Ellen Page on Leonardo Di Caprio, Relationships, Gaycation – We talk to Ellen and BFF Ian Daniel, co-hosts of Viceland’s groundbreaking LGBT travel series.
Bay Area HQ caught up with Ellen Page and Ian Daniel to hear them talk about their amazing friendship, how they first met, and what is was like filming the cool new series Gaycation and how that affected their relationships.
Ellen Page, the Oscar-Nominated® Actress (Juno, Inception, X·Men) explores LGBTQ cultures around the world in Gaycation to help launch the new network, Viceland. Ellen Page won worldwide acclaim and an Academy Award® nomination for her breakthrough role in the title character of the film Juno. Her other credits include portraying Kitty Pride in the X-Men series; Inception; Smart People; the sports comedy drama Whip It; and Woody Allen’s To Rome With Love.
Ellen Page is teaming up with best her friend, Ian Daniel, to host the new series Gaycation. It is one of the premiere series on the new 24-hour cable TV channel, Viceland. Gaycation follows Ellen and Ian as they set off to explore
LGBTQ cultures around the world. From Japan to Brazil to the USA, the two friends meet some fascinating people during the travels and hear their stories. Ellen helps a young man come out to his mom in the first episode in Japan; a countiy where same-sex marriage is still not legel and same-sex couples often bear a social stigma.
Visit www.viceland.com to find out about all the ways you can watch the new Viceland shows.
ELLEN PAGE
In 2014, W magazine named Ellen Page one of their “New Royals”, an actress defining a generation. Page, an Academy Award-nominated actress, continues to build upon her on screen presence with performances that span both tentpole and art-house films. Expanding on her impressive body of work, she has recently stepped behind the camera as a producer, shepherding passion projects on the big and small screen.
Page was most recently seen starring opposite Julianne Moore in Peter Sollett’s Freeheld. Based on the true story of Detective Laurel Hester (Moore) and her domestic partner Stacie Andree (Page), the film follows their personal fight for justice and equality as Hester struggles to transfer her pension to Andree after she is diagnosed with terminal cancer. Freeheld captures a powerful moment in the equality movement, as love remains a constant theme in the face of adversity. The film, adapted by Ron Nyswaner (Philadelphia) also stars Steve Carell and Michael Shannon. Produced by Page, Kelly Bush Novak, Michael Shamberg and Stacy Sher, Freeheld premiered at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival.
Page also recently starred in Patricia Rozema’s Into the Forest, opposite Evan Rachel Wood, which debuted at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival. Based on Jean Hegland’s acclaimed novel of same name, the film recounts the story of two teenage sisters struggling to survive after the collapse of society in the not too distant future. The film will be released by A24 next summer.
Page will also be seen on the small screen as a host and producer of a new documentary series titled Gaycation, with Ian Daniel. Created with VICE and Spike Jonze, the series follows Page and Daniel as they travel through different cities around the world, exploring the sometimes dark and disturbing perspective of each city’s LGBT community, as well as the local culture’s overall attitude toward LGBT people. The series will premiere on VICELAND, its new TV channel, in March 2016.
Page recently completed production on Tallulah, opposite Allison Janney. Directed by Orange Is the New Blackwriter Sian Heder, the film tells the story of a woman who rescues a baby from her reckless mother and pretends the child is hers, with the help of her ex-boyfriend’s mother. Ocean Blue Entertainment and Route One Films produced the film. Tallulah will premiere at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival.
Next up, Page will lend her voice as Izzy in Robodog, set for release in 2016. She is also set to star in Lioness, an indie drama which tells the true story of Lance Corporal Leslie Martz, a U.S. Marine, Martz sent to Afghanistan with the dual mandate of gaining the trust of Afghan women while also secretly extracting information about their Taliban husbands. The script was penned by Rosalind Ross (Matador) and is being produced by James Dahl.
Page starred in the seventh installation of the X-Men franchise, Bryan Singer’s X-Men: Days of Future Past, reprising her role as Kitty Pryde from the previous film, X-Men: The Last Stand. The two films alone grossed nearly $2 billion at the worldwide box office.
With her breakout role in Jason Reitman’s hit comedy Juno, Page received Academy Award®, BAFTA, Golden Globe and SAG Best Actress nominations, and won the Independent Spirit Award for her performance. Additional credits include Christopher Nolan’s Inception, Woody Allen’s To Rome With Love; Lynn Shelton’s Touchy Feely; Drew Barrymore’s Whip It; Zal Batmanglij’s thriller, The East; and David Lander’s Peacock; Bruce McDonald’s The Tracey Fragment, An American Crime; Kari Skogland’s The Stone Angel; Alison Murray’s, Mouth to Mouth; Daniel MacIvor’s, Wilby Wonderful and Noam Murro’s Smart People and David Slade’s Hard Candy.
In 2014, Page publicly came out as gay. She gave a moving and deeply personal speech at Time to Thrive, a conference to promote the welfare of LGBT youth. The speech reached millions around the world as she eloquently shared she was there because she hoped to “make a difference, and help others have an easier, more hopeful time” and felt a “personal obligation and social responsibility.” Since then, Page has gone on to receive the support and admiration from peers and fans alike, for her courage and honesty.
