Breaking boundaries! Trans visibility is on the rise —thanks in part to transgender entertainers representing their community on screen, the radio and online.
Elliot Page, who has portrayed Viktor Hargreeves on Umbrella Academy since its premiere in 2019, came out as transgender in December 2020. As the third season began filming following his transition, both showrunner Steve Blackman and Page worked together in a way that would allow the character’s arc to parallel the Juno star’s real-life transition.
During a June 2022 appearance on Late Night With Seth Meyers, the Hard Candy actor shared that Blackman “seemed really excited about incorporating [Page’s transition] into the show.” Thomas Page McBee — the first trans man to box in Madison Square Garden — also came on board as a consulting producer to help craft Viktor’s story.
While the Canada native revealed that his costars and real-life friends, family and fans were “very supporting and loving” about his transition, Page also got candid about handling any voices of negativity.
“When I relect on certain very difficult times in my life, I think ultimately getting through that really deepens your empathy,” Page told host Seth Meyers at the time. “The times in my life where I was the most uncomfortable, where I was the most unwell — those were the times when I was the most angry and I was the most unkind to myself.”
The Inception actor added that transitioning had “improved his life drastically,” and hoped that those who “have an issue” with him “could maybe try and hear that and embrace that as well.”
When speaking to Time in March 2021, Page spoke about feeling pressured to “look a certain way” as a young Hollywood actor despite knowing he “wanted to be a boy” since the age of nine.
“I just never recognized myself,” he said. “For a long time, I could not even look at a photo of myself.”
The COVID-19 pandemic, however, gave the Oscar nominee time to reflect on his identity and what he wanted from his future.
“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,” he explained to the magazine. “I was finally able to embrace being transgender and letting myself fully become who I am.”
Page has since undergone top surgery, which he acknowledged was an important step for him personally, but not necessary — or affordable — for many other trans people. He will return as Viktor Hargreaves in the fourth and final season of Umbrella Academy sometime in 2024.
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