Ellen Page is the latest in a long line of celebrities to voice her opinion on the lack of diversity in this year’s Oscar nominations. Chatting with People at Sundance Film Festival, Page commented on the Academy’s new guidelines and explained that the issue “means a lot to me as an audience member and as a human being”.
“It means a lot to me as someone who does this job, I think the issue is much more systemic and I hope that’s what changes, hearing more diverse stories, but I feel like finally there’s some steps going in the right direction”. While promoting her latest cinematic outing, Tallulah, Page offered some suggestions on how to improve Hollywood’s diversity problem.
“There needs to be more diversity behind the camera, and more people getting hired in every aspect of the business, and more support for those stories and more opportunity,” she told People. “You look at something like Orange Is the New Black, and how many actresses we were introduced to who we may not otherwise have seen because they had no opportunity”.
Page shares the screen with Uzo Aduba of Orange Is The New Black fame in the acclaimed and sensitively wrought drama Tallulah – a story about a dissatisfied Beverly Hills housewife who hires a stranger to babysit.
“That makes me feel like, how could you not feel angry at that, you know?” She revealed. “And I hope that is what is going to continue to happen, and just as an audience member I want to go see more stories from different perspectives. We do this job, sure to entertain, but also to reflect aspects of what it means to be a human”.
Eloquently said, Ellen. I couldn’t agree more. While many are focusing on the Academy, for obvious reasons, this is a problem that extends far beyond the Oscars. Studios and talent agencies (to name a few) need to take responsibility and become far more representative and inclusive. It’s an important conversation, and I’m glad people are talking.
#Peace.Love.EllenPage
