‘Juno‘ actor, Elliot Page has opened up about his dark days of navigating fame, especially as a closeted actor. Page came out as transgender in 2020. He penned an essay for Esquire magazine in which he talks about his childhood, transition, and career.
Diablo Cody’s Oscar-winning 2007 romance drama Juno was a runaway hit. This introduced Page as an actor to the world. But he just “wasn’t okay.”
Elliot Page Talks About His Mental State At The Height Of ‘Juno’ Fame
“I was closeted, dressed in heels and the whole look — I wasn’t okay, and I didn’t know how to talk about that with anyone,” he writes. “When Juno was blowing up — this sounds strange to people, and I get that people don’t understand. Oh, f— you, you’re famous, and you have money, and you had to wear a dress, boo-hoo. I don’t not understand that reaction. But that’s mixed with: I wish people would understand that that’s – literally did almost kill me.”
Elliot’s mid-20s were the most confusing part of his life. He “didn’t know how to tell people how unwell I was.” His work also includes Christopher Nolan’s 2010 action sci-fi ‘Inception’. “I would berate myself for it. I was living the life and my dreams were coming true, and all that was happening. And yet, for example, when I was shooting ‘Inception’, I could pretty much not leave whatever hotel I’d be staying in.“
“I struggled with food,” he continues. “Intense depression, anxiety, severe panic attacks. I couldn’t function.”
On the reaction to his transition, he recalls, “I didn’t expect it to be so big. In terms of the actual quality of the response, it was what I expected: love and support from many people and hatred and cruelty and vitriol from so many others.”
Elliot Was Forced To Wear A Dress To ‘Juno’ Premiere
Page opens up about the “extremely f—– up” situation he had found himself in. That was the moment when he had to wear a dress to the premiere of Juno at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2007. “I remember going and having the thing I wanted to wear, and then understanding the degree of expectation of how fancy someone is supposed to look.”
He wanted to wear a suit at the premiere. “Fox Searchlight was basically like, ‘No, you need to wear a dress,” Page writes. “And they took me in a big rush to one of those fancy stores on Bloor Street. They had me wear a dress, and . . . that was that. And then all the Juno press, all the photo shoots — Michael Cera was in slacks and sneakers. I look back at the photos, and I’m like . . .?”
Page Wants To Relive Those Special Events
Page’s article acknowledges the significance and the impact of the movie ‘Juno‘. He writes about teenage girls responding to the character of Juno. “It related to my queerness and my transness.”
“And then you have that film have the success it had, and the major, major profit, between the film and the soundtrack — and then you f—ing squash that all away. You squash it. So you’re benefiting greatly from this character that connected with people, and then you do that. It’s gross.”
He expresses nostalgia about the events he attended to. But also wishes to be his true self there. “I wish I could go back and experience it now, as me.”
You can read the full article at Esquire.
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