Elliot Page Opened Up About Coming Out

Elliot Page said that in the days before coming out, he felt "true excitement and deep gratitude" as well as "a lot of fear and anxiety."

The Juno star just made history as the first transgender man to cover Time magazine, and spoke about announcing on social media last December that he is transgender.

"What I was anticipating was a lot of support and love and a massive amount of hatred and transphobia," Page told Time. "That's essentially what happened."

The actor, 34, wrote in a heartfelt note to fans in December, "Hi friends, I want to share with you that I am trans, my pronouns are he/they and my name is Elliot."

"I feel lucky to be writing this," he said at the time. "To be here. To have arrived at this place in my life. I feel overwhelming gratitude for the incredible people who have supported me along this journey. I can't begin to express how remarkable it feels to finally love who I am enough to pursue my authentic self."

Speaking to Time, Page recalled being nine years old, feeling a sense of triumph when he was allowed to cut his hair short. "I felt like a boy," he said. "I wanted to be a boy. I would ask my mom if I could be someday."

Page also opened up about experiencing depression, anxiety, and panic attacks while filming, and not knowing "how to explain to people that even though [I was] an actor, just putting on a T-shirt cut for a woman would make me so unwell."

In isolation in the pandemic, he said, "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."

Speaking out about the political attacks on transgender people, he said, "We know who we are. People cling to these firm ideas [about gender] because it makes people feel safe. But if we could just celebrate all the wonderful complexities of people, the world would be such a better place."