Elliot Page says he experienced a mixture of feelings when he came out as transgender on an Instagram post in 2021.
“I felt utterly elated and beyond grateful to finally be in a place where I could accept and love myself and do what I needed to and wanted to,” the 37-year-old actor, director, and LGBTQ+ activist told the audience at the 2024 TIME100 Summit in New York City on Wednesday.
“I felt utterly elated and beyond grateful to finally be in a place where I could accept and love myself and do what I needed to and wanted to,” the 37-year-old actor, director, and LGBTQ+ activist told the audience at the 2024 TIME100 Summit in New York City on Wednesday.
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00:00 Hey, Elliot.
00:01 Hi.
00:01 How you doing?
00:02 Good, yeah.
00:02 Good, good, great.
00:04 Good morning.
00:04 Thank you all for being here.
00:07 So a little over three years ago,
00:11 you disclosed on your Instagram that you were trans.
00:14 And a few months later, you appeared
00:16 on the cover of this magazine to share your story
00:19 in full for the first time.
00:21 I think we might have a visual with that
00:23 if our AV plays ball with me.
00:26 No?
00:26 Oh, oh, there it is.
00:28 There it is.
00:29 [APPLAUSE]
00:32 That's my little dog, Ma.
00:35 Yeah, the dog is a crucial element of the frame.
00:40 I was one of the editors on that story with Times Deputy Editor
00:45 Kelly Conniff, who's probably somewhere out there.
00:48 And I remember really wanting that moment
00:51 to be a kind of triumphant and celebratory one for you.
00:56 Can you take us back to that experience
00:59 and sort of what you were feeling
01:00 as you were preparing to share this story for the first time?
01:04 Sure.
01:06 I mean, it was definitely a mixture of feelings,
01:11 a time in my life where I felt utterly elated and beyond
01:18 grateful to finally be in a place
01:21 where I could accept and love myself and do what I needed to
01:28 and wanted to and to have the honor of that cover, which
01:35 was shot by trans men, Wynne Niley in Toronto.
01:39 And having that opportunity, it meant so much.
01:45 And I appreciated very much the thoughtfulness that time also
01:51 did show me during that period and during that experience.
01:56 And it was also very overwhelming,
01:58 as you can imagine.
02:00 And in some ways, I think you feel a sense of pressure.
02:04 Like, of course, I'm always experiencing
02:10 trans joy in the sense that all these moments I have in my life
02:16 in which I feel like I'm alive and thriving,
02:18 but it can also be trans anxiety and trans grief and anger
02:25 and all those things.
02:26 So I think that period was just a lot of different emotions,
02:32 of feeling so grateful and excited and also, of course,
02:41 going through a lot.
02:43 What was the response like from fans and the public?
02:48 It seems to me that there's a tremendous amount
02:51 of really beautiful and overwhelming support
02:54 when people are able to disclose and share
03:00 that part of themselves.
03:01 Was that what you were met with?
03:04 Absolutely.
03:05 I mean, first of all, I didn't think that me-- maybe
03:10 that was naive or some--
03:12 I don't know what the right word would be for it--
03:14 that it was going to be such a thing.
03:17 So the support was incredible from people I don't know
03:26 or people that are acquaintances or people that are close to me.
03:29 That support, that sense of community connection
03:35 is exactly what helps you get through those moments that
03:38 are a lot and can be overwhelming.
03:44 The final season of your show, The Umbrella Academy,
03:47 will be out in August.
03:49 After your disclosure, you worked with the showrunner
03:52 on weaving a storyline about your character also
03:56 transitioning into the narrative.
03:57 I'd love to hear about that creative process
04:00 and how you were able to work synchronously
04:02 with them around that.
04:04 Sure, yeah.
04:05 Yeah, Steve, the showrunner of Umbrellas,
04:08 actually probably one of the first people I came out to,
04:12 because I was supposed to go back
04:15 to shoot the third season and wanted to ideally get surgery
04:20 before.
04:21 And so I called him nervously, and he was incredible.
04:32 And if anything, he was the one who was very insistent on
04:36 immediately having it be a part of the show
04:39 and supported me to be able to access the care I was hoping
04:44 to get at that time.
04:45 And of course, he didn't have a lot of--
04:50 not of course, but he didn't have a lot of knowledge
04:53 about trans stories, trans issues.
04:57 So we reached out to Thomas Page McBee, who's incredible.
05:01 And if you're not familiar, he wrote an extraordinary book
05:05 called Amateur.
05:07 He's writing another book right now.
05:09 He wrote on other television projects as well.
05:13 And so Thomas came on board and really worked with Steve,
05:18 and the three of us worked together
05:20 to integrate Victor's story into the third season.
05:27 And that change, he went through.
05:30 And yeah, that's sort of how it worked.
05:35 I want to talk a little bit more about Hollywood.
05:38 There have been so many calls over the last several years
05:41 for greater inclusion and representation
05:43 in the entertainment industry.
05:44 I'm curious how your transition has
05:46 impacted the roles that you're offered and also the roles
05:49 that you pursue and the projects that you take on.
05:54 It's a good question.
05:55 I mean, I-- that's so funny thing about the roles
06:00 I get offered.
06:01 I don't-- I get--
06:05 I guess, I'm always hesitant to say
06:09 because I don't know what people are saying in the rooms,
06:11 whether if they're going to send something
06:14 and they don't for a reason.
06:16 Because I am realistic about the lack of representation
06:22 for trans people and the lack of representation
06:28 for transmasculine people.
06:30 And I do--
06:33 I get offers for trans roles, offers for cis roles.
06:38 I guess, in terms of what I'm interested in pursuing
06:41 right now, I don't know.
06:45 I'm looking forward to tackle all kinds
06:48 of different characters and stories.
06:50 I suppose I feel so much of my work
06:54 I've had to fight through such a discomfort
06:59 before I could actually be present in a character,
07:02 in a scene, or what have you.
07:03 And now, to get to start from a foundation of just being there
07:08 is so thrilling.
07:10 So I'm just excited about different things
07:15 that are ahead.
07:17 Your memoir, Page Boys, out on paperback next month,
07:20 great book.
07:21 You also co-wrote a feature close to you,
07:24 which will be out in August.
07:25 How has it been to develop your voice as a writer?
07:30 It's been an absolute joy that I could not
07:37 have ever imagined before.
07:39 And by that, I mean I always dreamed
07:44 of being able to write a book or what have you.
07:48 But it just felt impossible.
07:50 Sure, there could be spurts of some writing, but--
07:53 and it was--
07:54 I do definitely think it was transitioning.
08:01 It was the comfort that that allowed me, the presence.
08:06 So much of my mind had been occupied
08:11 by unhealthy, toxic thinking.
08:15 And now I had the space where my consciousness was just
08:23 like flowing.
08:25 And it was so exhilarating, just being
08:28 able to sit down and write.
08:30 And it's now absolutely one of my favorite things to do,
08:38 and being able to create in that way.
08:41 And I just--
08:44 I think it's similar to an excitement I feel creating--
08:53 sorry, I feel creatively as an actor in the same sense
08:57 of being able to start from a different place.
09:00 And it's incredible to see--
09:05 I mean, it makes sense.
09:06 But what you're able to do when your mind isn't losing so much
09:10 energy doing just all the shit it used to do before,
09:16 that was not helpful.
09:18 That was not helpful.
09:21 Activism is a big part of your life.
09:23 You've been outspoken about efforts in Canada
09:25 to roll back laws and protections for trans people.
09:29 Can you talk a little bit about what's happening in Alberta
09:31 and how you see some of those same tides
09:33 playing out in the States?
09:35 Sure.
09:36 I mean, I guess in terms of Canada,
09:39 I think sometimes people have a certain thought about Canada.
09:44 I do.
09:45 And there are certain things that's--
09:48 like people can have health care.
09:53 But there's also the same issues in Canada
10:00 that exist in the United States.
10:02 And sometimes I think Canada hides behind a bit of its
10:07 branding, so to speak, when we have the same issues.
10:12 So the same anti-trans rhetoric, misinformation, lies, et
10:15 cetera, that's being perpetuated by politicians
10:18 and various people with massive platforms
10:21 has--
10:23 is making its presence known in Canada as well.
10:26 In Alberta and New Brunswick are two particular places.
10:30 But again, it's the same--
10:32 unfortunately, right now, rather overwhelming tactic
10:38 of just these attacks coming from all sides in terms
10:42 of trans existence, whether it's health care, ID,
10:46 the use of bathrooms, the ability to play sports, et
10:49 cetera, just pushing people out of life.
10:57 And so yes, it's a huge--
11:01 it's becoming a massive problem in Canada as well.
11:05 It strikes me that so much of what's happening politically
11:08 right now is about controlling people's access
11:11 to bodily autonomy.
11:12 And I think the fight for reproductive freedom
11:16 here in the States is also deeply connected
11:18 with the fight for trans liberation.
11:21 How can we build more coalition between those two camps?
11:25 Gosh.
11:28 You don't have to--
11:29 I don't know if I'm the one that has the--
11:31 someone much more well-versed and knowledgeable than me
11:35 would be able to have probably a proper answer.
11:38 But I think, again, yes, it's about finding connection
11:42 in these movements, because they are all connected.
11:45 It's bodily autonomy, being able to have control over your body,
11:51 over your life, over your future.
11:53 Of course, something that empowers that be,
11:58 that toxic systems of power and oppression
12:02 are going to go after.
12:05 And those fights and resistant movements
12:10 are absolutely connected.
12:11 So hopefully, we can see more coalition, what have you.
12:21 You've long used your platform to amplify other voices.
12:24 Years ago, I read a great book, off your recommendation,
12:27 called Split Tooth by the Inuit writer, Tanya Tabak.
12:30 Amazing.
12:31 Who are some of the artists, writers, creators
12:35 that you're excited about right now?
12:38 Oh, my gosh.
12:41 Artists, writers, creators that I'm most excited about right
12:44 now.
12:45 Well, I guess many.
12:50 Travis Alabanza, if you're not familiar.
12:53 The incredible British playwright and writer.
12:58 And their memoir, called None of the Above, is amazing.
13:03 It came out in the States a couple of months ago.
13:06 So Travis is incredible.
13:12 Thomas Page McBee, obviously, is someone
13:14 I adore, who's an incredible friend, incredible writer,
13:17 and always want to devour everything that they create.
13:24 Chase Joint, who made this stunning documentary,
13:27 framing Agnes and an Ordinary Man.
13:32 I just read their book that's going to be coming out.
13:34 And they just continue to be doing incredible work.
13:39 I'm sure I'll think of more.
13:40 We were chatting yesterday about the state of things
13:49 around trans liberation and LGBTQ equality,
13:54 and that it is hard not to feel doom and gloom about some
13:57 of these issues.
13:58 What do we have to feel hopeful about right now?
14:03 [LAUGHTER]
14:06 I'm just kidding.
14:08 I'm just kidding.
14:09 I'm so full of hope.
14:10 No, no, I am.
14:16 I am.
14:16 Come on, we all have those days where--
14:18 We are.
14:18 We're hopeful.
14:18 There's some days we're hopeful.
14:20 And there's some days where, of course, we're less hopeful.
14:21 You know, some days where everything you look at
14:23 is gorgeous, and other days where everything makes
14:26 you want to crawl into a hole and cry.
14:28 But I think what makes--
14:31 I'd say where I--
14:38 I know where I feel hope is in what I feel in community,
14:48 and those who care desperately about making
14:55 this world a better place, who use their privilege, whatever
15:03 that might be, for them to actively create change.
15:12 And I think hope for me is in those who continuously resist
15:20 and support each other, no matter
15:24 whether today you're feeling hope or you're not.
15:27 And I think a great book to read is Miss Major Speaks,
15:34 which is Miss Major's sort of memoir.
15:37 It's like in conversation with Miss Major,
15:39 who if you're not familiar is a Black trans woman elder who
15:46 has just been a prolific activist
15:49 and changed the lives of so many people
15:51 and helped create a world where someone like me can exist.
15:57 And I think when I read Miss Major's book
16:00 and what she went through and what she stood up against
16:02 and the change that she created in much more drastic
16:08 situations, I see hope in reminding myself that--
16:13 exactly.
16:19 That progress is not linear.
16:22 And we might not see the changes from government
16:28 that you want to see.
16:30 And we have to rely on each other.
16:33 I think of already so much of the care that's
16:36 being threatened to get taken away, so many people already
16:39 can't access it.
16:40 So it's already-- all of the things that are being taken
16:45 away is actually already an issue for so many people,
16:48 particularly trans people who aren't in a position like me
16:51 where I can pretty easily get surgery and pay for it,
16:55 have access to great health care,
16:57 to get my blood levels checked because I'm on testosterone,
17:00 et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
17:01 All these aspects that we don't necessarily
17:05 think about if we're not familiar with the issues.
17:08 Sorry, that was relatively long-winded.
17:10 And I don't know if very on point to what you were asking.
17:13 No.
17:15 There is much to hope for.
17:17 I can agree on that.
17:19 Ellie Page, thank you so much for being here with us today.
17:21 Thank you so much.
17:22 Thank you all for being here this morning.
17:24 [APPLAUSE]
17:26 [BLANK_AUDIO]