Juno earned Elliot Page an Oscar nomination, but it wasn’t an all-together fun experience for the actor. “When Juno was at the height of its popularity, during awards-season time, 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 wrote in a cover story for Esquire.
Page can’t single out a “worst day” before his “life-saving” transition, but “when Juno was blowing up — this sounds strange to people, and I get that people don’t understand. ‘Oh, f*ck 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 sh*t literally did almost kill me.” He continued:
“So I said I wanted to wear a suit, and Fox Searchlight was basically like, ‘No, you need to wear a dress.’ 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 also shared his “biggest joy” since coming out. “What have I learned from transitioning? I can’t overstate the biggest joy, which is really seeing yourself,” he said. “I know I look different to others, but to me I’m just starting to look like myself. It’s indescribable, because I’m just like, there I am. And thank God. Here I am. So the greatest joy is just being able to feel present, literally, just to be present.”
Page will soon appear in The Umbrella Academy season 3, which premieres on June 22.
(Via Esquire)