Elliot Page attends the “Close to You” premiere during the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival at Royal Alexandra Theatre on September 10, 2023 in Toronto, Ontario.Photo:Michael Loccisano/Getty
Michael Loccisano/Getty
Elliot Pageis back on the red carpet.
As Page, 36, appeared at theToronto International Film FestivalSunday, the actor told PEOPLE he felt “grateful and nervous and excited, as one usually does before a premiere” as he debutedClose to You, his first movie in six years.
Page, who also has a starring role in the Netflix seriesThe Umbrella Academy, last appeared in a feature film with 2017’sFlatliners.
Close to Youstars Page as a transgender man named Sam who returns to his hometown for the first time since he transitioned.
As he travels home, Sam “runs into Katherine (Hillary Baack), a friend from high school with her own complicated life now, and feelings from their unresolved past begin to bubble to the surface,” per an official synopsis.
Elliot Page attends as RBC Host “Close to You” Cocktail Party at RBC House Toronto International Film Festival 2023 on September 10, 2023 in Toronto, Ontario.Kennedy Pollard/Getty
Kennedy Pollard/Getty
Page was able to appear at the film festival even as theScreen Actors Guild remains on strikeagainst the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) sinceClose to Youis an independent production that received aninterim agreementfrom the guild.
He was previously spottedjoining striking actors on a picket linein New York City in August and separately sharedphoto and videoof himself on picket lines the same week.
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Page’s new movie comes about three months after his memoirPageboywas published in June. At TIFF, the actor says he believes his book has helped him connect with fans.
“People have been very kind and supportive and shared how it’s helped them or how they’ve connected with it," he tells PEOPLE. “That’s meant the absolute world to me, and, yes, having a book coming out was one of the more anxiety-ridden times of my life.”
“It does feel like a weight’s lifted,” Page adds.
Elliot Page and Dominic Savage with cast and crew attend the “Close to You” premiere during the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival at Royal Alexandra Theatre on September 10, 2023 in Toronto, Ontario.Brian de Rivera Simon/Getty
Brian de Rivera Simon/Getty
Page also toldEntertainment Weeklyover the weekend that the film was a “liberating” experience three years after hecame out as transgender.
“The way I get to feel working now is far more embodied coming from that foundation, versus entering and not feeling that way. It’s a huge shift. Doing something like this, complete improv, before, would’ve been close to impossible,” he said.
Close to Youdoes not yet have a scheduled release in the United States; the movie is also scheduled to premiere at Canada’sCinéfest Sudbury International Film Festivalon Sept. 23.
source: people.com
