Page’s perseverance pays off with Freeheld
Freeheld opens wide across Canada Oct. 16. Long before Ellen Page officially came out as gay last year, she was devoted to a social studies movie based on a real-life gayrights issue.
Called Freeheld, the film re-enacts the true story of New Jersey police detective Laurel Hester. Dying of terminal lung cancer, Hester repeatedly appealed to have her pension benefits passed on after her death to her same-sex partner Stacie Andree.
The situation was captured in Cynthia Wade’s moving 2007 documentary, which in turn hooked the Halifax-raised actress.
Page enthusiastically signed on to play Andree and agreed to coproduce the film. But soon she realized dedication wouldn’t be enough. Perseverance over seven years helped and so did getting to know the character she was going to play when funding eventually came together.
“In some ways, Stacie has been a part of my life for a long time,” said Page, 28, before the film premièred at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival.
Certainly, pundits have praised the Peter Sollett-directed movie thanks to the performances of Julianne Moore, who plays police officer Hester, and Page as her car mechanic girlfriend.
Rounding out the cast is Michael Shannon, who plays Dane Wells, Hester’s supportive partner on the force. In a co-starring role, Steve Carell portrays Steven Goldstein, the flamboyant founder of the activist group Garden State Equality, which championed Hester’s case.
The actors were hand-picked, and as Page puts it, “it was a no brainer” to ask the Oscar-honoured Moore to play Hester.
On set last October, the actress and producer discovered that Moore was exceptional beyond her ability to win multiple awards.
“You can feel Julianne’s curiosity, and she works so hard and she’s so meticulous,” Page says. “I think the special thing about her is that she really loves her job. And off camera she’s open and friendly and goofy.”
Another bonus arrived with Moore’s experience: “One of the other benefits of working with Julianne is that she has played real people, and I had very little experience in regards to that.”
Moore, too, wasn’t shy about coming up with suggestions, including recommending Carell for the comic-relief role of the gay rights activist. “He did us a solid,” says Page of Carell, who adjusted his schedule to be in the movie. Although, she admits, “I kept ruining takes with him because I was laughing so much.”
Despite Freeheld’s rough road to the big screen, Page says she enjoyed the producing side of the business too. “I like getting moved by a story, and selling it and developing it,” she says.
Meanwhile, she’s in negotiations to play a role in a Flatliners remake and she completed her titular role in the comedy-drama Tallulah opposite Allison Janney, her co-star in Juno and Touchy Feely.