Sir Ian McKellen has come forward to congratulate his X-Men co-star, Elliot Page, on coming out as transgender. Elliot, who played Kitty Pryde in the X-Men films, came out in December 2020, writing on Instagram, "Hi friends, I want to share with you that I am trans, my pronouns are he/they and my name is Elliot."
Speaking with actor Jonathan Bailey in February's issue of Attitude magazine, Sir Ian stated that he is "so happy" for Elliot, stating that "Everything gets better [when you come out] because you get self-confidence. So you get better in terms of relationships, friends of all sorts, family, if you’re lucky. And in my case, I think in every case, your acting is bound to change and improve." Sir Ian speaks from experience, having come out as gay in 1988.
Sir Ian goes on to share a conversation he had with a much younger Elliot while filming X-Men; "I remember Elliot Page, in one of the X-Men, sat as close as we are now. And I had to speak when they’d finished, and I couldn’t hear what they were saying. Nobody could hear what they were saying. So, I said, 'Look, if you can’t speak up, would you mind when you’re finished speaking, just dropping your hand so I know when you’ve finished speaking? And then they came out [as gay] years later and suddenly you couldn’t stop them talking. You heard everything. And now… they’re Elliot. And I’m so happy for Elliot. And so disappointed in myself that I didn’t detect what their difficulty was with communicating." Page came out as gay in 2014, a few months before the release of X-Men: Days of Future Past, which was their last appearance in an X-Men movie to date.
Other X-Men co-stars who came forward in support of Elliot include Hugh Jackman and Sir Patrick Stewart, who tweeted him with congratulations and support when he came out as transgender. Elliot Page also received support from his co-stars in the hugely popular Netflix series The Umbrella Academy, where he plays Vanya. Elliot will continue to portray Vanya going forward, and Netflix has updated the credits of the show so that they list his correct name.
It is so important for co-stars and large corporations such as Netflix to publicly show their support for trans actors and creators. While there are more transgender actors starring on television than ever before, there is so much more space for trans actors and trans stories. The explicit public support of fellow actors, writers, and companies is a way to help trans actors and creators take more steps forward.
Source: Attitude