Biography
Ellen Page was born on February 21st, 1987 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Her interest in drama awoke early and only just 10 years old she was picked for her first major role in heart-warming “Pit Pony”, which should be the pilot for a 44-episode TV series airing 1999 with Ellen as regular cast member. Her performance in “Pit Pony” gained nominations for ‘Young Artist Award - Best Performance in a TV Drama Series - Leading Young Actress’ and ‘Gemini Award - Best Performance in a Children’s or Youth Program or Series’, both in 2000, and marks the beginning of Ellen’s ascending career. Following, Ellen showed up as recurring character in “Trailer Park Boys’, a ‘mockumentary’-style TV series, rewarded with another nomination for the ‘Geminis’, this time in the category ‘Best Ensemble Cast’.
Through her continuing presence on the small - as guest in the series “Rideau Hall”, in movies like “Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story”, “Going for Broke” and “Mrs. Ashboro’s Cat” (Ellen won her first Gemini Award for ‘Best Performance in a Childrens’ or Youth Program or Series’) - and also the big screen - in “Touch & Go” and “Love That Boy” - during 2003 Ellen Page became a household name in Canada; moreover, that year she won an ‘Outstanding Performance Award’ at the ‘ACTRAs’ for her role in “Marion Bridge”, fellow actors and critics praised her work equally.
The following year, Ellen was on camera for the comedies “Wilby Wonderful” and “I Downloaded a Ghost” (last-mentioned probably already produced in 2002, because Ellen is obviously younger than in all other releases at that time). Furthermore, the young Canadian was part of the British-German coproduction “Mouth to Mouth” in a leading role, the ‘Filmfest München 2005’ remains still the only public sreening in Germany. In 2004 “ReGenesis” finally, Ellen embodied - spread over the first two seasons - popular character ‘Lilith Sandström’; in its country of origin the Canadian SciFi series runs successfully to date.
Looking back at the end of 2005, Ellen’s international breakthrough in 2006 appears inevitable: She took the part of ‘Hayley Stark’ in “Hard Candy”, a thriller/drama narrating the real life-encounter between a 14-year old girl and Jeff, a photographer in his early thirties - who might be a pedophile - after repeatedly chatting in the internet. At Jeff’s place things evolve in another direction than the audience might expect... “Hard Candy” premiered succesfully at ‘Sundance Film Festival’ in January 2005, ever since accompanied by passionate and controversial discussions due to its real subject. However, her performance as Hayley smoothed Ellen’s way to hit a wide audience: The role of X-Men’s ‘Kitty Pryde’ (alias ‘Shadowcat’) was to be expanded in the 3rd part of the franchise, “X-Men: The Last Stand”, and director Brett Ratner - after seeing “Hard Candy” - suggested Ellen for the part, replacing Canadian actresses Katie Stuart and Sumela Kay, personating Kitty before only in bit parts.
Leaving all the glamorous X-Men premiere galas in May 2006 behind, Ellen got busy with numerous projects in summer 2006 like “The Tracey Fragments”, “An American Crime”, “The Stone Angel” and “Smart People”. In early 2007, she went to Vancouver to film the comedy “Juno”, which should become one of the best movies of the year. After a visit of the Karlovy Vary Film Festival in the Czech Republic and some backpacking through Eastern Europe, Ellen started to promote her latest movies at Toronto Film Festival 2007 where she had got three movies hitting the screenings. Especially for “Juno”, she earned standing ovation from the audience and was a well-loved festival darling. After that, she received many awards for her great performance in Jason Reitman’s comedy at several events and was named “Breakthrough Actress of the Year” at the Hollywood Film Festival’s star-studded Hollywood Awards. The girl from Halifax also got a Golden Globe nominiation for Best Actress in December 2007 while “Juno” got a wider release in the United States.
After an appearance on “Late Show with David Letterman” in January 2008, which was watched by millions of people world wide and where she got some brownie points, Ellen didn’t win the Golden Globe, but had the chance to win another important award. Beside four other famous actresses, she was up for “Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role” at the 80th Annual Academy Awards and became one of the youngest nominess ever. Tough this award went to french actress Marion Cotillard, it was a great experience and honor for a 21 years old actress, who was shell-shocked and humbled by her Oscar nomination in general. Overall, there's no doubt, the entire event gave her more control and choice over her career.
In the following months, she hosted the popular “Saturday Night Live” show and visited the “Tonight Show with Jay Leno” to promote her recent movie “Smart People”, which was released in US theatres in April 2008. Furthermore, Ellen signed on to star opposite Cillian Murphy in the psychological thriller “Peacock” and in Drew Barrymore's directorial debut “Whip It!”, which were filmed in summer 2008. Later this year, she was in talks for a new BBC film adaption of the famous British romance novel “Jane Eyre”, written by Charlotte Bronte, and a role in an upcoming movie about the New Jersey Police officer, Laurel Hester, who got known for her fight for equal rights in 2005. However, there were no further details or any confirmation at this point.
After taking a break, she signed for Christopher Nolan’s thriller “Inception” and joined fellow actors Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Cillian Murphy, Tom Hardy, Ken Watanabe and Michael Caine. The production started in July 2009 and attracted a lot of media and public attention all over the globe.
In her spare time off the spotlight, Ellen likes to do a lot of sports, loves to read, listen to music and enjoy camping with friends or just to hang out with them and have fun.
(This biography is Copyright © 2006-2009 by Dominik Keppner and may not be reproduced without prior written consent) / Last Update: 09/03/2009
Fact sheet
- Full name: Ellen Philpotts-Page
- Day of birth: 21st February 1987
- Birthplace: Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
- Height: 1,55 m (5'1)
- Hair color: dark brown
- Eye color: brown
- Parents: Dennis Page (graphic designer), Martha Phillpotts (teacher)
- Siblings: One older stepbrother, one older stepsister
- Places of residence: Halixfax / Los Angeles / Brooklyn
- Hobbies: basketball, soccer, downhill skiing, track and field, cycling, snowboarding, running, swimming, playing the guitar
- Favorite actresses: Kate Winslet, Catherine Keener, Samantha Morton, Laura Linney
- Favorite movies: 400 Blows and Badlands, My Summer of Love, Thank you for smoking
- Favorite series: The Office, Family Guy, The Simpsons
- Favorite music: New Young Pony Club, Cat Power, Björk, Radiohead, Joanna Newsom, Patti Smith, Beethoven
- Favorite books: »A Natural History of the Senses« (Diane Ackerman), »The Spell of the Sensuous« (David Abram)
»The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle« (Haruki Murakami), »The Moon by Whale Light« (Diane Ackerman) - Favorite food: Sushi
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