New Hollywood 2011

Canadian thespian Ellen Page didn't grow up anywhere close to Hollywood, or even Hollywood North (Vancouver) for that matter. Her humble beginnings came in Nova Scotia, where she alternated between competing interests in tree-climbing, action figure duels, soccer, and performance. An aspiring performer since age 4, she developed her interest further by appearing in school productions like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, in which she played Charlie, and courses at her hometown's Neptune Theatre School. She would make her screen debut at 10 by playing Maggie in 1997's Pit Pony, a TV movie that would later be picked up as a TV series. In 29 episodes on the show, Page would hone her craft while also being rewarded with nominations at the Young Artist Awards and the Genie Awards.

Ellen Page continued to develop her acting reputation through intense training and impressive credits. On the training side, she moved to Toronto, where she took on a heavy drama-infused course load at Vaughan Road Academy. On the acting side, she enjoyed a recurring guest role as Treena Lahey on the Canadian TV favorite, Trailer Park Boys, before winning the female ACTRA Maritimes Award for Outstanding Performance for her work in the searing family drama Marion Bridge. The first of two Gemini Awards for Ellen Page would come via another family drama, where she played a girl coping with the loss of her mother in Mrs. Ashboro's Cat. Now a pro at playing it nice, Page would soon turn the tables on her screen type and come out stronger on the other side.

Not wanting her fans and industry observers to prematurely conclude that she could only play nice, Ellen Page played a pair of darker characters in 2005 that deservedly bolstered her acting credibility and overall awareness. In Mouth to Mouth, she aptly played an impressionable teen in who gets caught up in the ill-advised activities of a European youth gang. For her subsequent effort, Hard Candy, she portrayed a conniving girl who squares off against a suspected pedophile (Patrick Wilson). The merciless on-screen battle would feature her using a scalpel and a bag of ice in ways that would be enough to make any man squirm.

Following this pair of serious-minded indies, Ellen Page sent some love to the comic book crowd for the 2006 superhero sequel, X-Men: The Last Stand. As Kitty Pryde, the mutant gifted with the superhuman ability of phasing, Page gamely established the character as her own after following in the footsteps of two different predecessors. Page's string of engaging performances -- and especially her work in Hard Candy -- caught the eye of director Jason Reitman, who made her his first choice to play the opinionated and very pregnant teen title character in the 2007 indie dramedy, Juno. She accepted the role and the resulting film became a surprise blockbuster, grossing more than $230 million around the world. As Juno-isms like "honest to blog" became rampant across pop culture and teen pregnancy's like Bristol Palin's became fodder for "copycat pregnancy" accusations, Page reaped the benefits of increased popularity and success by netting an Oscar nomination for her endearing performance. Marion Cotillard, was eventually crowned the winner.

At this point in her career, moviegoers and pop culture observers couldn't get enough of Ellen Page. To go along with kudos from Entertainment Weekly, FHM and Time, Ellen Page hosted Saturday Night Live in 2008 and appeared in animated form on The Simpsons a year later. For the latter, she poked fun at entertainment tween queen Miley Cyrus by voicing the satirical character, Alaska Nebraska. Where movies were concerned, she joined the 2008 Dennis Quaid-Sarah Jessica Parker ensemble dramedy, Funny People, which was followed by Whip It, the cinematic ode to roller derby that cast Page as a Texas teen who learns to "Be your own hero." The film was also Drew Barrymore's directorial debut.

In 2010, Ellen Page joined the cast of what would become her biggest film to date -- Christopher Nolan's mind-bending thriller, Inception -- which was top-lined by Leonardo DiCaprio. Besides being yet another prime showcase for her talents, the film was also notable for Ellen Page in its casting of her previous Oscar competition, Marion Cotillard, in a supporting role. Following Inception, Ellen Page traded barbs with Rainn Wilson of The Office in the superhero comedy, Super, before going the cable route opposite Diane Keaton for Tilda, a series about DeadlineHollywood.com creator, Nikki Finke.