Ellen Page told to hide sexuality and wear ‘dresses and heels’ by Hollywood execs
Elliot Page stars in Netflix’s “The Umbrella Academy.” (Rich Fury/Getty)
Ellen Page has opened up about being told to hide her sexuality by Hollywood executives.
The 32-year-old actress said she was also pressured to dress a certain way.
Speaking to Porter, she said: “I was distinctly told, by people in the industry, when I started to become known: ‘People cannot know you’re gay.’
“And I was pressured – forced, in many cases – to always wear dresses and heels for events and photo shoots. As if lesbians don’t wear dresses and heels.
“But I will never let anyone put me in anything I feel uncomfortable in ever again.”
Page married dancer Emma Portner in January 2018, five years after coming out.
She added that coming out in Hollywood was now “different” to ten years ago.
“I remember being in my early 20s and really believing it was impossible for me to come out. But, over time, with more representation, hearts and minds have been changed,” Page said.
Emma Portner and Ellen Page (Earl Gibson III/Getty)
“It doesn’t happen quickly enough and it hasn’t happened enough, particularly for the most marginalised in the community. But things have got better.”
Earlier this month, Page spoke out about how she did not feel comfortable touching another woman in public for a long time.
Page, who stars in the upcoming Netflix series The Umbrella Academy, told The Independent she could relate to her character Vanya’s journey of self-discovery.
“She’s going from this place of repression, to finding out who she is, to getting in touch with the rage she has, that leads into this… power,” Page described.
The actor described herself as being “very, very, very closeted” in the first decade of her career—which encompassed her major breakthrough with Juno in 2007 and blockbusters such as Inception in 2010 and the X-Men franchise.
Even when she started dating women, she was “making her girlfriends leave buildings through different exits, or hide in hotel bathrooms when room service came,” The Independent reported.
“I mean, I barely touched a woman outside until I was 27 years old.”
