5 things to know about 'Edge of Seventeen' breakout Hayden Szeto

Hailee Steinfeld's Nadine has an easy time ignoring her socially anxious high-school classmate Erwin (Hayden Szeto) in The Edge of Seventeen.

But Szeto's dorky Erwin all but steals the show in writer/director Kelly Fremon Craig's new coming-of-age comedy (in theaters now).

The role is a major breakout for the 31-year-old Chinese Canadian. Steinfeld was his biggest fan during their improvised scenes. "Hayden does and says things you cannot write," she says. "No one knows where this stuff comes from in him."

Five things to know about Szeto:

1. He was the first 'Seventeen' cast member.

Fremon Craig was smitten immediately with the actor, the third person to walk through her door for the part. "I was positive it would take forever to find Erwin, but he was the easiest," she says. "Hayden's just got it."

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Szeto didn't feel the love right away.

"Auditions are like a series of bad speed dates. Someone says, 'That's so good' and you never hear from them again," says Szeto, who celebrated with champagne and a cheese plate from his manager when he got the part.

2. He didn't have to fake fear on the Ferris wheel.

Erwin makes a terrible pass at Nadine on a carnival Ferris wheel and then freaks out in order to be let off the ride. The last part only partially involved acting.

"I am a little afraid of heights. But that Ferris wheel was quite high. A lot of the stuff you see on camera was somewhat organic, you can say that," says Szeto. "I just had to look down. And it was uh-oh."

Steinfeld says she cracked up just watching him. "Thank God I called him Erwin (on camera), not Hayden, because I was legitimately laughing in that scene."

Hailee Steinfeld goes full awkward in 'Edge of Seventeen'

3. But his confidence in the swimming pool is completely bogus.

Erwin jumps into his lavish pool with ease. But Szeto can't swim. "I can float for about six seconds before I start crying for my life," he says.

"They had scuba divers underneath. Every time I would cannonball in, there were two guys underneath to push me up and Hailee would grab me as well. So, yes, Hailee Steinfeld saved me."

4. He has a thug TV past.

Before his big break, Szeto had a line in a dream sequence for the daytime soap opera Days of Our Lives. "I said, 'Do you want to have lunch?'  That's it. Cut. And then they cut it. Sad." He also played a gang member in America's Most Wanted where he got rumbled on camera by a cop. "Real police officers don't know how to hold back. I just remember getting tackled and he had his knee on my skull. I was like, 'Wow, I am really in character now. Damn.' "

Woody Harrelson sits and delivers as a bad teacher in 'Edge of Seventeen'

5. His parents approve of his career choice.

Erwin's screen parents aren't happy about his career path (animation), but Szeto had no such conflict.

"The artistic gene definitely runs in my blood," says Szeto, whose father Nigel Szeto and grandfather Kei Szeto are revered painters. "When I decided to take up acting, my parents were incredibly supportive. They just asked that I take it seriously. So I promised that, and here I am."