BBC article on Elliot Page

[Sittinonthesand]

I don’t know anything about Page - I’ve only seen the name in the context of being trans, but this article contains several worrying/misleading half truths:

• talks about ‘top surgery’ without explaining that it = mastectomy (refers to ‘removal of breast tissue instead).
  
• talks about surgery as being ‘life saving’ without explaining why.
  
• says that trans children aren’t being allowed to play sport and this will lead some to die - doesn’t explain why they might die, doesn’t say that they can play sport but maybe not with the sex they’d like.

[SmokedDuck]

Page has had extreme ups and downs and been acutely emotional as long as they've been in the public eye, extraordinarily tightly wound. I have a hard time not seeing this as another manifestation of the same.

[EastWestWhosBest]

No, reading the actual comments themselves.
Not reading stuff into anything.

Has anyone said he shouldn’t have transitioned? I don’t think that the removal of health breast tissue is a good idea but that doesn’t mean that I disagree with transitioning.

[MrsWooster]

“At what point does “acting” mean “being another version of yourself” instead of “interpreting a character using imagination”
I thought that reading an article on Rafe Spall in the Observer- he talked about playing a character in ‘Trying’ dealing with the torment of infertility-then thanking his lily my stars as he came home to his three kids each night. At what point is it ‘unacceptable’ for someone to act someone else’s life?
(Disclaimer: IMO, acting = acting: you play a part regardless of who YOU are because you assume the character and it’s them that matters-you /the actor are just the mechanism to give the character life. )

[MrsWooster]

And by lily my, clearly I mean unlucky.

[MrsWooster]

Jesus, Mary and Joseph and the wee donkey: LUCKY.

[quiteathome]

I wonder how this will affect his career. There are not many roles that are for transmen, and I wonder how many films will cast a trans man in a role for a man.

[FakeColinCaterpillar]

I think they will carry on with Umbrella Academy, possibly get one niche role.
Then disappear. There isn’t roles for tiny frail men generally.

[SydneyCarton]

quiteathome and FakeColinCaterpillar I agree, especially given that even prior to transition Elliot was smaller and slighter than the average woman. As a male actor and compared to natal male actors that different physicality is going to be very apparent. It might be nice to think it would be an opportunity for Hollywood to expand the bandwidth for action heroes or romantic leads, but I can’t see it happening. I can see EP becoming more of a campaigner/figurehead than an actor.

[IamAporcupine]

Surely a panic attack at wearing a dress indicates a much deeper dislike of your body and self esteem issues. Like body dysmorphia

This was very much me at the peak of my anorexia. Having to try on or buy clothes would make me extremely anxious. I collpased crying sevaral times.
The solution was obviously not to tell me, yes, you are probably still too fat....

[SirSamuelVimes]

@FakeColinCaterpillar

I think they will carry on with Umbrella Academy, possibly get one niche role.
Then disappear. There isn’t roles for tiny frail men generally.

I agree, Hollywood won't cast Page as a male. Delicate bone structure, diminutive stature, plus a viewership a large % of whom will most likely still see Page as female, or at least find it hard to see as male, knowing that Page was born a girl.

Not to mention that given the media focus, any slip up by cast or crew that could be seen as misgendering or transphobia would be absolutely pounced on. Why would you add that level of difficulty to a project? Page isn't a big enough star to justify the additional hassle casting Page would likely entail. Maybe a role or two in a Netflix production, then transition to activism.

[FakeColinCaterpillar]

To be honest I have been concerned by their thinness in the last few years in general. It really changed their face.

[FloraFox]

One of these pictures shows a person feeling distress and anguish and the other shows a person who is feeling liberated and happy.

[WhereYouLeftIt]

"I agree, Hollywood won't cast Page as a male. Delicate bone structure, diminutive stature, plus a viewership a large % of whom will most likely still see Page as female, or at least find it hard to see as male, knowing that Page was born a girl."

There could be roles they'd be perfect casting for, I'm thinking adolescent boys. Michael J Fox (5'4") was 24 in Back to the Future playing a 17 year old. Using actual child-actors carries a lot of requirements (chaperones etc.) so if they can cast a young-looking adult in such a role, they would. Whether Page would want those roles remains to be seen.

[FakeColinCaterpillar]

They’re far too old to be playing a teenager.

[CorvusPurpureus]

Teenage boys are cast with an eye to their bankable, marketable potential. They either grow up into leading men (Robert Pattinson, Daniel Radcliffe) & build a career on it, or they quietly vanish. But a large proportion of the the marketing is to teenage girls, & always has been.

There is no bank in casting a petite female born actor in their 30s as a teenage boy. It won't happen.

[TinselAngel]

There's a difference between being small and thin, and looking young.

[SirSamuelVimes]

But a large proportion of the the marketing is to teenage girls, & always has been. There is no bank in casting a petite female born actor in their 30s as a teenage boy. It won't happen.

Agree. Actors need to be fanciable, it's a fairly universal rule.

[SmokedDuck]

I could see Page maybe playing a geeky teen boy, but I suspect that would be a limited time thing. Even with a boyish frame and look once you get into your 40s I don't think anyone pulls that off.

[Doyoumind]

I think Page will be offered roles very specific to Page. Whether or not they will come to anything I don't know. Page may reject them.

There was a trans boy in The OA. Some time ago I mentioned a video I had seen where the actor said they sometimes liked to be a feminine presenting trans boy - wearing jewellery and makeup, which seemed confusing. Just looked the actor up and found they are now NB and in Star Trek Discovery, which is the kind of series I think these actors get pigeonholed in.

[CorvusPurpureus]

& that's quite problematic in itself, to be fair - being a 12yo old boy who gets cast in a role because you look the part, are biddable & directable to the extent that you can deliver the lines & not fall over the scenery, does not mean that you're necessarily someone who'll be able to convince as an adult actor. With a long, long line of unhappy adults who had some success as acting as children & then had a sharp dose of reality.

But there's never going to be a casting decision where it's 'we've got a long list of 13yo boys to play the part of the 13yo boy protagonist, or alternatively we could talk to E Page's agent & see if we can market a mid 30s actor as a teenage boy to a cinema full of early teens'.

It wouldn't work for any male actor. No one would cast, say, Daniel Radcliffe, who is also quite small & reasonably young looking, if he had a shave, as a teenage boy.

[SmokedDuck]

It seems like it used to be more common to cast older actors in teen roles. Apart from shows like Riverdale, you don't see that so much now.

Good teen actors are really difficult to find though. OTOH, I find EP basically plays the same role all the time.

[TheSongOfTheSea]

Page has worn suits to premiers for years. I noted this because I always thought that Page looked super cool.

So I think it's probably been a great many years since page has had pressure to wear a dress.

[rabbitwoman]

I think it's such a deceptive message : living your truth. Being true to yourself. This is the real me etc.....

And it makes it sound like once you transition you will be much happier.

But what about love, bring in love, having sex, having a family? For many people this is the crux of happiness. Not everyone - but surely most of us at some level want that intimacy and companionship?

Apart from the fact that Page is now getting divorced, and that marriage did not last long, what will happen now? He is attracted to women - he is five foot tall, and frankly, always moody, he has effectively cut himself off from straight women - and as he is now a man, from gay women too.

I think after the initial burst of attention has worn off, elliot might find himself lonely in life and unsatisfied professionally, will he then reflect upon his choices? Or will he blame the world for being transphobic?

[FingonTheValiant]

Similar look to Joseph Gordon-Levitt I think. But smaller.

[MarkRuffaloCrumble]

@FingonTheValiant

Similar look to Joseph Gordon-Levitt I think. But smaller.

The difference is, that as a super straight woman I find JGL attractive. I couldn’t look at EP - someone with such feminine features, voice, stature and indeed 30 odd years of history as a female - and consider them sexually attractive.

It doesn’t matter how someone presents themselves, it’s how others perceive them that is going to affect box office takings etc