Elliot Page has shared the heartbreaking advice he would give to his younger self in an emotional video.
The star first gained recognition in TV series such as Pit Pony and Trailer Park Boys before breaking through the big screen and scooping up award nominations for Juno in 2007. He played the pregnant teen when he was just 20, becoming one of the youngest Oscar nominees.
The now 37-year-old publicly came out as a transgender man in 2020, with his memoir Pageboy becoming an instant Sunday Times bestseller in 2023.
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The Umbrella Academy actor has been a major advocate for the LGBTQ+ community and often uses his celebrity platform to campaign and share support for others.
Page was previously asked if he could share the advice he would give to his younger self which was then posted on the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Instagram page.
"My message to my younger self would be, just like, 'You know who you are, and please embrace that'," he said. "I understood my truth. I felt it very strongly, and it was all of these external forces and noises that pushed and pulled and made me sort of lose track of who I was."
Page went on to add that the 'discomfort and pain' his younger self was feeling 'is not yours'.
"That is theirs," the actor said. "And to just keep going on the journey of embracing who you truly are. That’s what’s going to lead you to happiness."
While he has gone on to do plenty of amazing work since, it’s still his performance at 20 as Juno MacGuff that most people know him best for.
But for Page, it’s something he still has regrets over.
At one point during the film, Juno and boyfriend Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera) decide to put their unborn kid up for adoption. They meet with a couple and Juno ends up becoming close to the bloke.
And during one scene, they’re chatting about baby names when he says that his partner quite ‘likes Madison’.
But Juno really isn’t sold as she says: “Madison? Wait, hold on… Isn’t that like, a little, gay?”
In the years since the film’s release, Page has often spoken about how much he regrets having to say that ‘joke’.
Speaking to Bustle in 2017, he explained: “It wasn’t something I totally registered at the time, but, of course, now that I’m older I do.
"So many movies I loved as a kid are just rampant with homophobia and transphobia and biphobia, and I’m not excusing it by any means."
Topics: Elliot Page, LGBTQ
Jess Battison