Christopher Nolan's 2010 sci-fi classic Inception featured a large ensemble cast, including Elliot (then Ellen) Page as audience surrogate Ariadne, aka the Architect.
Page - who hadn't come out as gay at the time - opens up about his time shooting the film in his new memoir, “Pageboy,” and reveals that he experienced high levels of anxiety due to feeling out of place among the mostly cis male cast.
“Shingles popped out of my spine while filming Inception when I was 22,” Page writes (via Variety). “Despite everyone being delightful to work with, I felt out of place. In a cast full of cis men, I did not understand the role I found myself in.”
“For the first two weeks of the film I joked I would be recast with Keira Knightley, and rightfully so.”
Promotion of the movie involved red carpet events and after parties which required Page to wear cloths he did not feel comfortable in, which only added to his feelings of isolation.
“There was so much press and so many premieres all around the world and I was wearing dresses and heels to pretty much every single event,” Page said. “I lost it, it was like a cinematic moment. That night, after the premiere at the after-party, I collapsed. That’s something that’s happened frequently in my life, usually corresponding with a panic attack.”
Page came out as transgender in 2020, and has stated that he finally feels at home in his own skin.
Elliot's book is now available for purchase.
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