This month, actor Elliot Page is featured as Esquire’s cover star; and in an interview for the magazine he opened up about an experience he faced whilst he was doing press for Juno.
Page recounts the year being 2007, meaning he was in the closet at the time. Page come out as a transgender man to the entire world in 2020, but in 2007, he was still female-presenting to the world. Page’s role in Juno was his breakout role in the film industry, for which he received an Oscar nomination at age 20.
While on the press circuit for Juno, Page admits to being forced by Fox Searchlight to wear a dress and heels, something he was adamantly not comfortable with. He notes that he told the studio he would like to wear a suit on the red carpet, but that they denied this request with no room for discussion.
Page elaborates that having someone wear anything they’re not comfortable with is not okay, for example the many cis women who are uncomfortable in dresses, and what happened to him is not just a transgender problem.
In the words of Page, “That was really extremely, extremely fucked up. I shouldn’t have to treat it like just this thing that happened—this somewhat normal thing.”
You can read Page’s full interview here.
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