Absolutely, I think coming out has allowed me to align who I am with with my creative self.
Ellen PageI feel like we've inherited modern infrastructure, and I could run away from it and become a full-time activist, or I can try to do my job, and try to talk about things I care about, and be able to do something like sponsor a topsoil conference in Nova Scotia, and talk about Bill McKibben, and narrate a documentary about the vanishing of the bees, and try to navigate my way through this world the best way possible. That's what I'm trying to figure out. Probably like many people right now.
Ellen PageI'm really passionate about music - I get really emotionally connected, probably in a weird way.
Ellen PageWe became so close [with Rachel Evan Wood], in the process of leading up to making the film [Into the Forest ]. We were saying goodbye to each other, wrapping the film, and we knew we'd be seeing each other again.
Ellen PageScientists and religious leaders, activists and first nation leaders, CEOs of corporations and actors, all of us need to come together right now, because the planet is in a lot of pain. My job doesnโt always feel like an integral part of the change that needs to occur. If I can offer, in my profession, to do things that are going to allow more people to connect with certain issues, then I hope itโs useful.
Ellen PageThere are moments when you are, um, encouraged to dress a certain way. But I can't. It just erodes my soul. That's no criticism to girls who can wear a tiny dress and kill it - that's awesome. People always attribute being a feminist to hating girls being sexual, and that's not it at all. I'm just not into it.
Ellen PageI don't really want to do the Hollywood thing, I think you ought to try to say something with your movies.
Ellen PageDiablo Cody wasn't writing a script about a 16-year girl that got an abortion. She was writing a script about a 16-year old girl that got pregnant, decided to have the baby and give it to a young yuppy uptight couple for adoption. That's what the movie is about.
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 PageI've always been drawn to stories and telling them; whether it was through being a part of theater when I was a little kid, or film, or with music, there's just been an innate desire to feel that connection.
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 PageI am tired of hiding and I am tired of lying by omission. I suffered for years because I was scared to be out. My spirit suffered, my mental health suffered and my relationships suffered. And I'm standing here today, with all of you, on the other side of that pain.
Ellen PageBut I've never been really rebellious. I've got a lot of support and I'm not pushed so hard that I feel like I'm going to burn out, which is what happens to a lot of actors in their early twenties.
Ellen PageNow, I try not to read gossip as a rule. But the other day, a website ran an article with a picture of me wearing sweatpants on the way to the gym. And the writer asked, 'Why does this petite beauty insist on dressing like a massive man?' Because I like to be comfortable.
Ellen PageI don't know why people are so reluctant to say they're feminists. Could it be any more obvious that we still live in a patriarchal world when feminism is a bad word?
Ellen PageI am a feminist and I am totally pro-choice, but what's funny is when you say that people assume that you are pro-abortion. I don't love abortion but I want women to be able to choose and I don't want white dudes in an office being able to make laws on things like this. I mean what are we going to do - go back to clothes hangers?
Ellen PageLove, the beauty of it, the joy of it and yes, even the pain of it, is the most incredible gift to give and to receive as a human being. And we deserve to experience love fully, equally, without shame and without compromise.
Ellen PageThe relationships I've had with my girl friends are so powerful and meaningful. Without them I truly don't know what I'd do.
Ellen PageWe're trying, despite having done research and having obviously preconceived ideas, we try our best to be as open-hearted as possible, and try to create context. So that's always going to be the challenge, making a program like 'Gaycation', and we are always thinking about it, reflecting on it, and doing our best to show the whole picture as much as possible in a 45-minute span. Hopefully that comes across.
Ellen PageIโm a huge fan of the program Democracy Now, which is hosted by Amy Goodman, and I subscribe to the podcast.
Ellen PageI loved Thirteen and I loved Pretty Persuasion, and was always just so blown away by her [Rachel Evan Wood]. It was nice, and sadly, it is so rare.
Ellen PageIn a lot of states LGBT people can be fired for just being gay or for just being trans. That's totally legal.
Ellen PageThe 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 PageOf course you have days that are long, you're tired, and things aren't working out, and you can get frustrated, but I would say any of the things that make it less glamorous or cause some complexity or turn you down the road you weren't expecting to go down is a part of the thrill.
Ellen PageI donโt believe in eye-for-an-eye. The most incredible, sustainable, beautiful movements have been non-violent movements of civil disobedience.
Ellen PageI don't want to become unhealthily attached to what I do. I'm grateful for what I do, but I also want to be able to be OK when I'm not doing it.
Ellen PageI've been in a few movies that really have the tendency to polarize people, and I kind of like that. I kind of like anything that pushes people's buttons. People will always take things as they want, and project stuff on it - it's just kind of what people do. Whether it's violence or teen pregnancy, whatever.
Ellen PageI think the bottom line is that we have to learn from what's going on in other countries. We have to learn from what people are doing to and live fully in really dire, hard circumstances, and then compare that to our own experience.
Ellen PageI'm not used to being in front of a camera as myself. I'm not used to watching myself as myself.
Ellen PageI was in a store in Halifax, Nova Scotia that I love, sort of like an environmental friendly sort of store. But they had a great book section. So I went in there all the time. The woman who worked there - which I feel so bad; I've forgotten her name - she handed me the book and she said, "Hey, you should read this. I think it would make a good movie." I remember reading the back of it and I was like, "Huh." Then I just devoured the book and I was so moved by it and said, "Why don't we start developing this into a film?" So that's how it ['Into the Forest'] all started.
Ellen PageI'm not a fancy person. I love small spaces. I like tiny cars. I don't buy things, aside from music and books. I don't get loads of attention and maybe it's because I'm kind of boring. I don't think I'm boring, but I have different interests. I don't go out much, not because I'm hiding but because I'm not a big drinker. I go out and have a good time, I go to concerts and stuff.
Ellen Page