Elliot Page, who “transitioned” from a woman to a man in 2020, hit the Toronto International Film Festival to promote what some outlets like Yahoo! News are hailing as the Inception and Juno star’s “first movie as a leading man.” Page called the role of Sam in the film Close to You “one of the most incredible experiences of my career,” as scenes feature Page topless and the actor’s first love scene.
The Canadian performer’s return to TIFF for Close to You, comes 16 years after starring in Jason Reitman’s Oscar-nominated comedy, Juno.
The star formerly known as Ellen Page said the desire is to open the mind of audiences, allowing them to know what it was like to play a scene shirtless, was paramount.
As Breitbart News reported, Page made international news in 2020, coming out as transgender.
Page’s preferred pronouns are now “he/him” and “they/them,” and Page self-identifies as “non-binary.”
After the TIFF screening of the new movie, the actor took the stage and called the film “incredible.”
Elliot appears as Sam, a trans man who reconnects with a former flame while traveling to suburban Canada for a discomforting reunion with his family.
Close to You shows the actor in several shirtless scenes that reveal the scars from her chest masculinization surgery.
Elliot Page attends as RBC Host “Close to You” Cocktail Party at RBC House Toronto International Film Festival 2023 on September 10, 2023 in Toronto, Ontario. (Kennedy Pollard/Getty Images for RBC)
“Shooting on the day, I was getting out of bed and getting dressed, it was sort of clumsy, like, ‘Oh, it would be great, he sleeps shirtless,'” the actor recently told Entertainment Weekly. “It just felt natural.
“Showing this dude who’s comfortable and present and waking up in his body, that means a lot to me. I never thought I’d feel that way, so it’s nice to get to act it.”