Elliot Page admits he regrets making one homophobic joke in hit film 'Juno': "I am not excusing..."
Elliot Page is sharing his regret over a homophobic joke that was included in his Oscar-winning movie 'Juno'! For the unversed, Page was only 20 years old when he was cast to play the role of Juno MacGuff, a high school student who ends up getting pregnant with her fellow friend Paulie (essayed by Michael Cera). In the 2007 comedy-drama film, the two teenagers decided to give up their child for adoption. While finding a perfect family for their kid, they come across Mark Loring (played by Jason Bateman) and Vanessa Loring (portrayed by Jennifer Garner).
During the adoption process, Juno forms a very close and special bond with Mark due to their similar music taste. In a scene from the film, the duo can be seen having a discussion about the potential names for the baby. In this particular scene, Page's character Juno makes a comment that he thinks could have been avoided. According to Bustle, Page expressed remorse over the line. "It wasn't something I totally registered at the time," he said at that time.
While talking about the baby names, Mark mentioned that he was thinking about naming the baby Madison. Soon after, Juno shared his thoughts on the name and said, "Isn't that a little gay?" Now, that Page is more mature, he has a better understanding of what impact words can leave on the viewers. "Now that I'm older I do. So many movies I loved as a kid are just rampant with homophobia and transphobia and biphobia, and I'm not excusing it by any means," he further added.
Page who came out as a transgender man in December 2020 is learning from his past mistakes and taking all the life lessons for the future. Not long ago, he refused to repeat the same joke while narrating the script of 'Juno' for Planned Parenthood. After Page came out of the closet, Netflix made the move to showcase his transition in the series 'The Umbrella Academy' as well. Page played the role of Viktor Hargreeves. Page also talked about the immense support he received from the showrunner Steve Blackman and shared, “I called him nervously and he was incredible. If anything, he was the one who was very insistent on immediately having it be a part of the show and supported me to be able to access the care I was hoping to get at that time.”
During an interview with People magazine, Page candidly spoke out about his transition and shared, "That's been the big shift for me is having a lot of my experience post coming out as trans, or even this last season having been on T for a bit. The difference is so significant, and I love it. Hopefully, I'll continue to get to act and see how it impacts my work.” At the moment, Page is embracing his true self and focusing on his acting career. He was last seen in the fourth season of 'The Umbrella Academy' which was released in August 2024. You can stream all the previous seasons of 'The Umbrella Academy' only on Netflix.