Ellen Page Thanks Ellen DeGeneres For Coming Out 'When It Was Much Harder'
X-Men: Days Of Future Past star Ellen Page sat down with Ellen DeGeneres to discuss the difficulties and the emotional rewards found in coming out as a gay woman, and being honest with the world.
In February 2014, Page revealed publicly that she was gay during a Human Rights Campaign event supporting LGBT youth. DeGeneres famously came out in 1997 during an episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show, and later incorporated it into her 1990s sitcom Ellen, in an episode where her character also revealed she was gay.
DeGeneres, 56, started the conversation by telling Page, 27, how truly proud she was of the Juno actress for making the brave decision to publicly come out, and then played a small portion of Page's speech from the Human Rights Campaign event.
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"[I was] the most nervous I've ever been in my life, for sure," says Page. "My biggest fear in doing it was just having a panic attack, quite frankly. But I was just so ready to do it, and, quite frankly, so excited to do it, so it was a combination of such thrill to finally be at that place in my life where I was able to do that, and grateful to have that moment."
"And grateful to you, because you did it at a time when it was much harder and much scarier," Page says to Ellen, eliciting a heartfelt round of applause from the audience.
"I knew that I would be a happier person. I knew that I was going to feel better, and I did not anticipate just how happy I would feel," Page reveals. "In every aspect of my life… it's really been quite extraordinary to feel the shift. It was pretty much over night."
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DeGeneres later brought up the comfort she felt after coming out, saying, "There's something about not having to worry about someone catching you in a lie. I know what that's like, when you're on a show, and you just feel like you're waiting for someone to go, 'You're gay! I know you are!"
Page agreed, saying, "It's so nice to just be at work and talk about an ex, or get to wear what you want and not have a conversation about it. And to feel like you're being yourself."
This heartfelt episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show airs Tuesday, May 27.
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