LEILA FADEL, HOST:
For the first time since coming out as transgender, Elliot Page is out with a new movie today. In "Close To You," Page plays Sam, a trans man going home to his family after his own transition. The film features a series of big conversations - like this one between Sam and his father, played by Peter Outerbridge.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "CLOSE TO YOU")
PETER OUTERBRIDGE: (As Jim) You're just watching your kid, every single day, get sadder and sadder and sadder, and it keeps stopping them and making them do nothing.
ELLIOT PAGE: (As Sam) I thought that you maybe always resented me for that.
FADEL: When I spoke to Elliot Page, I started by asking him how much of the film is autobiographical.
PAGE: Not a lot. But needless to say, of course, so much of it was personal. So much of the themes are personal - of the wants, of the frustrations, of the humor, of all the things we attempted to capture in this film. And just how Dominic Savage, the filmmaker, makes his films is very unusual, and I think it becomes personal for every actor, no matter what.
FADEL: When you say it's unusual, are you - 'cause I read that it was largely improvised?
PAGE: Yes, it's very largely improvised. Dominic shoots the film in order, all on one lens, all natural light. And, yeah, you have an outline, very full of description, but then you kind of go for it (laughter), and you do - you know, you could do a 20-minute take, a 40-minute take, a 50-minute take.
FADEL: Wow.
PAGE: It's a very powerful experience.
FADEL: I mean, it is an intimate story, right? It's a story about the bonds of a family, the reintroduction of a past love. If you could talk a little bit about the way this story opens, you're on a train, you're going home and you run back into Katherine.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "CLOSE TO YOU")
HILLARY BAACK: (As Katherine) I'm always, like, going by places - you know, like, where we always used to hang out. I'm always thinking about you and remembering.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
BAACK: (As Katherine) I've thought about you a lot, to be honest.
PAGE: Katherine, who's played by the incredible Hillary Baack, is a character from Sam's past, who he knew back growing up in his town of Coburg, in school, and they shared a very intense friendship and love for each other - both people who felt like outsiders and felt very much seen by the other. And I think, because of that particular place, time, when they grew up, it couldn't necessarily be a fully realized thing, and now we're seeing them come back together as adults and getting reacquainted, and I was just interested in - yeah, like, you know, meeting someone from your past, from that time, and a love that couldn't quite be.
FADEL: I mean, you've been very, very active around representation, or lack thereof, when it comes to queer folk, trans folks. When you think about this film and where it fits into representation, or really lack thereof, what hole does it fill?
PAGE: I think, you know, in the making it, of course, it was about sort of creating these certain, like, parameters to work in, in terms of, like, I didn't want him going home to just a stereotypical, extremely transphobic family kind of situation.
FADEL: Right. It was quite the opposite.
PAGE: It - yeah, but wanted to include the realistic elements and more nuanced elements of people that I think a lot of trans and queer people will relate to in so many ways - or at least, if I've seen it with an audience and queer and trans people, there's specifically a lot of, like, laughter and of recognition, you know, so I was hoping to tell a story that could offer something new, you know, while still containing some of those challenges and complexities. When you're making it, you're just excited to be making it, and then it's when I'm promoting it that I'm like, oh, right. Right. We don't - you know?
FADEL: Yeah. Yeah.
PAGE: Like, it's like navigating, you know, all the representation aspects of it, or I get asked about, like, is it a statement that he's shirtless at the beginning? I'm like, no, it's actually just a guy getting out of bed.
(LAUGHTER)
PAGE: You know, like those sorts of things.
FADEL: Not everything has to have super deep meaning. I want to ask about joy, because I felt like the one really clear message is that your character, Sam, is finally happy and has found joy and has found his voice, and I'm curious what you tapped into there. I mean, is that something that you've also found?
PAGE: Oh, my gosh, absolutely. And I have to say there's something so special about, you know, also doing this with Hillary, who I've known since I was 24. We met making a movie called "The East," and we became so close quickly and just, like, our friendship deepened over the years, and so there was just something so extra special, too, 'cause I think Sam - when he's around Katherine, you see it in his body. You see it in his face. You just see this extra ease.
Like, I experienced that on set, like, with my friend Hillary being like, oh, my God, you're just so different, you know? Or I think even - we were doing an interview the other day, and it did kind of make me emotional, where she was just like, you have to be so, like, present and in yourself and grounded to be able to work in this way, and, like, Hillary talking about just seeing her friend, this person she's known for a while, so different and happy - that really meant a lot for me, to sort of, like, almost hear that from her, because...
FADEL: Yeah.
PAGE: ...That really is how I feel. I feel a way I never thought possible, whether that's the presence I feel when I'm just having my coffee in the morning or whether I'm walking my dog and looking at the trees or whether I'm showing up on set and jumping into a scene.
FADEL: Yeah.
PAGE: And does it mean everything's perfect? Of course not.
(LAUGHTER)
PAGE: Do I still have difficult days? Do I still have my anxious, stressed-out, whatever days that we have as human beings? Absolutely. I'm having a full human experience.
FADEL: Right.
PAGE: But now I do feel like I'm actually here and in my body and not wanting to flee.
FADEL: That's beautiful.
(SOUNDBITE OF GIA MARGARET'S "HINOKI WOOD")
FADEL: Elliot Page is an actor, writer and producer. His film "Close To You" is out in theaters today. Elliot, congratulations on the film, and thank you so much.
PAGE: Thank you. Thank you for having me.
(SOUNDBITE OF GIA MARGARET'S "HINOKI WOOD") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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