Elliot Page and Dominic Savage hope new trans drama can ‘change hearts and minds’

Actor Elliot Page and director Dominic Savage have spoken to PinkNews about how they worked together to create a poignant – and improvised – drama about the difficult dynamic that often exists between trans people and their families.

Page was just 10 when he made his screen debut in 1997, starring as Maggie MacLean in Canadian TV film Pit Pony.

He’s since collected an Oscar nomination, for comedy Juno, led four seasons of Netflix’s bonkers superhero hit The Umbrella Academy, and moved into film production. There is no role in Hollywood, you’d think, that could put his heart in his mouth. 

Wrong. Ahead of filming powerful new drama Close To You, Page was uncomfortable.

“And by uncomfortable, I mean sh*tting my pants because the film’s improvised. What the hell am I doing? I don’t know how to do this?” he thought.

There are reasons why Page was able to tackle an almost entirely improvised script. Close To You, helmed by Love + Hate director Savage, follows a story with which he is vaguely familiar.

Page plays Sam, a man who returns to his small home town in rural Canada for the first time in four years, and for the first time since transitioning. 

He’s there for a birthday gathering for his father, meaning there are siblings and in-laws and plenty of awkward beating around the bush, plus delicate conversations and no-so-delicate confrontations.

While home, he reunites unexpectedly with former flame and cafe worker Katherine (Page’s The East co-star Hillary Baack), and a dormant love story unfurls before us. With little dialogue to go on, Page had to tap into his vulnerability to make Sam feel as authentic as possible.

For Page, it was working with Savage and Baack, the latter whom he’s known for 13 years, that enabled him to really unearth those feelings. “I feel safe with Hillary, I trust Hillary,” he says. “She’s a phenomenal actress, so deep and present and true. I felt really comfortable going into every scene together.”

Plus, he says: “It’s a testament to Dominic, you really disappear into these scenes and it is such a thrilling way to work. Dominic knows how to create the space that allows you to feel that way.”

However, Savage feels it was Page who ultimately enabled the script-free set-up to work. Following an introduction from a casting director several years ago, the pair hopped on a Zoom call to discuss logistics and to see if they gelled. They did, instantly. 

“We just sort of connected, aligned, almost immediately, and you could feel it. That’s the point, you could feel it when there was mutual respect. The trust started to build from there,” Savage says. 

For a vast number of directors and writers, actors make up the second part of the equation. A story has been formed and they need a star to fulfil a role. But Savage explains that he works a little differently: for him to feel a film is worth creating, he needs the right actor to convince him.

Having worked with the likes of Kate Winslet, Olivia Coleman and David Tennant, the bar is quite high. But Page leapt over it with ease.

“The [reason] I like to make films is because someone inspires me to make it. An actor always inspires me to want to make this film, and Elliot inspired me totally,” he says. “It was such a gift. From the very first day of shooting, he clearly was all in.”

It’s unsurprising that Page wanted to give the role of Sam his best. Since publicly coming out as a trans man in 2020, he has spoken candidly about the intricate details of his transition in his memoir Pageboy, released last year, as well as in interviews and on social media. 

He’s spoken about how he navigates being misgendered, the visceral discomfort of having to wear feminine clothing before coming out, and the devastating real-world impact of US legislation aimed at banning trans people from toilets, sports fields and schools. In Close To You, Sam’s dealings with transphobia are subtle and nuanced, but it forms part of the same experience. 

“Sam has parents [who] accept his transness and have the best intentions but they don’t truly see Sam,” Page says. “His family interacts with him again, potentially trying their best, but not quite getting it right.”

In one scene early on in the family reunion, Sam’s mother accidentally misgenders him, and gets teary as she makes a flustered apology. It’s up to him to comfort her, rather than the other way round.

In another conversation, his sister expresses worry for him, ironically now he’s out and living the life he wants. “You weren’t worrying about me when I was actually not OK,” comes Sam’s searing reply.

“The nuance within those moments will hopefully resonate particularly with trans and queer people,” the star says. 

A pivotal moment comes when his brother-in-law takes issue with, essentially, having to show Sam basic respect. Paul is “a bit more aggro,” Page says, but he worked with Savage “to keep it in a certain language that people justify. And by people, I mean those who are OK with trans and queer people being dehumanised and mocked and all those things”.

Page’s performance is careful and considered, diligently capturing how excruciating those conflicts can be.

After all, he has had to swim in troubled waters with his own family as they came to accept, or reject, his identity. He has been estranged from his father Dennis, a graphic designer, for some years.

In Pageboy, he revealed, shockingly, that Dennis engages with posts online that are shared to ridicule his son.

His mother Martha, a teacher who separated from his father when Page was young, also took time to come around. She initially avoided acknowledging his sexuality when he first came out as a lesbian in 2014. Now, he describes her as a fierce ally.

“For me, with my mom, I would send her stuff, articles, which she read. So, in many ways, I think it’s about sharing the correct information, because there are endless, full-blown lies about our lives, our healthcare, just who we are,” Page says.

“Something I found really helpful is sharing the correct information to help educate people.”

Now feels like a particularly pertinent time for Close To You to hit big screens.

The Paris Olympics were marred by attacks on Algerian boxer Imane Khelif for competing in the women’s events, despite her being deemed eligible to enter by the International Olympic Committee.

X/Twitter owner Elon Musk continues to be one of the loudest and most powerful voices spouting vitriol about the community – including against his own daughter. The US presidential election is on the horizon, and no doubt trans rights will be a centrepiece. 

Savage’s hope is that Close To You’s no-script approach could persuade some to believe what trans people say about themselves.

“That’s the beauty of working in this way, is that you don’t doubt [Sam]. You can’t doubt him. How can you? He’s really feeling those things,” he says.

“One of the things I’m proudest of in the film is there’s not a fake moment in it. It’s not make-believe. This is real for everyone. This is real for Sam, this is real for Elliot.

“That has to have some effect, it has to have some impact and ability to change minds and hearts, surely.”

Close To You is out in select US cinemas now and in select UK cinemas from 23 August.

This interview was conducted at the London’s BFI Flare Film Festival in March 2024.

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