Elliot Page says 'Close to You,' his first film playing a trans man, was ‘cathartic and healing’
Elliot Page said "Close to You" required him to improvise and allowed him to disappear into his character in a way he wouldn’t have been able to before his transition.
Actor Elliot Page said making “Close to You,” his first feature film since publicly coming out as transgender, was “one of the best experiences I’ve ever had.”
In the film, which Page co-wrote with Dominic Savage, Page plays Sam, a transgender man who returns home to visit his family for the first time since his transition. During his trip, Sam also runs into Katherine, played by Hillary Baack, a friend from high school with whom he was in love. The film is an emotional exploration of coming home, acceptance and love, and it required the actors to improvise because it didn’t feature any written dialogue in its script.
Page, who came out as trans in a powerful social media post in December 2020, said during a video interview that he didn’t plan for his return to film to be something so personal.
Elliot Page co-wrote and stars in the new film "Close to You," about a trans man who returns home to visit his family.Courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment“I just really wanted to work with Dominic,” Page said, noting that he loved an episode of a series Savage directed called “I Am” that featured Page’s favorite actor, Samantha Morton.
“Of course, there’s moments where it’s intense and emotional and all those things,” he said of the film. “But for me, it was mostly actually just such a joy to create in this way, and the moments that were challenging and emotional were also cathartic and healing in many ways. It was really one of the best experiences I’ve ever had.”
Rating: 5