WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 19: Actress Ellen Page arrives at the inaugural Peace Ball presented by Busboys and Poets at the National Museum of African American History and Culture on January 19, 2017 in Washington, DC. The Peace Ball is a non-partisan inaugural gala held to celebrate the accomplishments of peace and justice activists in the U.S. and around the world. Donald Trump will be inaugurated as the 45th President of the United States on January 20. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Ellen Page’s sexuality has become as much of a topic in interviews as her acting roles since the actress came out to the public in February 2014.
It’s a truth Page both accepts and resents; after all, as she pointed out in an interview with Bustle this week, “with heterosexual actors, there’s not some big conversation about all the straight things that they’re making.”
Over the course of the interview, the 30-year-old actress addresses the homophobia and LGBTQ+ underrepresentation in Hollywood – even within her own film, Juno. When asked about the scripted line in which Juno rejects the name “Madison” for her baby because it sounds “a little gay,” Page agrees it is problematic.
“It wasn’t something I totally registered at the time,” she explained, “but, of course, now that I’m older I do. So many movies I loved as a kid are just rampant with homophobia and transphobia and biphobia, and I’m not excusing it by any means.”
It’s a diplomatic answer, and certainly a true one.
“I think the holdup is fear and people don’t want to take risks,” she continued, delving into the lack of queer representation in Hollywood. “They want to make money. And there’s a lack of people [of color] hired in every single aspect of the film industry. It really hurts the industry and it really hurts film. We need more stories. We need more representation. We need more points of view.”
Page is addressing this gap in her day-to-day life; she hosted Vice’s Gaycation, publicly challenged Ted Cruz’s stance on LGBTQ+ rights at the Iowa State Fair, and made the film My Days of Mercy to “show a wider range of what women can be.”
In acknowledging her past mistakes and creating her own projects to combat Hollywood prejudices, Page is fighting for representation, both on-screen and off.
