She was cast from over 2,000 young actresses for her first movie role in Spanglish (2004).
Was named one of the 55 faces of the future in Nylon Magazine's Young Hollywood Issue (May 2010).
Spent over a year on Broadway in the Tony Award winning play "The Humans," in which Steele co-starred as the daughter of Jayne Houdyshell's character. Houdyshell won a Tony for the role, and then was also cast with Steele in The Good Wife (2009) spin-off, The Good Fight (2017).
She is of Bohemian/Czech (one quarter), English, Scottish, Welsh, German, and 1/64th Polish descent (her Polish ancestor immigrated to the USA in the early 19th century, settling in North Carolina).
Attended the same high school (The Episcopal Academy, Merion
Pennsylvania) as Academy Award Nominee Director, M. Night
Shyamalan.