The idea behind it did come out of my love for travel shows. I loved them as a little kid and I loved Anthony Bourdain, but I really did want to see one about LGBTQ communities and culture and the specific country that we visit. Of course it is about the joys and the triumphs and the nightlife, but sadly, unfortunately, it's also about the discrimination that people face, because that's the reality.
Ellen PageThere's no big budget Canadian movie. Whatever movies are big budget in Canada come from the states. Or also have states financing. Everything's pretty small.
Ellen PageDo I think it would be better that people knew the atrocities that Monsanto commits or the influence of corporate money in government or government subsidies for our current food system that's a disaster and not sustainable? Yes. That would be really great, but a lot of that information unless you look for it, it's not available to you because that's not the discussion that's happening on mainstream news.
Ellen PageI don't care if people like my character. I just want them to think about the movie's message.
Ellen PageI think people who work and being alive and paying your bills and feeding your kids is hard. It's hard to have the space. Quite frankly, I'm in a privileged position to think about things, to read about things and to educate myself about things. A lot of people just don't have the time.
Ellen PageIt's a beautiful book [Into the Forest], so for those who are thinking about reading it, they absolutely should. First and foremost, I just devoured it, as a story. At that time, and still, it just encompassed a lot of things that I was thinking about, and that the world is thinking about, with society's relationship to the environment, our personal relationship to it, and how disconnected we are from it, myself included.
Ellen Page