Ellen Page: “Now I’m gay, I can’t play a straight person?”
Ellen Page has slammed Hollywood’s double standards for LGBT actors in an interview with Elle magazine.
After coming out in 2014, Page now fears being typecast in lesbian roles, though she points out that the same isn’t true for all actors.
“Zachary Quinto is out, and he stars in one of the biggest blockbuster franchises [Star Trek],” she said. “I have four projects coming up — all gay roles.”
“People ask if I’m concerned about getting pigeonholed,” she continued. “No one asks: ‘Ellen, you’ve done seven straight roles in a row — shouldn’t you shake it up and do something queer?'”
“There’s still that double standard,” she added. “I look at all the things I’ve done in movies: I’ve drugged a guy, tortured someone, become a roller-derby star overnight. But now I’m gay, I can’t play a straight person?”
It’s not the first time Page has tackled Hollywood’s attitudes towards LGBT actors. Last year, Page told Metro Weekly that “there was a period when I thought it was impossible to come out.”
“I used to think my whole life was going to be in the closet…. I was looking forward at my life with sadness thinking, ‘Is this what it’s going to mean to be an actor?'” she said. “And you wanna be like, ‘Stop thinking that. Let’s change this. Let’s stop this double standard in Hollywood. Why can’t we have more of an LGBT presence in Hollywood?'”
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