Actor Elliot Page, formerly known as Ellen Page, was born in Canada on February 21, 1987. He has won numerous awards, including a Satellite Award, two BAFTA Awards, Primetime Emmy Award nominations, and an Academy Award nomination. Page was given the gender of a woman at birth, and in December 2020, he came out publicly as a trans guy. He was the first openly trans man to feature on the Time magazine cover in March 2021.
The television franchise Pit Pony (1997–2000), for which Page was nominated for a Young Artist Award, and his recurrent parts in Trailer Park Boys (2002) and ReGenesis (2004) brought Page to prominence while posing as a woman. In the 2003 made-for-television movie Going For Broke, Page played one of his first parts in a popular US-distributed movie. In the 2005 film Hard Candy, which earned him an Austin Film Critics Association Award and an Empire Award nomination, Page made his breakthrough as a young vigilante. He was nominated for an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards, a Critics' Choice Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award for his portrayal of the main character, a teenage girl who is pregnant, in Jason Reitman's 2007 movie Juno. He was the fourth-youngest candidate for the Best Actress Academy Award at the time, with an age of 20.
For her performances in The Tracey Fragments (2007), Whip It (2009), Super (2010), Inception (2010), and Tallulah (2016), Page has received additional honors and acclaim. He also produced the film Freeheld (2015), in which he also acted, and made his directing debut with the documentary There's Something in the Water (2019). He has also portrayed superhero Kitty Pryde in the X-Men movies The Last Stand (2006) and Days of Future Past (2014). He provided the motion capture and voice acting for the supernatural Jodie Holmes in the 2013 video game Beyond: Two Souls, for which he was nominated for a BAFTA Games Award. His latter television roles include playing the lead role of Vanya/Viktor Hargreeves in the Netflix superhero series The Umbrella Academy (2019-present) and hosting the documentary series Gaycation (2016-2017), for which he was nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards.
Early Life and Education
Page was born on February 21, 1987, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, to graphic artist Dennis Page and teacher Martha Philpotts. He was given a female gender assignment at birth, and before transitioning, he went by the name Ellen. Page spent some time at Queen Elizabeth High School after attending Halifax Grammar School up until the 10th grade. Together with her close friend and fellow Canadian actor Mark Rendall, Page spent two years in Toronto after graduating from the Shambhala School in 2005. They were both enrolled in the Interact Program at Vaughan Road Academy.
Career
Early positions and significant recognition from 1997 to 2007
When Page was 10 years old, she made her screen debut as Maggie Maclean in the CBC Television film Pit Pony. The film's success led to a 1999–2000 television series of the same name. He received a Young Artist Award nomination for the performance. Page played Joanie in the 2002 movie Marion Bridge, which is notable for being his debut part in a major film. He was given the recurring part of Treena Lahey in the TV show Trailer Park Boys that same year, which he portrayed for five episodes. In 2003, Page appeared in the movies Touch & Go and Love That Boy. He also had leading roles in the television movies Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story and Ghost Cat. He received the Gemini Award for Best Performance in a Children's or Youth Program or Series for his work on Ghost Cat. Page starred in the drama Wilby Wonderful in 2004, for which he was nominated for a Genie Award and received an award from the Atlantic Film Festival. Also in 2004, he played Lilith Sandström, the lead character's daughter, in season 1 of the television series ReGenesis.
Page won praise for his performance as Hayley Stark, a teenage girl who kidnaps a pedophile, in the 2005 film Hard Candy. He was praised for his work by USA Today, who called it "one of the most complex, disturbing, and haunting performances of the year." The movie was both a critical and financial success, and Page got praise for his performance. He received numerous nominations and accolades for the part, including the Best Actress Award from the Austin Film Critics Association in 2006. He appeared in the British movie Mouth to Mouth in 2005 as well. In 2006, Page played Kitty Pryde, a character who can traverse walls, in the film X-Men: The Last Stand. The role had previously only been used by various actors in quick cameo appearances in X-Men films, never as a primary character. The movie was a financial hit.
In the coming-of-age comedy-drama movie Juno, in which he played the title character, a pregnant teen, in 2007, he made his name. The movie was a commercial and critical triumph, and Page's performance was praised for being one of the best of the 2000s. A film snob. No other actor had a better performance in 2007 than Page, whose "presence and timing are extraordinary," according to Roger Ebert, who called him "frighteningly talented" and "who is able to seem, in the space of a single scene, mature beyond... years and disarmingly childlike." For his performance, Page was nominated for a number of honors, including the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role, the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress — Motion Picture Comedy or Musical, the Critics' Choice Award for Best Actress, the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, the Critics' Choice Award for Best Actress, and the Academy Award for Best Actress. For the part, he also earned a Canadian Comedy Award, an Independent Spirit Award, a Satellite Award, and various critics' honors from groups like the Florida Film Critics Circle, Detroit Film Critics Society, and Austin Film Critics Association. He also starred in The Stone Angel and The Tracey Fragments in 2007, the latter of which received positive reviews and was noted by the Boston Herald as "a further reminder that Page is the real thing, but we knew that already." Among other honors, he received the Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress in a Canadian Film.
2008–2014: Ascend to fame and establish as an actor
In 2008, Page co-starred in the comedy-drama movie Smart People, which had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January of that year and garnered lukewarm reviews. He portrayed the overachieving daughter of a college professor in the movie. Page presided over Saturday Night Live on March 1, 2008. He played the parody of Hannah Montana Alaska Nebraska in the The Simpsons episode "Waverly Hills 9-0-2-1-D'oh" from May 3, 2009. He played a member of a roller derby squad in Drew Barrymore's first feature film, Whip It, which was released in September 2009. The movie made its world premiere on October 2, 2009, at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Page was given a role in the high-profile science fiction picture Inception, directed by Christopher Nolan, in August 2009. On July 16, 2010, the movie was released, and it was a financial success. It earned a lot of praise from critics and was named one of the finest movies of the decade. Page portrayed Ariadne, a student of architecture and a novice at dream espionage. Page received nominations for the Saturn Awards and the MTV Awards, adding to the cast's collection of awards. After reading the script for the 2010 black comic superhero movie Super, he agreed to star in it. While Page was praised for his portrayal of a psychotic teenage sidekick, the movie received mixed reviews.
Beginning in January 2010, Page began to feature in a number of Cisco Systems commercials, some of which were filmed near Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. In April of that year, Page starred as Maggie Bailey, a young mother in need, in the Michael Lander movie Peacock. "One of the boldest screenplays I've encountered in my albeit brief career; it's a character and story I can throw myself into and exactly the type of movie I love to be a part of," said Page of the movie. To Rome with Love, a 2012 movie directed by Woody Allen and recounted in four discrete vignettes, was announced to have Page co-star as Monica in April 2011.
Beyond: Two Souls, a video game in which Page represents Jodie Holmes as one of the characters through voice acting and motion capture acting, was announced by Quantic Dream in June 2012. It was published in North America on October 8, 2013. The game's reception from critics was mixed, but Page's performance was praised, with GamesTM calling it "truly breathtaking... Jodie's character is one we've seen before in many films - a troubled child with a gift, haunted by spirits, struggling with growing up"; however, Page excelled in giving "gravity and warmth" to the character. For the part, he received a number of honors and accolades, including the British Academy Games Award for Best Performer. The Last of Us, a new video game, was launched in 2013. The character Ellie's appearance was then changed to better represent the actual performer's attitude and make the role younger when Page accused the production of utilizing his resemblance without his consent.
Miss Stevens, starring Anna Faris and produced by Gary Gilbert, Jordan Horowitz, and Doug Wald, was supposed to be Page's directorial debut; however, the movie eventually went through without him, with screenplay Julia Hart taking over as the project's director. He co-starred in Zal Batmanglij's thriller The East, which was released in 2013 and was influenced by thrillers from the 1970s, as well as Lynn Shelton's Touchy Feely. Page played Kitty Pryde once more in the 2014 film X-Men: Days of Future Past. The movie was a huge financial hit at the box office and was hailed as one of the greatest in the X-Men series by reviewers. As a result of the positive reviews for his performance, Page received nominations for the Kids' Choice Award for Female Action Star and the Teen Choice Award for Favorite Movie Scene Stealer. Page played Han Solo in a staged reading of Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back in December 2014.
2015-present: ongoing achievement and more endeavors
Freeheld, a 2015 movie about Laurel Hester that was based on a 2007 short film of the same name, featured and was produced by Page. Critics' reactions to the movie were divided. Rotten Tomatoes, a website that publishes movie reviews, stated that "Freeheld certainly means well, but its cardboard characters and by-the-numbers drama undermine its noble intentions." As the titular character, Page co-starred in the Netflix movie Tallulah in 2016. This was Page's third project with the filmmaker Sian Heder and his second with Allison Janney, both of whom he had previously worked with on Juno. His character in the movie is a young woman who kidnaps a child and attempts to claim it as her own. "What grounds it are the terrific performances and Heder's rich direction and screenplay," The Guardian commented about Heder's acting. The same year, he voiced Rosy in the French film My Life as a Zucchini, which received positive reviews and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, and he also appeared in the movie Window Horses.
On November 9, 2017, news of Page's casting as Vanya/Viktor Hargreeves, the lead character in the Netflix superhero series The Umbrella Academy, was released. Page got praise for his portrayal and was nominated for a Saturn Award in 2019 as a result of the show's favorable critical reception. Following Page's coming out as transgender, it was made known that he would keep acting in the series, with Netflix changing Page's name throughout the platform. The third season of the show's Page character, who briefly comes out to his brothers in the episode "World's Biggest Ball of Twine," is set to premiere in March 2022. According to Gizmodo, the modification "was very likely made to reflect Page's own transition."
He starred in the science fiction movie Flatliners, a 2017 remake of the 1990 film of the same name that became a financial success. Critics did not like Flatliners, but they praised Page and the supporting cast, writing that "Luna and Page in particular make much stronger impressions than you might expect, given the repetitious and mostly shallow scenarios they're asked to enact... But the choppy, cliched visuals and the script's superficial approach to the characters' predicaments ultimately undo any goodwill that the actors can generate."
In 2019, Page played Shawna Hopkins in the well-received Netflix miniseries Tales of the City. There's Something in the Water, a documentary about environmental racism that Page co-directed and produced with Ian Daniel, had its world premiere at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival and was later made available on Netflix on March 27, 2020. The Hollywood Reporter wrote that the movie "gets its job done directly enough, underlining a situation that remains dire despite what seems to be a growing level of awareness around the country" despite being "made in a standard documentary format with a voiceover and a tad too much weepy music." Next up for Page is a voice role in the upcoming movies Robodog and Naya Legend of the Golden Dolphin.
Page and Mark Rendall worked together to create a music release on Bandcamp in August 2021. A "lo-fi bedroom pop adventure" has been used to characterize the EP's three songs in the media. He agreed to a comprehensive contract with Universal Content Productions in August 2021. Page established Page Boy Productions in September 2021 and named Matt Jordan Smith to the position of Head of Development and Production. Page's memoir Pageboy, which was published by Flatiron Books in 2023, was claimed to have been purchased by the publisher for $3 million in February 2022. In June 2022, Page confirmed that he and his Mouth to Mouth co-star Beatrice Brown were working on a screenplay. Backspot was a project that Page Boy Productions announced in October 2022, with him serving as executive producer. The production's Toronto filming was finished in March 2023.
Private life
Regarding abortion rights, Page identified as a feminist who is pro-choice in 2008. He was one of 30 famous people that took part in a 2008 online ad campaign for US Campaign for Burma that urged the overthrow of the military dictatorship in Myanmar. PETA voted Page and Jared Leto the Sexiest Vegetarians of 2014 for their vegan lifestyles. He has stated that religion "has always been used for beautiful things, as well as a way to justify discrimination," that he is an agnostic.
Page, who at the time identified as female, came out as gay during a speech at the Human Rights Campaign's "Time to Thrive" conference in Las Vegas on February 14, 2014. Page was attracted to women at the time. On the set of X-Men: The Last Stand, Page claimed to have been outed at the age of 18 by director Brett Ratner. Co-star Anna Paquin, who claimed to have been present when Ratner made the remark, confirmed it. Page wrote a lengthy Facebook post in which she thanked individuals who spoke out against abuse and lamented the pattern of those who continued to keep quiet about such issues. Page was listed on The Advocate's yearly "40 Under 40" list in 2014.
The connection between Page and dancer/choreographer Emma Portner was made public in 2017. After Page discovered Portner on Instagram, they eventually met. Page announced their marriage in January 2018. They divorced in early 2021 after Page filed for divorce in January 2021. They had split up in the middle of 2020.
Gender Reversal
Page came out as a trans guy on his social media sites on December 1st, 2020. He also specified his pronouns as he and they, as well as his new name, Elliot. Page noted that the COVID-19 pandemic and the anti-transgender discourse in politics and the media both played a role in his choice to speak out about his gender identification. Page "will now be an inspiration to countless trans and non-binary people," according to GLAAD spokesperson Nick Adams. On the same day, Page's then-wife, Emma Portner, posted on her Instagram account that she was "so proud" of him for coming out. Following the news, the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and a number of celebrities, including Ellen DeGeneres, Miley Cyrus, James Gunn, and Kumail Nanjiani, tweeted their support for Page. Netflix added: "So proud of our superhero! We love you Elliot!" The following day, Netflix declared that it would change all titles' metadata and credits to include Page's name. By December 8, these alterations were finished.
Page became the first openly trans guy to accomplish so when he appeared on the cover of the Time magazine's March 29–April 5 issue in 2021. He wanted another transgender person to be the photographer, so he asked Wynne Neilly to take a picture of him for the cover. In the highlighted piece, he identified as queer and non-binary and stated that, at the time of his coming out, he had just undergone "life-saving" top surgery and was still recovering from the procedure. According to Page, when she was nine years old, "I felt like a boy... I wanted to be a boy. I would ask my mom if I could be one someday."
Filmography
Film
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
2002 | The Wet Season | Jocelyn | Short film |
Marion Bridge | Joanie | ||
2003 | Touch &Go | Trish | |
Love That Boy | Suzanna | ||
2004 | Wilby Wonderful | Emily Anderson | |
2005 | Hard Candy | Hayley Stark | |
Mouth to Mouth | Sherry | ||
2006 | X-Men: The Last Stand | Kitty Pryde | |
2007 | An American Crime | Sylvia Likens | |
Juno | Juno MacGuff | ||
The Tracey Fragments | Tracey Berkowitz | ||
The Stone Angel | Arlene Simmons | ||
2008 | Smart People | Vanessa Wetherhold | |
2009 | Vanishing of the Bees | Narrator | Documentary |
Whip It | Bliss Cavendar / Babe Ruthless | ||
2010 | Peacock | Maggie Bailey | |
Inception | Ariadne | ||
Super | Libby / Boltie | ||
2012 | To Rome with Love | Monica | |
2013 | The East | Izzy | |
Touchy Feely | Jenny | ||
2014 | X-Men: Days of Future Past | Kitty Pryde | |
Tiny Detectives | Detective Ellen | Short film | |
2015 | Into the Forest | Nell | Also producer |
Freeheld | Stacie Andree | Also producer | |
2016 | Tallulah | Tallulah | |
Window Horses | Kelly (voice) | ||
My Life as a Zucchini | Rosy (voice) | English dub | |
2017 | My Days of Mercy | Lucy Moro | Also producer |
The Cured | Abbie | Also producer | |
Flatliners | Courtney Holmes | ||
2019 | There's Something in the Water | Himself | Documentary; also director |
2022 | Into My Name | — | Documentary; executive producer |
Television
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
1997 | Pit Pony | Maggie Maclean | Television film |
1999–2000 | Pit Pony | Main role | |
2002 | Trailer Park Boys | Treena Lahey | 5 episodes |
Rideau Hall | Helene | Episode: "Pilot" | |
2003 | Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story | Young Lisa | Television film |
Going For Broke | Jennifer Bancroft | Television film | |
Ghost Cat | Natalie Merritt | Television film | |
2004 | I Downloaded a Ghost | Stella Blackstone | Television film |
ReGenesis | Lilith Sandström | 8 episodes | |
2008 | Saturday Night Live | Himself (host) | Episode: "Ellen Page/Wilco" |
2009 | The Simpsons | Alaska Nebraska (voice) | Episode: "Waverly Hills, 9-0-2-1-D'oh" |
2011 | Glenn Martin, DDS | Robot Assistant (voice) | Episode: "Date with Destiny" |
Tilda | Carolyn | Pilot | |
2012 | Family Guy | Lindsey (voice) | Episode: "Tom Tucker: The Man and His Dream" |
2013 | Out There | Amber (voice) | Episode: "Ace's Wild" |
2016–2017 | Gaycation | Himself (host) | Documentary series on Viceland; also executive producer |
2019–present | The Umbrella Academy | Vanya Hargreeves / Viktor Hargreeves | Main role |
2019 | Tales of the City | Shawna Hawkins | Main role |
2022 | Ark: The Animated Series | Victoria Walker (voice) | Main role |
Video games
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
2013 | Beyond: Two Souls | Jodie Holmes | Also motion capture |
Awards and nominations
Award | Year | Nominated work | Category | Result |
Academy Awards | 2008 | Juno | Best Actress | Nominated |
Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television Awards | 2007 | The Tracey Fragments | Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role | Nominated |
ACTRA Maritimes Awards | 2003 | Marion Bridge | Outstanding Female Performance | Won |
Atlantic Film Festival Awards | 2004 | Wilby Wonderful | Outstanding Performance by an Actor – Female | Won |
2007 | The Tracey Fragments | Best Actress | Won | |
Austin Film Critics Association Awards | 2006 | Hard Candy | Won | |
2007 | Juno | Won | ||
British Academy Film Awards | 2008 | — | Rising Star Award | Nominated |
Juno | Best Actress in a Leading Role | Nominated | ||
British Academy Video Games Awards | 2014 | Beyond: Two Souls | Best Performer | Nominated |
Canadian Comedy Awards | 2008 | Juno | Best Performance by a Female – Film | Won |
Chicago Film Critics Association Awards | 2007 | Juno | Best Actress | Won |
Chlotrudis Awards | 2007 | Hard Candy | Best Actress | Nominated |
2008 | Juno | Nominated | ||
Critics' Choice Movie Awards | 2007 | Juno | Best Actress | Nominated |
Detroit Film Critics Society Awards | 2007 | Juno | Best Actress | Won |
EDA Awards | 2007 | Juno | Best Breakthrough Performance | Won |
Best Actress | Nominated | |||
Best Seduction | Nominated | |||
2016 | Freeheld | Most Egregious Age Difference Between the Lead and the Love Interest | Nominated | |
Empire Awards | 2007 | Hard Candy | Best Newcomer | Nominated |
2009 | Juno | Best Actress | Nominated | |
Fangoria Chainsaw Awards | 2006 | Hard Candy | Relationship from Hell | Nominated |
Creepiest Kid | Nominated | |||
Florida Film Critics Circle Awards | 2007 | Juno | Best Actress | Won |
Pauline Kael Breakout Award | Won | |||
Gemini Awards | 2000 | Pit Pony | Best Performance in a Children's or Youth Program or Series | Nominated |
2003 | Ghost Cat | Won | ||
2004 | ReGenesis | Best Supporting Actress | Won | |
Genie Awards | 2005 | Wilby Wonderful | Best Supporting Actress | Nominated |
2008 | The Tracey Fragments | Best Actress | Nominated | |
Golden Globe Awards | 2008 | Juno | Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical | Nominated |
Gotham Awards | 2007 | Juno | Breakthrough Actor | Won |
Hollywood Film Awards | 2007 | — | Breakthrough Actress of the Year | Won |
Houston Film Critics Society Awards | 2007 | Juno | Best Actress | Nominated |
Independent Spirit Awards | 2007 | Juno | Best Female Lead | Won |
IndieWire Critics Poll | Juno | Best Performance | 10th Place | |
MTV Movie & TV Awards | 2008 | Juno | Best Female Performance | Won |
Best Kiss | Nominated | |||
2010 | Inception | Best Scared-As-Shit Performance | Won | |
Best Kiss | Nominated | |||
Best Jaw Dropping Moment | Nominated | |||
2021 | The Umbrella Academy | Best Performance in a Show | Nominated | |
National Board of Review Awards | 2007 | Juno | Best Breakthrough Performance – Female | Won |
National Movie Awards | 2008 | Juno | Best Performance – Female | Nominated |
New York Film Critics Circle Awards | 2007 | Juno | Best Actress | Nominated |
New York Film Critics Online Awards | 2007 | Juno | Best Breakthrough Performance | Won |
Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards | 2015 | X-Men: Days of Future Past | Favorite Female Action Star | Nominated |
Online Film Critics Society Awards | 2006 | Hard Candy | Best Breakthrough Performance | Nominated |
2007 | Juno | Best Actress | Nominated | |
People's Choice Awards | 2011 | Inception | Favorite On Screen Team | Nominated |
Premios Maguey | 2018 | My Days of Mercy | Best Performance | Won |
Primetime Emmy Awards | 2016 | Gaycation | Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program | Nominated |
2017 | Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program | Nominated | ||
San Diego Film Critics Society Awards | 2007 | Juno | Best Actress | Runner-up |
Satellite Awards | 2007 | Juno | Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy | Won |
Saturn Awards | 2010 | Inception | Best Actress | Nominated |
2019 | The Umbrella Academy | Best Supporting Actress in Streaming Presentation | Nominated | |
2022 | Best Supporting Actor in a Streaming Series | Won | ||
Scream Awards | 2010 | Inception | Best Science Fiction Actress | Nominated |
Screen Actors Guild Awards | 2008 | Juno | Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role | Nominated |
Spike Video Game Awards | 2013 | Beyond: Two Souls | Best Voice Actress | Nominated |
St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Awards | 2007 | Juno | Best Actress | Won |
Teen Choice Awards | 2008 | Juno | Choice Movie Actress: Comedy | Won |
Choice Movie: Breakout Female | Won | |||
Choice Movie: Liplock | Won | |||
2014 | X-Men: Days of Future Past | Choice Movie: Scene Stealer | Nominated | |
2019 | The Umbrella Academy | Choice Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV Actress | Nominated | |
Toronto Film Critics Association Awards | 2007 | Juno | Best Actress | Won |
Vancouver Film Critics Circle Awards | 2007 | The Tracey Fragments | Best Actress in a Canadian Film | Won |
Juno | Best Actress | Nominated | ||
Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Awards | 2007 | Juno | Best Breakthrough Performance | Won |
Women Film Critics Circle Awards | 2006 | Hard Candy | Best Equality of the Sexes | Won |
2009 | Whip It | Best Comedic Actress | Nominated | |
2015 | Freeheld | Best Screen Couple | Nominated | |
Young Artist Awards | 2002 | Pit Pony | Best Performance in a TV Drama Series – Leading Young Actress | Nominated |
Quick Bio
Gender | Female |
Age | 36 years old (in 2023) |
Date of Birth | February 21, 1987 |
Full Name | Elliot Page |
Profession | Actress |
Nationality | Canadian |
Birthplace | Halifax Regional Municipality, Canada |
Zodiac Sign | Pisces |
Qualification | High School Graduated |
Profession | Actress |
Net Worth | USD $12 Million approx |
Height, Weight & Physical Stats
Body Measurements | 34-26-34 inches |
Bodytype | Slim |
Height | 5 feet 1 inches (1.55 m) |
Weight | 65 kg (121 lbs) |
Waist | 26 inches |
Hair Color | Blonde |
Eye Color | Dark Brown |
Shoe Size | 7 US |
Dress Size | 4 US |
Family & Relatives
Father | Dennis Page |
Mother | Martha Philpotts |
Marital Status | Married |
Husband | Emma Portner (m. 2017) |
Facts