Interview with “Super” Actress Ellen Page
Written by Dana R. Davidson
Ellen Page is no stranger to the movie community, having starting acting at a young age and going on to star in such films as Hard Candy, Juno, Whip It, Inception and James Gunn’s upcoming superhero dark comedy, Super. In this brilliantly hilarious, dark and violently awesome comedy, a man played by Rainn Wilson decides to become a real-life vigilante superhero after his wife leaves him. He soon meets a young woman, played by Ellen Page, who ends up becoming his sidekick.
We got a chance to sit down with Ellen to discuss her role in Super.
Dana Davidson: How was it to play your character Libby?
Ellen Page: It was so much fun. It was one of those things that I just have so much gratitude for. I am so grateful that James Gunn wrote a role like this for a young woman because I’m sure we can all agree that interesting roles for young women can be far and in between. Then getting to do this with Rainn Wilson and James Gunn was just so much fun.
Dana Davidson: This role is pretty different from any role you’ve ever done. What was it that made you want to do it?
Ellen Page: Just that reason. It was something that I felt like I hadn’t done, nor had I really seen before. The opportunity to play someone that has so much kind of extreme qualities and is really… as an actor you really have to make some pretty distinct choices and just go with it and there is no looking back. It’s about completely letting your self go and really making a fool out of myself and really having to forget about ego and lose yourself. I mean that’s why I do this. That feeling is really really special and why I love being an actor. So, it’s just a dream as an actor.
Dana Davidson: Without giving much away, was the role physically challenging?
Ellen Page: Those were all my natural sweet moves. You know, I love playing roles that are physical. I absolutely love whether it’s just that kind of level of basic physicality or whether it’s just stunts. I just love it. The experience of shooting it was amazing for that reason. Even a film like Hard Candy, it’s just really physical. Shooting something that was a really low budget short shoot was amazing ‘cause it was just like, go, go go, and I really like… I mean I loved the experience of Inception which took five months, I mean that’s amazing, it’s just so different. I also kinda really like the barebones, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants; it’s really fun.
Dana Davidson: Libby/Boltie, the character you play is described as crazed. Is that how you approached this role?
Ellen Page: When I read something I can’t judge the character first and foremost ‘cause I gotta just absolutely connect, for me. I know that sounds so actor-y but I really have to connect to it and then let something come from that. But yeah, I mean I think you have to step back and you have to make distinct choices. I mean I don’t wanna say there is something wrong with this person, so I will put this in little air quotes, but there is something “wrong”. You know, she has some mental issues from the get go. She doesn’t really understand personal space well and she says really inappropriate things. So, I think we see this kind of sociopathic kind of person wearing a costume who ends up becoming kind of a full on psychopath who loves violence and feels very little, if no remorse.
Dana Davidson: Was the scene between you and Rainn Wilson difficult?
Ellen Page: I don’t wanna say difficult because I love being challenged and that is always what I want, but I remember… Like I’ve done quite a few sex scenes for my age, which is…kind of interesting, and done some scenes where I’m the victim and that, despite it being emotionally draining, or whatever, is easy in the sense that we can all associate how a victim feels. We can all associate what fear is. I remember sitting before I was about to go out and try to do that scene the first time and, I was like, wait a second, not only have I never ever been a sexual predator or anything… it’s just like so… like I can’t… I don’t even know how to wrap my head around this. It was very interesting to think about because it’s just so not who I am. I am not a sexual predator. So, it was definitely kinda like plugging your nose, closing your eyes, and just jumping in. Then I have the incredible fortune of doing it with someone like Rainn Wilson who I love and trust immensely and the same goes to James Gunn. And again, what an amazing opportunity to forget about yourself and just go.
Dana Davidson: Did you have any discussions about the sort of manic underlying feeling of melancholy?
Ellen Page: I’m trying to remember the distinct discussions. I think the interesting thing with Libby versus Rainn’s character is that Rainn’s character has an element of depth, of moral debate, of ethical questioning, and of obviously the religious undertones that go with his character. Libby is pretty devoid of that. There is not a whole lot of depth when it comes to her violence and her desire to do what she is doing. She is just absorbed into this fantasy and is clearly a psychopathic kind of person who is really enjoying being violent. So, there is less of that dialogue when it comes to a moral dilemma. Do you know what I mean? ‘Cause she is pretty one note in that sense. When it comes to her bond with Rainn’s character I think it’s really beautiful and touching. She really loves him and loves the idea of what is occurring. I am sure it’s giving her a sense of freedom and purpose that would obviously motivate her but I think she is more straight-forward in her lust for blood than Rainn, who believes he’s been chosen by god, holy beloved, to do his thing.
Dana Davidson: Rainn had a small role in Juno, was this the first time you had seen him since then?
Ellen Page: I think despite working less than a day on Juno we had a really good time together and I think a natural connection. A similar sense of humor and he is someone I had always admired for his work and also as a person. So, we had seen each other sporadically at parties, events, those kinds of things, and I just always really liked him and we enjoy talking to each other. So starting this film there was already that underlying trust and it just grew and grew and grew and I can’t say enough good things about the guy. I just love him and I loved every moment of working with him. Pure joy.
Dana Davidson: Did you enjoy working in the cold weather?
Ellen Page: Even in the cold because boo f-ing hoo. Look, don’t get me wrong, there were some days of like, wow, and I’ve shot in Prince Edward Islands. I’ve shot in some intense temperatures but you are wearing a spandex costume and trying to make it look like it’s summer. I there were times when I couldn’t form words but those are moments when you just have to slap your face and just think about relativity and, you know, I just can’t let myself complain about something like that.
Dana Davidson: Can you talk about the writing project that you are doing?
Ellen Page: Stitch and Bitch? Alia Shawkat, Sean Tillman (who is an amazing musician), and I wrote this show. Alia and I had the idea when we were shooting Whip It together, obviously she is an incredibly talented actress. It’s about two girls who are best friends and they move from Williamsburg to Echo Park in LA to become artists… of any kind really… but they have a band called Stitch and Bitch. HBO bought the show but it’s really early in the development process and these things take a while.
Dana Davidson: What from acting did you take into the writing process?
Ellen Page: I think that since I’ve been working for awhile, I’ve been working since I was 10, I’ve had the fortune of reading a lot of scripts and you see things that work and things that don’t work so much. I think that naturally you learn. I know what I like to see and I feel that I know the format and structure. It’s what I’ve been surrounded by for 14 years.
Dana Davidson: Is there any current interest that you are geeking out about as much as you character Libby geeks out about comics?
Ellen Page: The stuff I geek out about…I probably spend most of my time right now…I really hope that we will have a sustainable future on this planet. I really do. I probably geek out mostly about learning more about how we can potentially make that happen. Hopefully we aren’t too far lost. I just watched Gasland which is phenomenal and it made me really sob and lose my mind a little bit. I read a lot about culture farming. I do what I can to help that.
Dana Davidson: How did you get involved with the Cisco commercials?
Ellen Page: They asked, they are a rad company and do amazing work. They do a lot of great work for climate change and monitoring the environmental impact as well as amazing education programs around the world. I think their technology can be extremely beneficial. For example I just sponsored a soil conference in Nova Scotia to talk about the integrity of top soil and how it’s depleting resource. There is a really great documentary about that called Dirt. I was in Austin, for South By South West [SXSW an annual film, music, and interactive conference] and they set up this amazing live feed so I could be there and do that. I think potentially their technology can really help and they gave me so much freedom in those commercials, I got to bring in all my friends, everyone you see are like friends of mine so it’s really fun.
Super opens April 1st, 2011.
Tuesday, March 29th, 2011 at 8:13 am | Filed under Interviews.
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