Elliot Page has graced the cover of TIME magazine, telling the world “I’m fully who I am” in his first interview since coming out as transgender last December.
Page, who came to fame in the 2007 Oscar-winning film Juno, has opened up about his identity and what the past few months have been like.
At the time of the announcement, Page revealed that he was in Toronto recovering from top surgery. Now, sporting a fresh new hair-cut, the actor has made the cover of TIME magazine to talk all about his journey.
Interviewed by Katy Steinmetz, Page explained that the downtime he experienced during quarantine helped him to accept his gender identity. “I was finally able to embrace being transgender,” he explained.
Page says the reaction to his news was pretty much as he had expected. “What I was anticipating was a lot of support and love and a massive amount of hatred and transphobia,” he said. “That’s essentially what happened.”
Another historical milestone was crossed toward inclusion fairness and our common humanity. Congrats, @TheElliotPage. https://t.co/G1Qu1JoWmV
— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) March 16, 2021
Once the announcement went public, Page and his team saw more activity than they had in years, with offers coming in “to direct, to produce,” and to act in both trans-related roles and “dude roles,” as the actor called them. As he goes on to explain, the representation of trans people in cis-gendered roles is a crucial and affirming step for both actors and for Hollywood at large. As Trans activist Tiq Milan says, the exclusion of queer people from media only perpetuates false narratives “that how they feel deep inside isn’t a real thing because they never saw it reflected back to them.”
Page corroborates this statement when he says that growing up in Halifax in the 1990s, “There were no examples.” Now very much in the spotlight, the actor was trending on Twitter in more than twenty countries the day that he came out, remembering that he “gained more than 400,000 new followers on that day alone.”
Elliot Page, Time Magazine. pic.twitter.com/Y2IFPZRFz8
— CINEMA 505 (@CINEMA505) March 16, 2021
On the subject of his top surgery, Page says “It has completely transformed my life.” Along with a trip to the barber, which Page says “I just could not have enjoyed it more,” he is looking gewd.
congrats to elliot page. for being hot
— Bec Shaw (@Brocklesnitch) March 16, 2021
so proud of you, Elliot ❤️
— Netflix (@netflix) March 16, 2021
Elliot Page notes that not all transgender people are afforded the same access to medical care and, as Steinmetz states, “lack of access to it is one of the many reasons that an estimated 41% of transgender people have attempted suicide.”
“My privilege has allowed me to have resources to get through and to be where I am today,” Page says, “and of course I want to use that privilege and platform to help in the ways I can.” Although Page has been mostly quiet on social media, he is using his voice to bring awareness to trans issues and anti-trans bills and laws around the country.
Efforts to criminalize trans kids are deadly and we need to fight back against Alabama’s HB1/SB10. Trans kids’ lives depend on stopping this bill. Tell Alabama lawmakers to #ProtectTransKids #NoHB1 #NoSB10 @ACLUAlabama
— Elliot Page (@TheElliotPage) March 5, 2021
Page says he is “really excited to act, now that I’m fully who I am, in this body.”
You can watch Page on Netflix’ Umbrella Academy which is currently filming its third season.
