Ellen Page: 'Movie role inspired me to come out'
Actress Ellen Page was inspired to "come out" publicly as a lesbian during filming of new gay rights drama Freeheld.
The Juno star was gearing up to play Julianne Moore's lesbian lover in the movie and felt it was time to stop being secretive about her sexuality.
She tells Out magazine, "I remember thinking, 'Ellen, how in God's
name could you make this film and not be out?'
"What's interesting to me is how long it took to make the movie -
for it to finally come together - and how my internal progression
toward coming out was naturally in line with it."
Page 'came out' last year (14) and is now working to use her
celebrity to help other people in the Lesbian Gay Bisexual
Transgender (LGBT) community.
She continues, "Stacie and Laurel's story (in the movie) is
incredibly inspiring... It really did make me go, 'Dude, just tell
people you're gay. Just get over yourself, honestly, and support
those who are not as privileged'. It's like, 'You have f**king
privilege, so do something with it'."
In the same interview, Moore credited her co-star for helping her
understand her role, saying, "Ellen had so recently come out, and
this is going to sound silly, and hopefully not hurtful, but I
don't think I was aware of how painful it is to be closeted. I have
the advantage of being a person who's never had to hide my
sexuality, so I asked her a lot of questions - frank questions -
about what that feels like... It was all very eye-opening for me...
It definitely made me more sensitive to the nuances of our
movie."