Elliot Page recently disclosed that during the filming of Inception in 2010, he developed stress-induced shingles, which he attributes to feeling like an outsider in a cast predominantly made up of cisgender men.
The 36-year-old Oscar-nominated actor has shared this experience in his recently published book, Pageboy, which provides a window into his life in the entertainment industry.
He appeared in the Christopher Nolan-directed blockbuster alongside acclaimed actors such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Tom Hardy, and Cillian Murphy.
The Juno actor wrote that the disease was the consequence of the stress he felt being surrounded by cis men and feeling out of place.
“Shingles communicated the stress my body felt. It popped out of my spine while filming Inception when I was twenty-two.”
He went on to acknowledge that the cast was supportive and added, “Despite everyone being delightful to work with, I felt out of place. In a cast full of cis men, I did not understand the role I found myself in.”
Page, who was only 22 when Inception was made, recalled, “For the first two weeks of the film, I joked I would be recast with Keira Knightley, and rightfully so.”
He also shed light on how puberty and the female body made him feel, stating, “As puberty transmuted me into a character I had no interest in playing, my isolation, insecurity, and unknowing grew. I desperately needed to anchor myself.”