El Page
In Spanish, El means the. In the case of the human thespian who went from being an actress named Ellen Page to an actor named Elliot Page, there will be an autobiography coming out in June. It is called Pageboy: A Memoir. For those who don’t know what pageboy means, there are two meanings - young errand boy in a hotel or at a wedding, and a woman’s hairstyle which was mostly famous in the seventies when you look at TV shows like UFO or even a Hong Kong actor like Sammo Hung. Before I get criticized by the woke crowd for “dead-naming” Page, I am just being historically accurate instead of dismissive.
On Wednesday, February 27 in 2014, I saw a 2003 TV movie where Ellen Page had a small role. The English TV channel that aired it was called True Entertainment. The movie was called Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story. I visited her Wikipedia page because I thought that she was much younger than she actually was. Her image in Juno (2007) made me think that she was born in 1990. I was surprised that she was born three months before me. Juno began filming in the last week of Ellen being 19. I suspect that the airing of the TV movie was a way to cash in on the publicity of Ellen coming out as “gay” (i.e. she didn’t refer to herself as a lesbian).
On Sunday, March 23, ITV 2 aired Whip It (2009). Two days before, Channel 4 aired Juno (which I only saw because a literary agent compared me to the screenwriter - Diablo Cody). When I saw Whip It, I was thinking less about Juno and more about Rebecca, a schoolmate from my secondary school who looked similar to the way that Ellen did as Bliss Cavendar (a.k.a. Babe Ruthless). Similar face, same hair colour, and she was bespectacled. Because two Ellen Page movies were shown in the same week, I was reminded of that Classic Albums documentary about Metallica’s 5th album. Record producer Bob Rock saw two signs that he should work with Metallica instead of Ritchie Sambora. As a side-note, I should point out that he had also rejected the opportunity to work with Ratt for their fifth album.
Back to Ellen, watching those movies got me thinking she would be ideal for the co-lead role in the adaptation of my Seattle-set novel. My feeling at the time was that if she rejected it then I would feel immensely sorry for her because the trailers for the then-unreleased X-Men: Days of Future Past had put more emphasis on Jennifer Lawrence (which defeats the purpose of the franchise being an ensemble piece). The irony is that if Jennifer had been the one to play Kitty Pryde in the 2006 threequel (X-Men: The Last Stand) then the character would not have been downgraded from being the main character of Days of Future Past. I don’t buy the excuse that they needed Hugh Jackman as the star, since X-Men: First Class did fine without having it placed squarely on his shoulders (where the weight of its world almost made him typecast).
I also felt sorry for Ellen because I can relate to being the victim of bad timing. She was in Super (2010), which has been unfairly seen as a copycat of Kick-Ass (also 2010). Matthew Vaughn, the director and co-screenwriter of Kick-Ass, defended James Gunn by saying that both movies were conceived at the same time, but Super had the misfortune of being released one year later. It would be many months before I got the chance to see Super, but more on that later.
On FetLife, I received messages from a 42-year-old Canadian woman who looks like filmmaker Patricia Rozema, also a Canadian. The FetLifer claimed to be one of Ellen’s acquaintances because I mentioned on my profile that she was my favourite actress. The date was 22/5/14 - the same day when Days of Future Past was released in Britain (a day before the U.S. release). The first message that I got from this woman stated: “Hey there. Ellen Page, how interesting.”
My response: “I liked her performances in X-Men: The Last Stand, Homeless to Harvard, Juno and Whip It (especially the latter two). Her coming out speech and ensuing interview extracts made me a bigger fan.”
Her surprising response: “Ellen Page is from my area. We have some common friends and acquaintances. I knew her ex-girlfriend rather well. The most petite full-grown woman who I’ve ever met.”
My response: “Fascinating. She mentioned that her previous relationships suffered because she did not come out.”
Her response: “Yes. It was common knowledge amongst my groups of friends that her personal life wasn’t up for discussion. I think the age difference played a large role in this particular break-up, although they were together for quite some time.”
My response: “Very interesting. Coincidentally, I was thinking about the possibility of her having an older girlfriend because she seems like the sort of person who would identify with someone who’s older and mature.”
The irony about that is that Ellen would eventually marry a woman who was younger than herself. On a lesbian forum called The L Chat, Ellen was known for dating older women. Another irony is that despite Ellen having a penchant for wearing a cap that has “tomboy” printed on it, Hugh Jackman referred to Jennifer Lawrence as the most gloriously down-to-earth person that he has ever met. He said this in the May 2014 issue of Elle magazine, which I purchased as part of my research when undertaking the responsibility of writing a novel that takes place in the Italian fashion industry.
Back to my Seattle novel, my first choice for the love interest was another Ellen: Muth. I wanted Ellen Muth due to an early noughties TV series titled Dead Like Me. Before Ellen Page, I wanted Hayden Panettiere to play the love interest. Hayden wanted her character in Heroes to have a lesbian storyline, and she used to perfect her kissing technique by kissing her best friend. Also, she has too many “girl crushes” to be truly regarded as heterosexual. For argument’s sake, we’ll say she’s bisexual. She adores Kate Beckinsale, which would have been wonderful if I wanted Kate to star in my film project. Anyway, Hayden has been quoted as saying that she would love to have an affair with Angelina Jolie, Jessica Alba or Charlize Theron (who played lesbians in Monster and Atomic Blonde).
Back to Ellen Page, I saw Hard Candy (2005) on Sunday, June 29. It was aired on BBC Two. Before I saw it, I was already convinced that Ellen was better than Jennifer Lawrence. I thought that Jennifer was average in The Hunger Games (2012) but above-average in Winter’s Bone (2010). On the other hand, Ellen was good in Juno (7/10) but very good (8/10) in Whip It and Hard Candy. She had the most romantic face that I’ve ever seen. There was a poignance and innocence about it. She had such mesmerizing eyes. I couldn’t understand why Jennifer was such a popular awards magnet. It wasn’t like she was more good-looking. It was only when I did an online search during the next day that I totally understood why. She treats her interviews like screen tests for broad comedies. Even without having to watch an entire interview, a simple Google Image search is all you need to assess her potential. Things got tricky. I had another change of heart when Film4 aired Super on Saturday, December 27. Ellen gave a performance that was livelier than anything which she had gone before.
This was one of those casting dilemmas where a less popular person has a better reputation but a more popular person has a less renowned talent. The difference is that Jennifer succeeded in winning an Oscar for Silver Linings Playbook (2012). The real reason why Ellen didn’t win one for Juno is because we don’t get to see her tears (the van scene was added after completion when it became obvious that the title character wasn’t all that sympathetic). Another difference between the two actresses is that Jennifer has won three Golden Globes, whereas Ellen hasn’t won one. In theory, it would’ve been easier to cast Jennifer. However, her detractors see her as overrated. This is partially true given that her performance in Silver Linings Playbook was 7/10. By comparison, Emma Stone’s performance in Easy A (2010) was 8/10. My idea of a 9 is Jackie Chan’s performance in City Hunter (1993). My idea of a 10 is Jim Carrey’s performance in Me, Myself and Irene (2000).
Before 2014 came to an end, I decided that Ellen Page would be in my fashion movie. As for my Seattle film, the problem was finding actresses who could play the younger versions of the main character. I decided that it would be easier to cast Julia Ormond or Brit Marling as the counsellor because Britt Robertson could play the university version of the character. The elementary school version would be played by Leigh Bourque. She was primarily known for playing the young Tess Mercer in Smallville, but I first saw her in a 2015 series titled Backstrom starring Rainn Wilson (who was in Juno and Super). As the years went by, I had to choose between changing the casting or changing the ages of the character. This meant updating the elementary school setting to junior high. Britt Robertson still looked young for her age, so she could still play the university version even if it meant that Leigh would have to play a high school student.
