Elliot Page says he ‘didn’t care’ about being misgendered on set of new film Close To You
Elliot Page as Sam in Close To You. (Greenwich Entertainment/ Me + You Productions)
Umbrella Academy star Elliot Page has revealed that a scene in which he was misgendered in new film Close To You was a “slip of the tongue” by actress Wendy Crewson.
Dominic Savage’s quietly powerful new drama film Close To You sees Page play Sam, a man who travels home to a family reunion having not seen his loved ones since transitioning.
The film is almost entirely unscripted and improvised, with one of its key scenes – where Sam is misgendered by his mother, Miriam (Crewson) – actually happening by accident in the moment.
Sam corrects Miriam, and she gets emotional, leaving him having to console her despite her being the one to make the slip up.
“I feel weird because I get misgendered all the time, and I don’t care unless someone’s trying to [be harmful],” Page told The Guardian in a new interview.
“I want to be clear: I wouldn’t correct Wendy as me. I’d be like: ‘It’s fine. We’re going to move on from the moment. It takes a second.’ But, you know, I’m not me. I’m Sam here. And that moment was so perfect because that’s what happens,” he added.
The Umbrella Academy star Elliot Page has previously explained how he deals with being accidentally misgendered in his real life, saying that it’s all about “intent”.
“In those situations, I know the intent of people close to me in my life who are wanting to get it right. If someone misgenders me, I don’t take it personally,” he explained.
“When someone does go to apologise, it’s great. But let’s move on to the next moment in our interaction. Let’s move on before it turns into a bigger thing and becomes about the person who did the misgendering and turns into this whole other energy.
“These things take a second. It’s all good.”
He explained to The Guardian that his own mother, a teacher named Martha, had to spend time getting it right.
“She’s pretty good,” he said. “I’m like, ‘Of course, it’s going to take you a second, mom. It’s fine. You don’t need to beat yourself up about it.”
In addition to Sam’s relationship with his family, one of the most notable elements of Close To You is the minor fact that Sam spends the film wearing a red beanie.
That clothing choice was, in part, intentional.
“A hat is, and has been throughout my life, some kind of gender marker for me. And now it’s like: ‘Oh yeah, I can do this. And it’s not an issue. It’s not going to turn into a long conversation,” he shared.
Page has previously explained that before coming out as trans, he imagined feeling suicidal if he had to wear feminine clothing for future roles.
In his 2023 memoir Pageboy, he wrote that he told his agents to turn down a role that required him to wear period-style women’s wear.
”I would imagine myself in a woman’s costume from the mid-19th century,” he wrote.
“The dress, the shoes, the hair, flashed before my eyes. It was too much after having put on the mask for awards season. I understood that if I were to do it, I would want to kill myself.”
Elliot Page’s new film Close To You is out now in US cinemas and arrives in UK cinemas on 23 August.
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