Elliot Page says no one has offered a role since appearing in Christopher Nolan’s box-office hit The Odyssey, saying being cast now is “a little tricky” as a transgender actor.
Page, who came out as transgender in 2020, made the comments on the On Film with Kevin McCarthy podcast. Asked whether the success of The Odyssey had brought a wave of new offers, host Kevin McCarthy said, “Do you know what you’re doing next? Have you already started looking? Because I imagine you’re getting a zillion calls after this movie.”
“No, Kevin, I’m not,” Page said. “If someone wants to call me … I’d really love to do ideally good work.”
Page went on to reflect on how perceptions have shifted since earlier in the actor’s career. “I was seen in a certain way before and it’s different now, so maybe there is something to reaching out to people and trying to create projects that way,” Page said. “But it’s a little tricky for me to get cast now, for obvious reasons.”
The Odyssey, directed by Christopher Nolan, grossed $1.4 billion worldwide, a personal box-office record for the director, and has drawn strong critical notices along with early talk of a possible Best Picture Oscar nomination.
Co-star raises a different concern
Page isn’t the only member of the film’s cast to speak publicly about a lack of subsequent work. Samantha Morton, a two-time Academy Award nominee who played Circe in The Odyssey, has said she believes ageism in Hollywood has limited her opportunities.
“I haven’t worked for a year since making ‘The Odyssey,’ you know, and I’ve got really good agents and a manager, but at the end of the day, I’m 49,” Morton said. “I do believe I’m a good actor, [but] there are other good actors out there. Do you know what I mean? So, the politics of the industry has changed massively.”
Morton said that when Nolan cast her, she felt “hope and faith, that, I suppose, if you keep at it, and you keep producing good work, and that the right people see it, then maybe you can carry on working.”
