There are some actresses-Linda Hamilton
or Angela Bassett, for example- who
immediately convey a powerhouse vibe.
Ellen Page, just past her 19th birthday,
hovering around 5 feet tall, does not.
This spring, though, the young Canadian
actress is kicking butt in two different
contexts-as a calculating avenging angel
the indie “Hard Candy” and as a gifted
mutant in “X-Men: The Last Stand.”
“It’s different and you have to understand
that it’s different. You have to look
it with a different perspective and
know that one, yeah, it’s a little more
action-orientated and the other is not so
much,” says Page, asked to compare her
two breakout roles. “So in `X-Men,’ yeah,
wear a leather suit and run through explosions.
Who gets to do that? It’s fun and
I’m grateful for it.
“I don’t know. It’s just about changing
your perspective and it’s cool to do something
that’s the complete opposite or
something that you never thought you’d
doing. It’s kind of the only reason to
it.”
In “X-Men: The Last Stand,” Page plays
Kitty Pryde, also know as Shadowcat,
one of many mutant additions to Brett
Ratner’s sequel. In Marvel lore, Shadowcat
is known for her ability to “phase”
through solid objects, passing amidst
walls and people. The part was linked to
many actresses, which makes it surprising
that Page didn’t go in active pursuit of
the role.
“I didn’t actually,” Page admits. “I actually
hadn’t worked in ages. After `Hard
Candy’ I took the year off and went back
to Halifax where I’m from and graduated
from a wicked high school called
Shambhala and had a great year of just
chillaxin’ and being myself and ... was
like being a ridiculous teenager and then
Ellen Page as Hayley Stark in Lionsgate’s “Hard Candy.”
Photo courtesy of Lionsgate
ended up getting the call.”
Although Ratner, who saw an early cut
of “Hard Candy,” sought Page out for his
film, she-like some many of the film’s
myriad mutants-doesn’t have a clue how
much she’ll actually appear in the final
product.
“That’s a good question,” she says. “I
actually haven’t seen the movie so as far
as I know, I have no idea what just happened
in the edit. Kitty’s involved more
and has a bit of a subplot with a certain
other mutant and we’ll see. It’s all fun. I
get to fight in the end.”
After years of keeping a low profile
with small films and Canadian television
projects, Page has begun to sense the
buzz building around her despite appearing
for mere seconds in the “X-Men”
trailer.
“It’s really crazy to think that it’s happening
already, but it is and it’s really
freaky,” she observes. “I was on like the
streetcar in Toronto and someone came
up to me. And then I was in a Borders in
L.A. and it just-yeah, it blows my mind,
but I don’t know, I’m not going to change
because of it. I don’t think I’m cool because
I’m an actor. If anything, it makes
me more self-deprecating.