Trigger warning: this article contains discussion of depression, anxiety and eating disorders
Elliot Page has revealed that he knew he was a boy at age four.
The Umbrella Academy actor made the candid admission in his new memoir, Pageboy, which was released earlier this week.
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Despite this, the Bafta award winner spent decades living as a woman and has even revealed that he struggled with his mental health before transitioning.
It became particularly problematic following the release of Juno, with the iconic teen flick making the actor an A-lister virtually overnight.
At the time, he’d yet to transition from female to male and starred as the titular teen mum alongside Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman and Michael Cera.
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Feeling the eye of the world upon him, Page admitted that he slipped into an ‘intense’ depression having to dress a certain way to promote the 2007 film – adding that it ‘almost killed him’.
He told Esquire: “When Juno was at the height of its popularity, during awards-season time, I was closeted, dressed in heels and the whole look - I wasn’t OK, and I didn’t know how to talk about that with anyone.”
Continuing, Page explained that he would ‘berate himself’ after experiencing severe panic attacks during this period.
Heartbreakingly, the actor would also struggle with an eating disorder before finally coming out as trans man in 2020.
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Page later confessed in his memoir, Pageboy, that he’d known he was trans whilst growing up in Nova Scotia, Canada.
In one passage from Pageboy, he recalled being asked when he knew he was trans by a date, Sara, and responded: “I knew when I was four years old.
"I went to the YMCA preschool in downtown Halifax, on South Park Street across from the Public Gardens.”
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He told readers that this realisation was one of his ‘earliest and clearest memories’, happening when he was just four years old.
"Primarily, I understood that I wasn't a girl. Not in a conscious sense, but in a pure sense, uncontaminated. That sensation is one of my earliest and clearest memories.” he added.
Page also was aware he was attracted to women from a young age, explaining that he felt ‘twists’ in his stomach every time he gazed at them.
Like many kids, the Inception star turned to his mum, Martha, for support and asked if he could be a boy at age six.
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Trying to be supportive, she responded: “No hon, you can't, you're a girl. But you can do anything a boy can do."
Touchingly, his mum would later support the star with his transition and even attended the launch of his memoir in New York this week.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence contact Mindline Trans+ on 0300 330 5468. The line is open 8pm–midnight Mondays and Fridays and is run by trans volunteers
Topics: Books, Celebrity, Mental Health, TV And Film, Elliot Page
Katherine Sidnell