Ellen Page

Personal details

Name: Ellen Page
Born: 21 February 1987 (Age: 23)
Where: Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Height: 5' 1"
Awards: Nominated for 1 Oscar, 2 BAFTAs and 1 Golden Globe

Biography

Pint-sized actress Ellen Page has done everything in her power to set herself apart from the mainstream. Beginning her career in her native Canada, Page debuted in the 1997 TV movie pit pony when she was only ten years old, playing the role of Maggie Mclean; the movie was then spun off into a series, in which she reprised her role from the film. Her ability to handle complex emotions and dialogue at a young age impressed directors, and she continued to build up her resumé, consciously avoiding the typical teenage girl roles of most movies, which she found to be sexist. In 2005, Page took on the challenging lead role in Hard Candy,a film about a young girl who lures in and traps a man she believes is a sexual predator. Her performance was praised as haunting and real, and soon after that Page

contrasted it with a lighter role, playing Kitty Pryde in 2006's X_Men: The Last Stand. By then, audiences and critics alike were noticing Page's impressive screen presence, and she signed on for several projects for the next year, including Juno with Michael Cera.She also joined the cast of An American Crime,playing a true-life victim of torture and murder at the hands of a demented housewife played by Catherine Keener.

As the pregnant title character in Jason Reitman's Best Picture Oscar nominee Juno, Page served up a brilliant portrait of an articulate teen dealing with the ramifications of such a major life event. Her witty, touching work earned her universal praise, as well as Best Actress nominations from the Golden Globes, the Screen Actors Guild, and the Academy, and a host of kudos that dubbed her the breakout star of the year. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide.

Career

Page began acting at age 4, appearing in numerous school plays. She first acted in front of the camera in 1997 at age 10 in the CBC television movie Pit Pony, which later spun off into a television series. This led to more roles in a number of small Canadian films and television series, notably playing Treena Lahey in Season 2 of Trailer park Boys. At 16, she was cast in Mouth to Mouth, an independent film shot in Europe. Page starred in the 2005 movie Hard Candy and gained praise for "one of the most complex, disturbing and haunting performances of the year". She also appeared in X- Men: The Last Stand as Kitty Pryde (Shadowcat), a girl who can walk through walls. In the previous X-Men movies, the part had been used in brief cameos played by other actresses, but never as a main character. As the title character in Juno, Page garnered substantial praise; A. O. Scott of the New York Times noted her as being "frighteningly talented" and Roger Ebert said, "Has there been a better performance this year than Ellen Page's creation of Juno? I do not think so". Page was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in Juno, but lost to Marion Cotillard in La Vie En Rose. The role, however, did win her several other awards, including a Canadian Comedy Award, Spirit Award, and Satellite Award. Page also has starred in Smart people, which premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. Although released after Juno, Smart People was shot earlier. Her other film credits include An American Crime, which premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival; The Tracey Fragments, which was released in November 2007 in Canada and May 2008 in the U.S.; and The Stone Angel.

Page hosted Saturday Night Live on March 1, 2008 and on May 3, 2009, she guest starred in the episode "Waverly Hills 9-0-2-1D;oh" of the animated series The Simpsonsas a character named Alaska Nebraska, a parody of Hannah Montana. She also starred in Drew Barrymore's directorial debut, Whip It, alongside Juliette Lewis, Marcia Gay Harden, Drew Barrymore and Kristen Wiig. The film premiered at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival and had its wide release on October 2, 2009.

She features in Michael Lander's film peacock, opposite Cillian Murphy, Susan Sarandon, Bill Pullman and Josh Lucas, which is to be released in 2010 despite original release date of 2009. In August 2009, Page began shooting the thriller Inception, a film directed by Christopher Nolan and co-starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Ken Watanabe. The film is scheduled to be released in July 2010.

She is attached to star in the film Super and will reportedly play Stacie Andree in an upcoming film about Laurel Hester.

In 2007, she was attached to play the title character in an adaptation of Charlotte Bronte's Jane Evre and had planned to work on an as-yet unmade film entitled Jack and Diane opposite Olivia Thirlby, with whom she co-starred in Juno but it was announced in August 2009 that her role in Jack and Diane would now be played by the actress Alison pill. Before his death in January 2008, Heath Ledger had discussed with Page the idea of starring in his directorial debut, The Queen's Gambit. As of 2010^[update], she serves as a spokesperson for Cisco Systems in a series of ads appearing in three commercials set in Page's "hometown" of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.