Actor Elliot Page became the first trans man to appear on the cover of the Time Magazine in March. The 34-year-old came out as a transgender man in December last year, and this marks his first detailed interview since then.
"What I was anticipating was a lot of support and love and a massive amount of hatred and transphobia. That's essentially what happened," said the Umbrella Academy actor during an interview with Time Magazine. "I felt like a boy. I wanted to be a boy. I would ask my mom if I could be someday," he added. During the course of the interview, Page also talked about struggling with depression, anxiety, and panic attacks, especially after the fame he received for his roles in Juno and Inception.
“I just never recognized myself. For a long time I could not even look at a photo of myself," he said. So, the only decision Page made to help him feel more comfortable in his own skin was to get top surgery, which is a surgical procedure to remove one's breast tissue.
"It has completely transformed my life," he says of the procedure, adding that not all trans men have the surgery, and notes that it is quite expensive.
He also said that the pandemic led him to come to terms with his gender identity. "I had a lot of time on my own to really focus on things that I think, in so many ways, unconsciously, I was avoiding. I was finally able to embrace being transgender and letting myself fully become who I am," he said.
In December 2020, Elliot came out on social media, disclosing that he is trans, and that their preferred pronouns are he/they. He had received support from several notable personalities, including actor Hugh Jackman, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, talk show host Ellen DeGeneres, and singer-actor Miley Cyrus, among others. Netflix, also replied to Elliot, saying it cannot wait for them to return for season 3 of Umbrella Academy.
— Elliot Page (@TheElliotPage) December 1, 2020
(With IANS inputs)