In a cover story for The Hollywood
Reporter, actress Ellen Page discusses being closeted in
Hollywood.
The 27-year-old Page announced she's
gay on Valentine's Day during a speech delivered at Time to THRIVE,
an LGBT youth conference hosted by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC)
and held at Bally's Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Page
said she “really started solidly thinking” that she might be gay
at around 14 or 15.
Coming out consumed her thoughts for
years.
“For so long I just sort of thought,
'You just can't. I love being an actor, it's a huge part of my life,
so I'm going to keep that private.' And, 'Oh, I have to keep it
private because my job is about creating an illusion' and kind of all
those bullshit excuses,” she said. “Because I don't see
heterosexual actresses going to great lengths to hide their
heterosexuality.”
Page estimates that by late 2013, 80
percent of the industry knew she was gay before she came out
publicly: “I would talk about being gay, make jokes about it, or go
to a meeting and [mention it] – you know, because I'm also
producing and starring in a lesbian civil rights movie and I've been
working on it for years.”
“I knew I would be happier,” an
emotional Page said of publicly coming out. “But I wouldn't have
anticipated just how fucking happy I am and how every tiny little
aspect of life feels better.”