Elliot Page, formerly Ellen Page, lamented having to wear a dress at the premiere of the critically acclaimed hit movie Juno at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2007.
Speaking with Esquire, Page recalled how people constantly demanded that she wear a dress to the film’s premiere.
“When ‘Juno’ was at the height of its popularity, during awards-season time, I was closeted, dressed in heels and the whole look — I wasn’t okay, and I didn’t know how to talk about that with anyone,” Page said. “I think of times when people actively were like, ‘No, you need to wear a dress’ in very, very, very pivotal moments.”
Page recalled wanting to “wear a suit” to the premiere only to have Fox Searchlight tell her no.
“I said I wanted to wear a suit, and Fox Searchlight was basically like, ‘No, you need to wear a dress.’ And they took me in a big rush to one of those fancy stores on Bloor Street,” Page recalled. “They had me wear a dress, and that was that. And then all the ‘Juno’ press, all the photo shoots — [co-star] Michael Cera was in slacks and sneakers. I look back at the photos, and I’m like . . .?”
Actor Mark Rendall and actress Ellen Page attend the Fox Searchlight party during the Toronto International Film Festival 2007 held at the Boiler House on September 8, 2007 in Toronto, Canada. (Philip Cheung/Getty Images)
To critics that might criticize her complaint, the X-Men star said having to wear a dress “literally did almost kill me.”
“This sounds strange to people, and I get that people don’t understand. Oh, fuck you, you’re famous, and you have money, and you had to wear a dress, boo-hoo. I don’t not understand that reaction. But that’s mixed with: I wish people would understand that that shit literally did almost kill me,” said Page.
“That was really extremely, extremely fucked up,” Page continued. “I shouldn’t have to treat it like just this thing that happened — this somewhat normal thing. It’s like: No. Regardless of me being trans! I’ve had people who’ve apologized about things: ‘Sorry, I didn’t know, I didn’t know at the time.’ It doesn’t matter! It doesn’t matter if I’m trans or cis. Lots of cis women dress how I dress. That has nothing to fucking do with it.”
The actor made a similar lamentation in 2021 about her experience at the premiere of Christopher Nolan’s Inception.
“There was so much press and so many premieres all around the world and I was wearing dresses and heels to pretty much every single event,” Page told Oprah Winfrey.
Page said that a horrible panic attack occurred at the Paris premiere after a staff member brought three dresses as formal wear options for the film’s initial screening.
“I lost it, it was like a cinematic moment. That night, after the premiere at the after-party, I collapsed. That’s something that’s happened frequently in my life, usually corresponding with a panic attack,” Page said. “Ultimately, of course, it’s every experience you’ve had since you were a toddler, people saying, ‘The way you’re sitting is not ladylike, you’re walking like a boy. The music you’re listening to as a teenager,’ obviously, the way you dress. Every single aspect of who you are constantly being looked at and put in a box in a very binary system. That’s what it leads to.”
Page came out as transgender and non-binary in early December 2020, roughly six years after coming out as a lesbian.