Elliot Page was verbally assaulted by a homophobic A-list actor

Ahead of the release of his highly anticipated new memoir, Page Boy, Elliot Page has previewed some of the book’s startling details, including a 2014 incident in which he was subjected to a homophobic verbal assault by an A-list actor.

In a new interview with People Magazine, Page discusses the incident detailed in a chapter of the book called “Famous A-hole at Party.” Page says he encountered an “acquaintance” at a birthday party in Los Angeles shortly after he came out as queer in a speech at the Human Rights Campaign’s Time to Thrive conference in February 2014.

Related:

Elliot Page credits gender-affirming care for helping him experience joy

“I never thought I could experience this, the joy I feel in my body.”

“You’re not gay,” the unnamed actor told Page. “That doesn’t exist. You are just afraid of men.”

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The interaction got even more disturbing from there. “I’m going to f**k you to make you realize you aren’t gay,” the actor told Page.

“I don’t have a problem with gay people, I swear,” the actor told Page when they saw each other again a few days later at the gym.

“I think you might,” the Umbrella Academy star told him.

“I’ve had some version of that happen many times throughout my life,” Page told People. “A lot of queer and trans people deal with it incessantly. These moments that we often like don’t talk about or we’re supposed to just brush off, when actually it’s very awful.”

Page said he included story in his memoir to highlight what queer and trans people deal with “constantly, particularly in environments that are predominantly cis and heterosexual.”

“We navigate that world where you either have more extreme, overt moments like that. Or you have the more, like, subtle jokes,” he said. “[In Hollywood] these are very powerful people. They’re the ones choosing what stories are being told and creating content for people to see all around the world.”

Page said that he purposely did not share the actor’s name, even though others at the 2014 party heard their interaction. “He will hear about this and know it’s him,” Page said.

In one of the book’s juicier details, Page opens up about his 2014 relationship with actor Kate Mara, who was also dating The Handmaid’s Tale star Max Minghella at the time.

“This was right after I’d come out as gay and it was a time of exploration and also heartbreak,” Page told People. “I think my relationship, or whatever you want to call it with Kate, very much encapsulates a certain dynamic that I consistently found myself in, which was falling for people that — I think a lot of us do this — who aren’t fully available.”

According to People, Minghella was supportive of Page and Mara’s relationship at the time. Page says he and Mara remain close. The Class of ’09 star has reportedly read Page Boy and will appear with Page at an upcoming event in L.A.

“I think the love and care that we have for each other is its very own special thing,” Page said. “Separate from the intimacy that I write about.”