Marking the first time a transgender man has appeared on the cover of Time Magazine, actor Elliot Page has opened up about his transgender identity, marriage, and acting career.
Page, who began acting professionally at the age of 10, spoke candidly about juggling their gender dysphoria with the expectations of being in the public eye.
When he began starring in roles where he played more feminine characters, Page says he felt uncomfortable getting into the characters and even the clothes. It was even more of a challenge to watch the movies. “I just never recognized myself," he said. "For a long time I could not even look at a photo of myself.”
The 34-year-old traced the dysphoria back to when he was 9, when he was first allowed to cut his short. “I felt like a boy,” Page said. “I wanted to be a boy. I would ask my mom if I could be someday.”
In 2014, Page came out as gay. “The difference in how I felt before coming out as gay to after was massive,” he said. “But did the discomfort in my body ever go away? No, no, no, no.”
He came out as transgender in December on social media. "I want to share with you that I am trans, my pronouns are he/they and my name is Elliot," Page wrote. "I feel lucky to be writing this. To be here. To have arrived at this place in my life. I feel overwhelming gratitude for the incredible people who have supported me along this journey. I can’t begin to express how remarkable it feels to finally love who I am enough to pursue my authentic self."
In the interview with Time, Page revealed that at the time of that announcement he was actually recovering from top surgery in Toronto. He makes a point to emphasize that "being trans isn’t all about surgery."
As Time notes,
"For some people, it’s unnecessary. For others, it’s unaffordable. For the wider world, the media’s focus on it has sensationalized transgender bodies, inviting invasive and inappropriate questions. But Page describes surgery as something that, for him, has made it possible to finally recognize himself when he looks in the mirror, providing catharsis he’s been waiting for since the “total hell” of puberty. “It has completely transformed my life,” he says. So much of his energy was spent on being uncomfortable in his body, he says. Now he has that energy back."
Just a month later, fans received another shock with the announcement of Page's split from his wife of three years, Emma Portner. While she had been a vocal supporter of her partner (even shutting down a few trolls who had negative comments to say), Page revealed the two actually separated last summer, but have "remained close friends.”
“I had a lot of time on my own to really focus on things that I think, in so many ways, unconsciously, I was avoiding.”
Throughout the interview, it feels like a weight has been lifted off of Page. He now seems ready to take on the world, white privilege in hand, and be a key voice in the fight for transgender rights.
“Extremely influential people are spreading these myths and damaging rhetoric—every day you’re seeing our existence debated,” said Page. “Transgender people are so very real.”
