Elliot Page is ‘proud’ to introduce trans character on ‘Umbrella Academy’
Netflix announced that the 35-year-old actor’s character, Viktor Hargreeves, would use he/him pronouns in the third season of the superhero series, which premieres Wednesday.
The Oscar-nominated “Juno” star stopped by “Late Night with Seth Meyers” on Tuesday to talk more about how the decision for the character to come out as transgender came to be.
They said “Umbrella Academy” showrunner Steve Blackman was “really excited” to incorporate Page’s identity into the show. They also said that the show recruited journalist and author Thomas Page McBee — the first trans man to box at New York City’s Madison Square Garden — to help with Viktor’s character arc. “[McBee’s] book and his work, in general, are so much about masculinity and what it means and exploring that,” Page said about the author-boxer’s 2018 memoir, “Amateur: A True Story About What Makes a Man.” “So Thomas came on board and helped out, and I feel proud of it and excited for people to see.”Page also shared how their transition, which they announced on Instagram in 2020, has made them a better performer. “That’s obviously a big component and part of my life and a beautiful thing to experience now,” they said. “A lot of the time, my life was just trying to move forward, and so getting to embrace the experience as much as I get to now … it’s made me better in so many facets.”While Page has received warm regards from people who know them personally, they have also dealt with their fair share of public negativity. “What I want to focus on right now and has been so extraordinary is the degree of joy that I feel,” Page told Meyers. “I feel a way that I really never thought possible for a long, long time.
