Longbeforeher turn in
Juno
,Pageseemed intenton
rewriting therulesofwhat itmeans tobeamoviestar.
E
LLENPHILPOTTS-PAGE
wasborn inHalifax,
NovaScotia, inFebruary1987.Hermother
wasa teacherandher fatheragraphicdesigner
—actingwasn’treallyon theradar.But then,
whileshewas inelementaryschool, acastingagent
namedJohnDunsworthcame looking forkids toaudi-
tion fora local televisionshow, andPagemade thecut.
Even then, sherecalls thinkingofactingas“this fun
little thing, thiscool little thing thatwashappening.”
Herparents, too,weremore focusedonherperfor-
mance insportsandacademics thanapotentialacting
career.
Itwaswhenshewas15—and, frankly, thedoe-eyed
woman telling thestorynowcouldprobablystillpass
forsomeonenearlyasyoung— thatPage landedarole
thatwouldchangeherblaséapproach toacting.She
wascast in thecriticallyacclaimeddrama
Marion
Bridge
. Itwasonlya tinysupportingrole,but the
filmpackedsuchanemotionalpunch, asdidPage’s
performance in it, thatshewashookedon thecraft.
“Ithitme in thisplace thatwassodeep,”shesays,
sittingon thebackpatioof theChateauMarmont. “I
wasso triggeredemotionally. Itwas like, ‘OhmyGod,
what is that?’”Shortlyafterward,herstrictlysports-
and-schoolparentsagreed to lethermove toToronto
soshecouldpursueacting full time.
“Theycould trustmeat16 tomoveout. Iwas
self-disciplined, Iwasambitious, Ididn’tget into [too
much] trouble,”Pagesays. “Everything fell intoa
groove.You thinkof thestuffyoucouldhavedone, and
you talk to friendsaboutwhat theywereup toat16. I
justdidn’thave that.”Shepauses, raiseshereyebrows,
smiles. “I’mnotsayingI
never
got into trouble… .”
Thereare timeswhenmessingupseems tobea
prerequisite forchildactors.Page, though,believes
sheavoided theusualpitfallsbecauseshehadsome-
thing to fallbackon:herself.
“Therewereenoughdifferentdimensionsofmy life
that [acting]didn’tbecomemysolepurpose,mysole
identity,”shesays. “I think the thing thathappens to
a lotofkids isall their identityandall theirself-worth
62
DECEMBER2015
AMERICANWAY
PHOTOS
SUMMIT ENTERTAINMENT/PHOTOFEST; KERRY HAYES/PHOTOFEST; DOANE GREGORY/PHOTOFEST
“Therewereenoughdifferentdimensions
ofmy life that [acting] didn’tbecomemy solepurpose,
MYSOLE IDENTITY
.”
CLOCKWISE
FROM
TOP
LEFT
:
Pageand
JulianneMoore in
Freeheld
; Page in
X-Men:TheLast
Stand
; her breakout
role in
Juno
with
MichaelCera
