Ellen Page Interview, Whip It

Ellen Page has firmly established herself as one of the most talented young actresses in Hollywood today. In 2008 she received Best Actress nominations from the Oscar's, BAFTA, Golden Globe and SAG and won an Independent Spirit Award for her role in “Juno.” Ellen will soon appear in Michael Lander's independent film “Peacock” starring Cillian Murphy, Susan Sarandon and Bill Pullman. Ellen is currently in production on Christopher Nolan's “Inception” opposite Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, and Ken Watanabe.

MoviesOnline sat down recently with Ellen to talk about her new film, “Whip It,” a coming-of-age story which explores friendships, teammate camaraderie and first loves.  For years, Bliss Cavendar (Academy Award nominee Ellen Page) has been dreaming of escaping her tiny, truck-stop of a town Bodeen, Texas.  Unfortunately her devoted, beauty pageant obsessed mother (Academy Award winner Marcia Gay Harden) is convinced that Bliss can only succeed in life if she wins the crown at the local Miss Blue Bonnet Pageant, but the awkward outsider knows there’s something bigger and better out there.  When Bliss sneaks off to the big city of Austin with her best friend Pash (Alia Shawkat) she discovers a world unlike anything she could ever imagine:  roller derby, with its girl-power-meets-punk-rock spirit and its liberating celebration of wild individuality.

Inspired by the likes of Maggie Mayhem (Kristen Wiig), Bliss secretly tries out for a spot on the Hurl Scouts, a rag-tag team of scrappy underdogs.  Soon she’s trading in her gowns and crowns for skirts, skates and scrapes becoming her alter ego, Babe Ruthless.  Leading a precarious double life, Bliss may be a waitress at Bodeen’s Oink Joint by day, but by night, she’s becoming the fastest thing on eight wheels.  Now she’s doing things she never dreamed of -- fearlessly facing off with bad-ass rivals like Iron Maven (Academy Award nominee Juliette Lewis) and falling for a boy in a band (singer/songwriter Landon Pigg) -- while trying to be a heroine to her new friends and teammates.  But when her secret gets out, Bliss will face her toughest fight yet:  to take control of the future . . . on her own terms. 

Rounding out a dynamic ensemble cast, “Whip It” also stars Jimmy Fallon, Eve, Zoë Bell, Ari Graynor, Eulala Scheel, Andrew Wilson, Carlo Alban and Daniel Stern.  The film marks the feature film directorial debut of Drew Barrymore, who also stars as the feisty Hurl Scout, Smashley Simpson.

Before she ever tied up her laces, Page knew she was in for perhaps the wildest ride of her young career.  “This has been one of the craziest journeys I’ve gone on in a movie,” Page admits, “because it is a mix of different genres and worlds and energies and it seems like every moment is so crucial to Bliss’s growth and development.  What’s great about this film is that it’s got this rock n’ roll, cool, sporty aspect to it but behind that is an honest story of a young woman going through a lot of changes.  The challenge was molding all that together and Drew did it brilliantly, with her high energy and positive spirit.” 

Ellen Page has been very busy promoting her new film and we really appreciated her time. Here’s more of what she had to tell us about “Whip It”:

Q: How was it working with Drew?

ELLEN PAGE: In general?  She’s kind, warm, passionate, luminous and an infectious person - that’s who she is and even more than that, she’s just an incredibly powerful human being I think and an absolute pleasure to work with.

Q: How did you find her as a director?

ELLEN PAGE: Phenomenal.  So available all the time.  Completely assured, always knew what she wanted, and just remarkably present at every moment.  Really inspiring, mind blowing.

Q: This was a different part for you – what drew you to it?

ELLEN PAGE: Well, lots of things.  First and foremost, it was a good screenplay.  It felt sincere, the relationships felt sincere and the resurgence of derby in the roller derby world was just interesting to me.  I thought it was great for young women, a world where women could be aggressive and competitive and strong and come in all shapes and sizes. 

Q: Did you get into skating?  Will we see you in Venice on the boardwalk?

ELLEN PAGE: Yeah, on Sundays I was going to Silver Lake with my derby trainers. 

Q: So you’re keeping it up?

ELLEN PAGE: Yeah, it’s hard to Derby because I’m doing a movie right now but I loved it.

Q: Did you have injuries?

ELLEN PAGE: Yeah, nothing major.  At first, you fall a lot

Q: Any broken bones?

ELLEN PAGE: No.

Q: How intensive was the training process?  Daniel Stern said when he showed up on the set people were doing laps around him?  He was like a dad saying, my little girl is out there and she’s going to get hurt! How much training did you do?

ELLEN PAGE: I trained for about three months for derby.  I went to a trainer for about three months and then simultaneously with another trainer just to get stronger.  But I loved it and how amazing to have a job where you get paid to learn how to roller derby.

Q: Coming from Canada - what was your skating experience like?

ELLEN PAGE: I could skate a little bit. I grew up in Canada so a little bit of ice skating and I’d rollerbladed before but I had never had roller skates on my feet before.  It was different but not that different.  So I had skated before but I was by no means a good skater but I had at least done a little.

Q: Other sports?

ELLEN PAGE: Yeah, I’ve always played sports – soccer.

Q: How much of the skating part of the movie vs. the relationships in the movie attracted you?  It’s not just a roller derby film.

ELLEN PAGE: That was one of the things that really attracted me.  We really had this, for lack of a better word, coming-of-age story that comes along with some baggage, and all the relationships, to me, took a slightly unconventional, and to me, very real sincere look at the relationships.  The relationship with her mother I thought was very powerful because she wasn’t just, “F you mom, this is what I want to do!”She adores her mother and loves her mother and is craving that connection with her mother but has found this thing she’s madly passionate about and it’s making her feel guilty and torn inside because she loves her mother so much.  I think it’s a really interesting time in a lot of people’s lives where they start developing independence, where they start to become adults, nd thus the old relationships are shifting as you’re developing your new ones and your new way of connecting and you being in the world is a really interesting time in everyone’s life and, of course, the relationship progresses and the best friend played by the Freudian slip, breast, the incredibly talented Alia Shawkat (laughs) who I adore and had so much fun working with -- that kind of really deep, special bond that you have.  All of those things attracted me to it.

Q: Did you have a best friend like that?

ELLEN PAGE: Yes.  I’ve had really close friends at different times in my life.  Junior High school my best friend was a guy named Alex and we were absolutely inseparable and then in high school I had a couple of friends in high school that are two of my best friends and yeah, of course, they are the most important relationships to me.

Q: And mom?

ELLEN PAGE: Yeah (laughs)

Q: What would you like the audience to take away after watching it?

ELLEN PAGE: That they have a really, really good time, first and foremost.  It’s so nice to be in a movie that you want to share it with people because you’re so pumped up about it and you had so much fun making it but you know, as corny as it sounds, this journey to me is really about finding that thing in life that makes your blood boil and makes your passion ignite inside of you and then enables you to find your true potential and enables you to find a confidence and a sensuality and a strength that is powerful for anyone to find no matter what age, whether they’re male or female.

Q: What validates the work for you? Is it what other people say?

ELLEN PAGE: No, it’s just what I feel at the moment.  Yeah. It’s nice when people like things but it really doesn’t affect me whether people like things or not or like me or not, and I’m so grateful to be able to do what I do right now and I take every moment as it comes and I had an amazing experience on this – one of the best in my life.

Q: Do you know when you’re good?

ELLEN PAGE: Do I know when I’m good? Oh God, no.  I do my thing and hopefully it works for people.  It probably works for some people and not for everyone and it’s just the way that it is.

Q: How does your mother inspire you?

ELLEN PAGE: My mother is someone who is so incredibly compassionate and she was – She recently retired this year and she was always a teacher and had a full time job and managed to give me so much and so much of her time and so much support, that first and foremost just cares about if I’m happy and healthy and balanced, and she’s just the sweetest thing. So, I think for being so supportive in that way has been really inspiriting for me and not attaching herself into the world that I found myself in, do you know what I mean?  And not making that her way of – you know?

Q: What qualities of hers are you grateful for?

ELLEN PAGE: My mom is a tough cookie.  And she’s been through a lot in her life and is a really amazing woman.

Q: What’s your favorite part of working on this movie?

ELLEN PAGE: Working with this amazing cast and working with Drew -- and learning roller derby.
 
 “Whip It” opens in theaters on October 2nd.