Biography
With diverse roles in both the disturbing indie film "Hard Candy" (2006) and the more mainstream summer blockbuster "X-Men: The Last Stand" (2006), actor Elliot Page primed himself to make a major splash with his star-making turn in the surprise indie hit, "Juno" (2007), in which he played a sharp-witted high school teen who becomes pregnant and decides to give up the baby for adoption. Page's performance as the titular spitfire earned rave reviews and an Oscar nomination for Best Actress. Despite the massive attention he received from "Juno," Page chose to stay in the indie world, appearing alongside Sarah Jessica Parker and Thomas Haden Church in "Smart People" (2008), and starring in Drew Barrymore's directing debut "Whip It" (2009). From there, he starred opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in a major blockbuster, "Inception" (2010), a mind-bending action thriller from Christopher Nolan that earned widespread praise and amassed a serious amount of worldwide box office. But true to form, the indie-minded Page returned to the small films with the superhero comedy "Super" (2011), proving that he was an actor as talented as he was unpredictable. Page continued to alternate between mainstream and indie films throughout the 2010s, moving into television with a starring role in the superhero series "The Umbrella Academy" (Netflix, 2019- ). Born on Feb. 21, 1987 and raised in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Page developed an early interest in performing. He attended the Neptune Theater School, performing in a stage version of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" in the fifth grade. By age 10, he had landed an agent and soon after snagged his first role as Maggie MacLean in the popular Canadian family television movie, "Pit Pony" (1997), as well as a part on the 1999 spin-off television series of the same name. Just 10 years old, his performance garnered him a Young Artist Award nomination, as well as a Gemini (the Canadian equivalent of an Emmy) nomination. In 2002, Page continued his busy schedule. He appeared on the Canadian TV series "Rideau Hall" and "Trailer Park Boys," which received a Gemini nomination for Best Ensemble Cast, and as well as in the Canadian feature films "Marion Bridge" and "The Wet Season." The following year, after appearing in "Touch & Go" and the Canadian TV movie "Mrs. Ashboro's Cat," he made his U.S. television debut in the Lifetime TV movie "Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story." For his performance as Emily Anderson in the 2004 film, "Wilby Wonderful," Page won a Best Actress award at the Atlantic Film Festival. He also appeared as a regular that year on the popular Canadian sci-fi series "ReGenesis" (2004-08). Page's next film brought the young actor his first major American publicity: "Hard Candy" (2006), a provocative film in which he portrayed a strong-willed 14-year-old who is targeted by an internet predator but who turns the tables by exacting revenge on his would-be attacker. his searing performance caught the eye of Brett Ratner, the director of "X-Men: The Last Stand," who called him up to offer him the part of Kitty Pryde, a.k.a. Shadowcat. Reluctant at first, Page accepted the role of the beloved mutant who has the uncanny ability to walk through walls and "phase" through solid objects. The character had appeared briefly in the previous two "X-Men" films but was played by two different people. Following the "X-Men" publicity juggernaut, Page added a fake tummy to play a sardonic pregnant teen in the indie comedy "Juno" (2007), one of the year's most talked about films. His bright, quirky and funny performance earned Page kudos from many critics and an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Actress, paving the way for a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and an Oscar nod for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role. Continuing the indie trend, Page appeared on screen in nearly every shot of Canadian maverick Bruce McDonald's "The Tracey Fragments" (2007), which was shot entirely in split-screens, and played the lonely, overachieving offspring of a college professor (Dennis Quaid) in the comedic drama "Smart People" (2008) and starred as a small town misfit-turned-ruthless roller derby racer in Drew Barrymore's directing debut, "Whip It" (2009). Page went on to star in one of biggest films to date, playing a gifted architect helping to construct worlds inside a mark's subconscious for a professional thief (Leonardo DiCaprio) who uses shared dreaming for corporate espionage in Christopher Nolan's blockbuster hit "Inception" (2010). After that film's incredible success, Page co-starred in the indie comedy "Super" (2011), playing the sidekick Boltie to a loser-turned-superhero (Rainn Wilson). The following year, Page underwent a Hollywood rite of passage by working with Woody Allen, on the writer-director's romantic comedy "To Rome With Love" (2012). Before shooting the blockbuster sequel "X-Men: Days of Future Past" (2014), Page returned to the indie world with leading roles in Lynn Shelton's quirky comedy-drama "Touchy Feely" (2013) and the tense espionage thriller "The East" (2013). He moved into production with the horror film "Into the Forest" (2015) and the fact-based drama "Freeheld" (2015), in which he also acted. Along with starring in the title role of the comedy-drama "Tallulah" (2016), Page hosted the travel series "Gaycation" (Viceland 2016-17), exploring LGBTQ+ rights in countries around the world. Following roles in romantic drama "My Days of Mercy" (2017) and thriller reboot "Flatliners" (2018), Page took a starring role in the superhero series "The Umbrella Academy" (Netflix 2019- ) and starred in and co-directed the ecological documentary "There's Something in the Water" (2019).
