Ellen Page on her sexuality: ‘Being out became more important than any movie’

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Ellen Page has said that being open about her sexuality is more important to her than her acting career.

The Canadian star, who is best known for her roles in Juno, Inception and the X-Men series, told The Guardian: “Being out within my life became far more important than being in any movie”.

But the 28-year-old actress also expressed fear that it could affect the acting roles she is offered in the future.

“I’d be lying if I said that wasn’t something I feared, and that’s the big reason so many people haven’t come out”.

Page kept her sexuality a secret for years before finally deciding to come out at a conference for counsellors of young LGBT people in Las Vegas in February 2014.

The Oscar-nominated actress admitted she’d lived something of a double life before coming out.

“I felt, let’s just please be done with this chapter of discomfort and sadness and anxiety, and hurting my relationships, and all those things that come with it”.

In the end, feelings of doubt and guilt meant Page could no longer keep her sexuality private.

“I felt guilty for not being a visible person for the community, and for having the privilege that I had and not using it. I had got to the point where I was telling myself, you know, you should feel guilty about this.

“I was an active participant in an element of Hollywood that is gross. I would never judge somebody else for not coming out, but for me, personally, it did start to feel like a moral imperative.”

When Page came out two years ago, she explained that she was driven by a “personal obligation” and “social responsibility” to do so.

In a candid speech which received two standing ovations she said: “I’m tired of hiding, I’m tired of lying by omission.

“I suffered for years because I was afraid to be out. My spirit suffered, my mental health suffered and my relationships suffered. And I’m standing here today with all of you on the other side of that pain.”