Ellen Page

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In a sea of young actresses in Hollywood, there is one young talent that stands out above the rest. 20 year old Ellen Page has been working in her native Canada for the last 10 years but has only recently garnered the attention of Hollywood, winning critical and peer praise across the board. This humble, talented young actress is a rising star who has a bright career ahead of her and is entering into one of the most exciting journeys of a lifetime.Born and raised in Halifax, Nova Scotia by a teacher and a graphic designer, Ellen began her acting career at the age of 10, when she filmed a made-for-tv movie called Pit Pony.It was soon turned into a television series and opened the door to a number of other Canadian tv shows such as Trailer Park Boys,and ReGenesisas well as numerous small Canadian films like Marion Bridge,The Wet Seasonand Touch & Go.At the age of 16, she was cast in an independent film, which was shot in Europe, called Mouth to Mouth.However, it was a role in another independent movie that really got Hollywood to pay attention to her. In 2005, Ellen was cast in a co-starring role alongside Patrick Wilson and Sandra Oh in a movie called Hard Candy.

The movie centered around Ellen's character, Hayley Stark, a teenage internet fanatic, discovering a pedophile online and working to develop a relationship with this older man in order to expose him. The movie, decidedly serious in nature due to its timely subject matter, put the spotlight on Ellen, who was heavily praised by critics for turning in one of the most complex, disturbing and haunting performances of the year.She followed the film up with a turn as a mutant named Kitty Pryde in the film X-Men: The Last Stand.In 2007, she took on a starring role that has changed her life, turning her into an award nominated actress virtually overnight. Ellen was cast as the title character in Fox Searchlight's Juno,an independent film about a teenage girl who gets pregnant and tries to balance out the pitfalls of adolescence with making a life changing decision about her baby's future. The movie, co-starring Michael Cera, Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner, was an instant success on the film festival circuit, opening to rave reviews at both the Telluride Film Festival and the Toronto Film Festival. Ellen's realistic performance as a wise cracking yet vulnerable teen earned her critical praise and led to an award from the National Board of Review for Best Breakthrough Performance " Female. She was also recently nominated for a 2008 Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture " Musical or Comedy. Ellen's career is continuing to speed forward with roles in no less than 3 soon to be released movies, An American Crimewith Catherine Keener, The Tracey Fragmentsand The Stone Angelwith Ellen Burstyn and Cole Hauser. We here at Young Hollywood have been tracking Ellen for quite awhile and over the past couple of years she has proven to be the one of the actresses of her generation that is destined to breakout in a big way. She is someone that should be on every "It" list in Hollywood just as she is on ours, and when that occurs we can say we knew a long time ago that her consistently outstanding and unique performances were worthy of notice and praise. There is no doubt that Ellen is on the verge to emerge as one of the most talented young actresses of her generation, and we are looking forward to seeing her continue to bring life to interesting characters for many years to come.