In Elliot Page's first interview since coming out as trans in December, the actor told Oprah about his mounting pressures and stressors around gender as a performer in TV and movies. One standout moment exemplary of the conversation, via Yahoo News, is Page's memories of fainting while on a press tour for Inception back in 2010.
"There was so much press and so many premieres all around the world and I was wearing dresses and heels to pretty much every single event," Page said of Inception's media campaign. Those expectations led and also contributed to a recurring pattern of panic attacks, which he says have "happened frequently in my life… every single aspect of who you are constantly being looked at and put in a box is a very binary system."
Page's experiences promoting Juno, the still-lauded 2008 quirky comedy--which led to Page's nominations for Best Actress for his role--were similarly stressful. When Juno proved to be a surprise success, Page says, rather than excitement, he felt isolated: "It felt so impossible to communicate with people how unwell I was because obviously there is so much excitement… felt I couldn't express just the degree of pain I was in."
pic.twitter.com/kwti60bZLw
— Elliot Page (@TheElliotPage) December 1, 2020
Later in the sit-down interview, which Page had for The Oprah Conversation on Apple TV+ and is available to stream on Friday, Page made it clear he is only speaking from his experiences, noting that "all trans people are different." In light of the many heavy moments of the conversation, Page says the pandemic and quarantine has proved to be nourishing, allowing him to "connect" to his body and "fully listen" to himself. Compared to December, Page says, "From where I'm sitting now, all I know is the degree of comfort, sense of home, ability to be present feels so profound and life-changing."
Page currently stars in Netflix's The Umbrella Academy, which was recently renewed for Season 3.
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