{"id":47888,"date":"2024-03-15T21:00:39","date_gmt":"2024-03-15T20:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=2010097"},"modified":"2024-03-15T22:21:39","modified_gmt":"2024-03-15T21:21:39","slug":"elliot-page-its-impossible-to-separate-my-work-from-struggles-facing-trans-people","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/elliot-page-its-impossible-to-separate-my-work-from-struggles-facing-trans-people\/","title":{"rendered":"Elliot Page: \u2018It\u2019s impossible to separate my work from struggles facing trans people\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Our lives and bodies are politicised, criminalised.” <\/p>

By Louise Griffin\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Friday, 15 March 2024 at 20:00 PM<\/p>

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Elliot Page has opened up about it being impossible for him to separate his work from the struggles that trans people face every day.<\/p>\n

The Umbrella Academy<\/a> star has returned to the big screen for the first time in years in his new feature Close To You, which he stars in, and has co-produced and co-written with director Dominic Savage.<\/p>\n

Close To You follows Sam (Page), a transgender man who returns to his family home for a gathering after a few years away. While his family are accepting of him, it becomes clear that there are certain thoughts lingering beneath the surface \u2013 particularly when it comes to the man his sister has married. On the way home, he also bumps into old friend Katherine (Hillary Baack) and it\u2019s clear the pair have history.<\/p>\n

Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com<\/a> about whether he can separate his work from the struggles that trans people face, Page says: \u201cI don\u2019t think it can ever be separate, because our lives and bodies are politicised, criminalised, all of those things, and it\u2019s just becoming progressively worse, which is so horrific and devastating.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I suppose it\u2019s always on your mind somewhat, and all you can hope is that this film\u2026really, mostly I just love the thought of maybe someone who needs to see this sitting in a theatre and being able to have something about their experience reflected, or maybe there is somebody who says they\u2019re an ally, but does have those thoughts lingering like the brother-in-law, and [it] helps them potentially understand not only the impact, but just, quite frankly, that they\u2019re wrong.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can never sort of separate the reality of what\u2019s facing trans people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Elliot\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Elliot Page in the film Close To You<\/span><\/figcaption> Courtesy of Me+You Productions<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

Page came out publicly as a transgender man in December 2020, specifying his pronouns and sharing his name.<\/p>\n

Speaking about what personal experiences he brought to Close To You, he explains: \u201cAlmost every character job feels personal. Meeting someone from your past \u2013 when I was in Grade 10 and a big high school, as far as I knew, not a single kid was out in the whole high school, and I did have feelings for someone.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo there\u2019s certain things that you are drawing. For me, that was like, \u2018what would that be like if you hadn\u2019t seen each other in a long time and now you\u2019re seeing each other and potentially having conversations that you couldn\u2019t have before?\u2019 And certain aspects of that definitely felt personal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite Page\u2019s years of experience in the movie industry, the new film was far from easy for him due to Savage\u2019s unique and unconventional style, which saw all of the dialogue improvised.<\/p>\n

\"Elliot\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Elliot Page and Hillary Baack at the premiere of Close To You.<\/span><\/figcaption> Joe Maher\/Getty Images<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

Savage tells RadioTimes.com<\/strong>: \u201cI think it\u2019s really how I\u2019ve made all my work\u2026 what I really enjoy is to be able to put the actors in the story in a way that they are kind of living the story, rather than acting the story. That\u2019s what I think the the removal of dialogue does \u2013 it allows the actor to completely lose themselves in the scene.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe scenes all have a purpose, that\u2019s very clear from the script, but what I love is when an actor is often reacting to things that are happening as well as it\u2019s going along, it\u2019s a very organic process. Things change all the time. What I think this way of working does is it brings up real emotions, and real feelings. And it\u2019s an it\u2019s an emotional journey like no other.\u201d<\/p>\n

Page admits, though: \u201cLiterally all of the cast and everybody before going into<\/span> it were just terrified. Like I really was s***ting myself. \u2018I don\u2019t know how to<\/span> improvise. What am I doing? Dominic\u2019s gonna be so disappointed.\u2019<\/p>\n

\"Elliot\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Elliot Page, Hillary Baack and Dominic Savage at the premiere of Close To You.<\/span><\/figcaption> Simon Ackerman\/WireImage<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

\u201cAnd then what\u2019s amazing is when it starts happening, it just starts happening, like you<\/span> disappear into<\/span> it and [Baack and I] had a little bit of communication, we\u2019d talked a little bit about what the relationship could have been like in high school and all those things, but we kept it pretty fresh for when we made the film.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

In terms of backstory for her character Katherine, Baack explains: \u201cI didn\u2019t have one specific story like Elliot has in terms of thinking about someone from my past, but at the same time, of course, I have several experiences I felt like I was drawing on and was bringing [in] with what was happening in the present with Sam and Katherine.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just felt like a bringing together of parts of me and who Katherine is as well. And then, of course, Katherine\u2019s deafness and being in the hearing world and speaking and signing a little bit, that\u2019s one thing that I\u2019ve experienced that I could bring to the character.<\/p>\n

Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n