10.31.07 From the Vixen
Movies/TV > Meet Ellen Page
Written by Ashly Burch
Ladies and gentlemen, please meet Ellen Page.
Ladies and jelly spoons, I would like you to meet a very talented young woman who is slowly climbing the rungs of the indie film world as well as popping into mainstream media without so much as breaking a sweat on her endearingly high forehead. From troubled teens to superheroes to righteous, radical judgment deliverers, she’s done quite a lot and will hopefully continue on with the integrity and style that she’s exhibited in her other projects. Ellen Page, this is everyone; everyone, Ellen Page. 
You’re probably most likely to recall this young woman from her role in X-Men 3 as the third Kitty Pryde of the trilogy, the only one of the three that had more to do than run through a wall in one scene of their respective movie. She does well; as well as one could possibly do with a character whose main purposes are to be cute, strong, and disrupt the romance between Rogue and her boy toy (although she always does seem to bring a certain level of elegance and maturity to every role she plays). As X-Men is about as mainstream as they come, it might surprise/interest you to know that Ellen Page has largely dabbled in the independent film arena (or maybe that’s no surprise at all given the fact that she isn’t really widely known for anything else), assuming roles with much more depth and significance than those of her contemporaries. In her earliest film that I’ve seen, Wilby Wonderful, she’s a broken kid in a broken home with a broken mother trying to separate herself from the last two as much as she possibly can, which is difficult because the population of the town she lives in couldn’t possibly exceed 1,000. Page plays the role very intelligently, never opting to step into the easy territory of the boisterous, irritating teenager; she’s understated in a way that benefits the development of her character and fits well with the rest of the ensemble cast. But if there’s one Ellen Page movie that every potential fan absolutely must, must see, it’s Hard Candy.
If you haven’t heard of Hard Candy, it’s essential premise is this: it’s a film about a young girl, Haley Stark (Ellen Page) meeting an older man, Jeff Kholver (Patrick Wilson) over the internet with, as one might imagine, all signs pointing toward Jeff being a raging pedophile. When they return to his apartment, the girl decides to take a stand and fight back against his advancements. At least, that’s what the trailers would lead you to believe, but the plot gets considerably more twisted and involved than any previews could possibly admit without spoiling the entire movie. I have to take the time to commend Patrick Wilson for seeking and accepting more subversive roles than his placement in Phantom of the Opera would’ve lead me to believe he’d pursue, but it has to be said that the real star of Hard Candy is, indeed, Ellen Page.
The role of Haley was incredibly demanding; it required an initial grasp of innocence and naivety followed by an overwhelmingly confident assertion of power and dominance. Jeff Kholver is frightened and compelled and awed by a 14-year-old girl and so the audience should be as well, which is why the casting of Haley needed to be methodical and precise. Page, in all of her wonder and glory, delivered a full grown, angry, devastatingly clever woman in a young girl’s body. Why this is so worthy of praise, besides the obvious, boils down to two important reasons; one, Ellen Page was considerably younger than Patrick Wilson but still retained the gusto and the talent to completely hold her own despite any intimidation that might’ve been present by the age gap. Two, Page was essentially hoisting the entire film on her shoulders. Now, credit where credit is due – Patrick Wilson did a very good job, but the majority of his acting was purely reactionary. It’s much easier to respond than it is to instigate, and Ellen Page was constantly burdened with the task of pushing the action along and keeping the momentum and the tension and the suspense high. That’s quite the responsibility for a then 17-year-old to shoulder.
But the talent has been spoken of–what of the girl? 
This is my absolute favorite picture of Ellen Page for three reasons: one, she looks substantially shorter than everyone else; two, her adorably modest outfit and three; she’s the only one genuinely smiling. Every other woman appears to be posing or attempting to look sexy, but Page just looks happy to be there. It seems to encapsulate pretty effectively what Ellen Page represents—the un-Hollywood actress. Apparently, and unfortunately, Page is pretty frequently chastised for her lack of “style”, but it just further exhibits the fact that she doesn’t subscribe to the “
Ellen Page is also a self-proclaimed feminist and has stated that she doesn’t usually take typical teenage roles as they have tendency to be sexist. So, bottom line, if you’re not in love with this girl already then we probably shouldn’t be friends anymore.
Just saying.
So hopefully that gave you an enlightening glimpse of one of the finest young(er) actresses of our day. Keep a weather eye out for her upcoming film Juno, an indie comedy with Michael Cera, Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner in which she's a pregnant teen searching for a family to give her baby to.
