Elliot Page On How His Transition Was Incorporated Into The Umbrella Academy Storyline

starobserver.com.au:

Elliot Page came out as transgender in December 2020 and his real-life transition was mirrored on the latest season of Netflix’s The Umbrella Academy.Note: Plot Spoilers Ahead.In Season 3, viewers were introduced to his character Viktor Hargreeves in season 3.

Page came out as trans weeks before production for season 3 was set to commence. The series show runner recruited trans writer Thomas Page McBee to aid in curating a storyline that felt authentic and sensitive to the trans journey of Page and his character, Viktor.

Page praised the showrunner Steve Blackman and writer Thomas Page McBee for handling Viktor’s transition and the character’s storyline with care, stating that he believed the arc “ultimately, and in retrospect, has been really clear in so many ways.” “Viktor’s discomfort and the walls that he puts up, I think without realising, he’s just so folded in on himself and meeting Sissy and getting to feel more embodied and self-assured, and it was really, really quite special to actually reflect on that.” The actor added that he thought the conversations with McBee ensured that they were “really able to feel what that honest progression is.”Transition Is Life Saving, Elliot Page tells Oprah WinfreyPage referenced Viktor’s siblings’ reactions as ones that echoed his own lived experience.

One scene showed an ‘awkwardness’ which he had felt before. A post shared by @elliotpageBlackman stated that it was an active choice to not have Viktor’s transition become the focus of the show where the writers were still able to “craft something that felt very balanced and real, authentic.