Elliot Page cries ‘tears of joy’ telling Oprah how he finally feels comfortable in his body
Elliot Page cried ‘tears of joy’ about his transition in a new interview with Oprah Winfrey. (Vanity Fair/Oprah)
Elliot Page cried “tears of joy” describing to Oprah how it feels to finally be comfortable in his own body.
The Umbrella Academy actor, who came out as trans last year, was speaking to Oprah Winfrey in a groundbreaking interview that is set to debut on Apple TV+ on Friday 30 April.
The actor told Vanity Fair that he went on Oprah because he feels the need to use his platform to speak out and be visible for trans kids who are being impacted by a spate of anti-trans bills advancing through state legislatures across the US.
“All the trauma aside, that it took you to get here. The courage that it took for you to stand within the truth of yourself, to do the things that you’ve always known you needed to do. What part of your transition has actually brought you the most joy?” Oprah asks Page in a preview clip released by Vanity Fair.
“Goodness!” Page responds. “What has brought me the most joy?”
“The most joy,” he repeats, becoming visibly emotional. “It’s the little… getting out of the shower and the towel’s around your waist and you’re looking at yourself in the mirror and you’re just like: ‘There I am.'”
He continued, tearing up: “And I’m not having the moment where I’m panicked, I’m not having all these little moments that used to be… just being in a t-shirt. It’s…”
Gesturing at his chest, crying, he says: “It’s being able to touch my chest. Feel comfortable in my body for probably the first time.”
Wiping away tears, Elliot Page tells Oprah they are “tears of joy”.
Speaking to Vanity Fair about the history-making interview, Page said he took a moment to think the idea through before agreeing to sit down with Oprah.
“It was something I needed to sit with for a moment, because the backlash right now is so intense. But the rhetoric coming from anti-trans activists and anti-LGBTQ activists – it’s devastating.
“These bills are going to be responsible for the death of children. It is that simple. So [talking to Oprah] felt like an opportunity to use a wide-reaching platform to speak from my heart about some of my experience and the resources I’ve been able to access – whether therapy or surgery – that have allowed me to be alive, to live my life.”
Page added: “I don’t want it to sound like, ‘Look at me.’ It’s not that at all. Actually, I was really nervous. But I thought about it for a bit, and it just felt like, Okay, the GOP basically wants to destroy the lives of trans kids and stop the Equality Act. How do you not use this platform?”
