Biography for
Ellen Page More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

21 February 1987, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Birth Name

Ellen Philpotts-Page

Nickname

The Tiny Canadian

Height

5' 1" (1.55 m)

Mini Biography

Ellen Philpotts-Page was born on February 21, 1987, in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She wanted to start acting at an early age and attended the Neptune Theater School. Her first appearance was in the TV show "Pit Pony," for which she received a Young Artist and Gemini nomination for Best Performance. Ellen won the Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor Award (from the Atlantic Film Festival) and another nomination for Wilby Wonderful. For the TV series ReGenesis, Page was given a Gemini for Best Performance.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Janet Petch

Trade Mark

Crosses her arms together with shrugged shoulders, whether standing or sitting.

Trivia

Loves playing basketball, soccer, downhill skiing, track and field, cycling, snowboarding, running and swimming.

Third actress to play Kitty Pryde/Shadowcat, replacing Katie Stuart from X2 (2003), who replaced Sumela Kay from X-Men (2000).

Had to wear hair extensions for X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) as she had shaved her head bald for her role in Mouth to Mouth (2005).

Is good friends with her X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) co-star Ben Foster.

Favorite food is sushi.

After filming the movie Marion Bridge (2002), she realized that acting is what she wanted to do for the rest of her life.

Considers herself to be a feminist and tries to steer clear of the "stereotypical roles for teenage girls" because she finds them to be "sexist".

She originally turned down the role of Kitty Pryde in X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) until director Brett Ratner personally contacted her and talked her into it.

After attending three different high schools, she graduated from the Shambhala School in Halifax.

Is friends with Olivia Thirlby, who was her co-star in Juno (2007).

Got her nickname "the tiny Canadian" from her roommates in New York City.

Considers Patti Smith her role model and Kate Winslet and Meryl Streep her favorite actresses.

Born to Dennis Page, a graphic designer, and Martha Phillpotts, a teacher.

Her favorite movie is Les quatre cents coups (1959).

Ranked #1 on interview magazines Hollywood faces to watch "future stars of tomorrow" Along with Kellan Rhude.

As of 2008 she is the fourth youngest actress to receive a Best Actress Academy Award nomination at the age of 20 years and 335 days after receiving a nomination for her performance in Juno (2007). The younger actresses are Keira Knightley, aged 20 years and 311 days, for her role in Pride & Prejudice (2005), Isabelle Adjani, aged 20 years and 235 days, for her role in L'histoire d'Adèle H. (1975) and Keisha Castle-Hughes, aged 13 years and 309 days, for her role in Whale Rider (2002).

Was ranked #8 on Entertainment Weekly's '30 Under 30' the actress list. (2008).

Was ranked #10 on Moviefone's 'The 25 Hottest Actors Under 25'(2008).

Was the first choice for Christine in 'Drag Me to Hell' (2009),but was forced to pass due to scheduling difficulties. That part later went to Alison Lohman.

Personal Quotes

The thing I like about acting is being able to lose yourself completely in someone else. I'm not that comfortable when I get recognized.

I don't really want to do the Hollywood thing. I think you ought to try to say something with your movies.

I don't care if people like my character. I just want them to think about the movie's message.

When I feel strongly about something, I'm not so quiet.

Judging people you don't know for things you don't understand is just really stupid.

When I was 12, I realized I was very uncomfortable having my parents on set. So I told them that, and they understood.

It's much simpler to be tortured on camera or to be filmed losing your mind. Whereas a script that has characters who are honest, witty and genuine... is often much harder to act.

As a girl, you're supposed to love Sleeping Beauty. I mean, who wants to love Sleeping Beauty when you can be Aladdin?

I'm a tomboy from Nova Scotia.

What I like about the film [Juno] is that it tackles an issue that we often treat as this really heavy, dark event and we look at it with a different perspective. She's extremely independent. She finds adoptive parents before she even tells her parents. I just think it's nice to not dwell in darkness.

I'm a total shrimp, which makes me look younger. I'll be able to stay in that area longer, which is good, because there's more competition in your 20s. [on her slight frame]

I come in at night and expect to see some transparent slut at the top of the stairs. [On her 19th century Halifax home, a former brothel]

It was an intense movie and the response was polarized -- which was great, because it stuck in people's minds. That film has helped me immensely. [On Hard Candy.]

The quality most important to me, in the films I make, is honesty.

I loved that this girl was mature in some ways, and naive in other ways. Juno is different from what we normally see in films about teenagers -- but at the same time she has a lot in common with most of the people I knew in high school. There are a lot of really intelligent teenage girls and boys who are unique and don't just listen to and dress like Britney Spears, and who don't just want to fuck the hot guy.

For the role in An American Crime, when I played someone who was starved and tortured, I lost a lot of weight, and my body and my mind were drained. After that people told me, You really need to do a comedy. And I said I am -- I'm playing a 16-year-old who gets pregnant!

You can choose who you want to be the hero [in Hard Candy], but you'll be second-guessing yourself -- there's just no right answer. Our society is obsessed with finding good and finding evil, but I think we're all capable of anything.

Browse biographies section by name

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z