Sir Ian McKellen has a soft spot in his heart for Elliot Page, the Oscar-nominated Juno star who came out as trans in December. In an interview with Bridgerton star Jonathan Bailey for Attitude, the actor reminisced about working with Page in the 2006 film X-Men: The Last Stand, revealing he was “so disappointed” in himself for not knowing at the time that Page was struggling with his identity.
“I’m so happy for Elliot. And so disappointed in myself that I didn’t detect what their difficulty was with communicating,” McKellen said.
He recalled a day on the X-Men set. McKellen was playing the villainous Magneto; Page was playing hero Kitty Pryde. Page, McKellen said, was talking so quietly that “nobody could hear what they were saying.”
“So, I said, ‘Look, if you can’t speak up, would you mind when you’re finished speaking, just dropping your hand so I know when you’ve finished speaking?’” McKellen recalled. “And then they came out [as gay] years later and suddenly you couldn’t stop them talking. You heard everything…And now…they’re Elliot.”
“Everything gets better” when a person comes out, because it means getting an infusion of self-confidence, McKellen continued. “So you get better in terms of relationships, friends of all sorts, family, if you’re lucky. And in my case, I think in every case, your acting is bound to change and improve.”
Page came out as trans at the end of 2020, sharing the news with the public in a lengthy message posted to his social media accounts.
“Hi friends, I want to share with you that I am trans, my pronouns are he/they and my name is Elliot,” Page wrote. “I feel lucky to be writing this. To be here. To have arrived at this place in my life. I feel overwhelming gratitude for the incredible people who have supported me along this journey.”
Page, who currently stars in the hit Netflix series The Umbrella Academy and will continue playing lead character Vanya, also highlighted the inordinate trauma and violence that trans people endure, sharing that 40 trans people, the majority of whom are Black and Latinx, had been killed over the course of the year. “To the political leaders who work to criminalize trans health care and deny our right to exist and to all of those with a massive platform who continue to spew hostility towards the trans community: you have blood on your hands,” he wrote.
“To all trans people who deal with harassment, self-loathing, abuse and the threat of violence every day: I see you, I love you and I will do everything I can to change this world for the better,” he continued.
Page returned to social media a few weeks later to throw his support behind organizations like Trans Lifeline and gift operation @transanta, and to thank fans for being so supportive of his announcement. “From the bottom of my heart, thank you,” he said. “Your love and support has been the greatest gift. Stay safe. Be there for each other.”
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