Elliot Page opens up about past romance with Kate Mara in Pageboy: ‘A time of exploration’
In a new extract from his upcoming memoir Pageboy, trans icon Elliot Page has opened up about his past romance with Kate Mara “right after” he came out as gay.
Oscar-nominated actor Elliot Page – who uses he/him and they/them pronouns – came out as gay in 2014, and then as a trans man in December 2020.
Alongside his unapologetic trans joy which has served as inspiration to countless LGBTQ+ youth, they have grappled with “self-disgust” during puberty and later, navigated horrific rape threats from an anonymous Hollywood star.
The 36-year-old Umbrella Academy actor reflects on all this and more in his highly-anticipated autobiography Pageboy – including his past relationship with fellow actor Kate Mara.
In an exclusive extract shared with People, Page opened up about how he fell in love with Mara just after coming out in 2014, while Mara was dating The Social Network‘s Max Minghella and he was filming X-Men: Days of Future Past.
“The first person I fell for after my heart was broken was Kate Mara,” Page writes in Pageboy. “She had a boyfriend at the time, the lovely and talented Max Minghella.”
Kate Mara (L) and Elliot Page (R) in My Days of Mercy. (Lionsgate)
In the memoir, he explains that Minghella was supportive of their relationship.
“I never thought I could be in love with two people and now I know I can,” Page continues. “This was right after I’d come out as gay and it was a time of exploration and also heartbreak.
“I think my relationship, or whatever you want to call it with Kate, very much encapsulates a certain dynamic that I consistently found myself in, which was falling for people that – I think a lot of us do this – who aren’t fully available. And the sort of safety in that and the highs and the lows and the serotonin bump, and then it goes away.
“And I think that is definitely a pattern in my life.”
Mara is known for gay classic Brokeback Mountain, Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story and her role opposite Page himself in 2017 lesbian drama My Days of Mercy.
Although Mara and Page eventually parted ways, they still remain close, with Page confirming that Mara has “read the book” and will even appear with Page at a book event in Los Angeles in June.
“I think the love and care that we have for each other is its very own special thing. Separate from the intimacy that I write about,” he adds.
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This is just one of several moving anecdotes from Pageboy, where the star also opens up about his “life-changing” experience at a gay bar, his admiration for Juno co-star Michael Cera and the painful experience of dating a closeted (again, unnamed) female actor for two years.
Page has also dated artist Samantha Thomas from 2015 to 2016 and married, and later divorced professional dancer and choreographer Emma Portner from 2018 to 2021.
Alongside the memoir, Page is also fighting back against the increasing anti-trans legislation sweeping the US with his powerful visibility, such as radiating trans joy with a shirtless selfie after receiving gender-affirming healthcare and becoming the new face Gucci’s campaign, Gucci Guilty.
Pageboy is available in bookstores from Tuesday 6 June.