Ellen Page Says Lesbian Role In "Freeheld" Inspired Her To Come Out In Real Life
Ellen Page has become a bona fide LGBT advocate since coming out publicly at an HRC gala last February. In recent months, she’s publicly gone to bat for the community a handful of times, most recently taking GOP presidential hopeful Ted Cruz to task over his deeply anti-gay views.
Next month, Page will star alongside Julianne Moore in Freeheld. The film tells the true story of New Jersey police officer Laurel Hester, who after finding out she was terminally ill, fought for the right of her wife to receive pension benefits after her death because the couple’s marriage was not recognized by their state.
In a new interview with Out, Page reveals her role as Stacie Andree, Hester's spouse, is what inspired her to come out of the closet.
“I remember thinking, Ellen, how in God’s name could you make this film and not be out?” she told the magazine. “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. Stacie and Laurel’s story is incredibly inspiring and did take a lot of courage, particularly in a time of such unimaginable difficulty. 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 fucking privilege, so do something with it.”
Page admits she was “really nervous” to begin working with the legendary Julianne Moore, but their relationship was never tense. In the interview, Moore even says she learned more about her role by experiencing Page’s coming out as it happened.
“It was interesting for me, because Ellen had just so recently come out [when we started filming],” she said. “And this is going to sound silly, and hopefully not hurtful on my part, 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. She said she felt discomfort simply wearing all these dresses, and it was all very eye-opening for me. She was so unprotective [of herself] — I was very touched by that. It definitely made me more sensitive to the nuances of our movie.”
Freehold hits theaters on Wednesday, October 2. Check out the trailer below.
