and every one of us genuinely support and love each other. I don't know that I could be a part of anything that wasn't real. Especially a friend group. I'm not very good at trying to be something I'm not, or hanging with people for any reason other than getting along with them."