Elliot Page reveals how the show “The Umbrella Academy” included their real-life transition into the character on the show. The actor is the highest-profile the cast of the show that is about the family of superheroes who is trying to perennially thwart the apocalypse. The actor’s public disclosure about being a trans man in late 2020 put the showrunners in a bit of confusion as they were planning a third season. Elliot Page’s character Vanya was presented as a woman in the first two seasons and was an actor they were not ready to lose. So, thy included the transition into the show.
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Elliot Page talks about how the showrunners included his transition into the show
The actor talked about how it felt with Seth Meyers on the Late Night show. He said, “With Steve Blackman, the showrunner of Umbrella. When we first talked about it he seemed really excited about incorporating it into the show.” The maker made sure to incorporate the character’s transition from Vanya to Viktor in a smooth and respectful way into the script.
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He talked about another writer who joined them to incorporate the change, “an incredible writer, journalist, author Thomas Page McBee, who I met doing a miniseries called Tales of the City. He wrote an extraordinary book called Amateur, which I highly recommend everybody to read. He was the first trans man to box in Madison Square Garden. And his book and his work in general are so much about masculinity and what it means and exploring that. Thomas came on board and helped out and I feel proud of it and excited for people to see it.”
Fans have a positive reaction to the change in the character
In the show, Good Morning America, the actor talked about the fans’ reaction to the change from Vanya to Viktor. He told, “So far it’s seemed really positive, which makes me feel happy in terms of the representation and hopefully it meaning something to people.” Seth Meyers too asked him about the fans’ reaction and if he had to face any backlash.
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Elliot Page told him, “What I want to focus on right now, and [it] has been so extraordinary is the degree of joy that I feel. The degree of presence that I feel. I feel a way that I really never thought possible for a long, long time.”
The latest season of The Umbrella Academy is now streaming on Netflix.
Source: Late Night with Seth Meyers
