Ellen Page, born in Halifax on February 21, 1987, is a remarkable young actress. She received her first acting job when the director for Pit Pony, a Canadian TV movie, came to her elementary school to find children he wanted to audition for the movie. At the age of ten, Ellen played the role Maggie MacLean in Pit Pony, which eventually started a TV series spin-off. It wasn’t until Marion Bridge, in which she won an ACTRA award for Outstanding Female Performance, that she decided she wanted to act for the rest of her life.
Ellen Page really broke into the Hollywood scene with her roles in Hard Candy (2005), X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) and Juno (2007).Throughout these three movies we can notice that Ellen has a talent that very few have: playing the roles of younger characters. In Hard Candy, she plays the role of 14-year-old Hayley Stark with such realism, even though Ellen was 17 at the time. When she sent in her audition tape to the producers, she had a shaved head as she was in process of shooting Mouth to Mouth. Although she had a shaved head, the producers really like her acting as the hundreds of 17-year-old L.A. girls who auditioned seemed to look and act much older. Ellen had the same hair issue when she was filming X-Men: The Last Stand and had to wear head extensions. She was the third actress to play the role of Kitty Pryde. In the blockbuster film Juno, Ellen Page was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role as she was the pregnant teen, Juno. She gave such a great performance as Juno, although she was five years older than her character, that it was worth the nomination.
She considers herself a feminist and tries to stray away from roles that are traditionally giving to women. You will notice this if you’ve seen any of the movies previously mentioned. Her role as Hayley in Hard Candy may look like she’s the innocent victim at first, but as the story develops you’ll see how strong of a girl she is. Another example of the strengths of her roles is when she performs as Juno, the teen who is faced with an unforeseen pregnancy. Instead of aborting, she decides to persevere through the pain and agony to keep the baby and gives it up for adoption.
Ellen Page has become a hot commodity in Hollywood these days as she is currently ranked #5 in IMDb’s STARmeter. With her increase popularity from Juno, she has been cast for several other roles in upcoming movies. Ellen will be starring in four films coming to theaters or TV in 2008, including The Tracey Fragments, An American Crime (TV), The Stone Angel and Smart People, which is currently in cinemas. You can also look for her in Whip It! (2009), Drew Barrymore’s first directorial film, Peacock (2009), and Jack and Diane (2010).
Ellen Page is definitely an actress to watch for in the future as she hasn’t reached her prime. Her roles will mature as she matures as an actress. Make sure to check out her next film, The Tracey Fragments, which will open May 9th in select theaters.
4 Comments, Comment or Ping
Joe
I’m a huge Ellen Page fan.. can’t wait for her next movie!
May 10th, 2008
Jennifer
I saw Ellen speak at a panel given by the NY Times in February, along with Jason Reitman and Amy Ryan. It was about people who made it big in movies last year or something. Ellen was extremely well spoken, although somewhat shy and nervous. She spoke all about her past roles and I couldn’t believe how much she had done before. She has done some really dark roles for someone so young. I look forward to following her career.
May 10th, 2008
admin
Ellen tries to get away from the popularity and Hollywood stuff as she acts because she loves acting, not for the fame.
May 10th, 2008
matt
I’m a little ashamed that I haven’t seen any Ellen Page movies. I did see X3 but I don’t think that really qualifies as an Ellen Page movie.
May 16th, 2008
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