Ellen Page Chews "Hard Candy"
By Cole Smithey

It has taken a year and a half for "Hard Candy" the suspense hit of the 2005 Sundance Film Festival to make its way to a theatrical release. Like an amped-up cross between William Mastrosimone’s "Extremities," Takashi Miike’s "Audition" and Abel Ferrara’s "Ms. 45," "Hard Candy" is a post-feminist shocker made horrifyingly palpable by its 14-year-old anti-heroine Hayley Stark. Spitfire upstart Ellen Page plays the 14-year-old proto-feminist rebel who ensnares 32-year-old fashion photographer/potential child molester Jeff Kohiver (Patrick Wilson) in an online chat room before working him over in a furious castration revenge scenario.

British director David Slade announces himself as a master of economy and discrimination by leaving the horror to the audience’s imagination. However it is Ellen Page’s inflamed performance that will make you squirm like you’ve never squirmed before.

Ellen Page will make her Hollywood debut this summer as "Kitty Pride" the latest addition to the X-Men franchise. I sat down with Ellen at Manhattan’s Regency Hotel to find out more about the outspoken actress from Nova Scotia.

CS: What did your parents say when you showed them the script?

EP: My dad read it first and his only concern was, "Wow, you’re going to be going into this person’s mind! Are you ready for that?" But he really liked the script as much I did, so he was very supportive and trusting. Yeah, my parents are cool about it.

CS: Do men and women have a different reaction to the movie?

EP: Sometimes you get men who are really angry about it and who just hate my character and all their sympathy goes to Jeff, which is really interesting for him to be excused for a lot of behavior. When men get really angry, my reply is that there’s this whole division in law and order that could basically be called "Naked Women in Dumpsters." But then you meet some women who are really angry about it too. I met this woman in Palm Springs who accosted me, "You’re sadistic!" and kind of went off. So, it’s totally varied.

CS: Has anyone considered Hayley’s actions justifiable?

EP: I don’t know if people think that she has completely done the right thing. This movie is really not cut and dry, which is why I really like it. It’s just not black-and-white. Life’s obviously not black and white either. You meet people who are inspired because they see a young woman with so much intelligence and integrity and passion. We’re really devoid of that kind of media right now. I think she’s freakin’ great. I loved her. I loved her passion. She sees something that she’s pissed off about that no one’s doing anything about and she takes it upon herself to change it. Obviously, it’s up to the audience to determine whether or not what she does is right.

CS: Were you freaked out by the role of Hayley?

EP: Yeah, I think it’s pretty overwhelming. One thing about Hayley is that I didn’t want her to be some kind of superhero. She was still a fourteen-year-old girl and I wanted some of that vulnerability to be there. I’m sure she was just, like, at home practicing in front of the mirror. She’s playing a role herself—she’s acting herself—to really screw up Jeff’s mind to the extent of being able to do what she does and to force him to do what she says. There were moments when my whole body and my mind were tired.

CS: What actresses influenced your performance?

EP: Yeah, there’s one performance by Jodie Foster in "The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane," a 1976 film, which is amazing. Her performance in that was so strong and, once again, a 14-year-old girl, that people are like, ‘What are you doing, girl? You can’t be doing that, you’re fourteen!’ and she’s like ‘Why can’t I? I’m fourteen!’

CS: Have you ever visited England?

EP: When I was sixteen, I was in a film and was in Portugal for two months, and then England and Germany. I’ve gotten to go to Europe, so I’m really lucky to do that.

CS: What kind of music do you listen to?

EP: I love Cat Power’s new album. I love all her stuff. I’ve been listening to Camille Saint-Saen and Eric Sati lately. I listen to tons of Patty Smith. I’m a crazy Patty Smith fan, Peaches, Bjork—the usual stuff.

CS: What are you working on now?

EP: I just shot a film in Toronto and I think that’s going to be rated R. It’s called "The Tracy Fragments," a low-budget, dark movie.

CS: Darker than "Hard Candy"?

EP: Yes. I didn’t think that I could shoot a movie that was more draining and more intense than "Hard Candy," but then it just happened.

CS: Why are you attracted to these dark roles?

EP: Probably because I read a lot of scripts where it’s just girls listening to their iPods or girls who are the girlfriends of the boy who’s the lead or girls that fall in love with a boy or girls that play soccer. I’m just like, "Well, this is great, but no, come on!" Especially when you’re a teenager, everything is raw, everything is gritty and people are dark. Most of the roles that are the most outrageous that I’ve played have the strongest sense of humanity and that’s something that really attracts me. It’s fun to just manipulate yourself and your emotions and fall to pieces and try to put them back together.

CS: Are you signed on to do a spin-off of "X-Men"?

EP: I do have a multiple action thingy, but that doesn’t mean I know what those movies will be. To be honest, you know as much as I do about all those things.

CS: Are you comfortable doing mainstream action movies?

EP: I wouldn’t say that that’s something specifically that my heart responds to as much as it responds to "Hard Candy" or "The Tracy Fragments." But, I had an amazing experience and I got to work with crazy, talented actors. To be honest, it was a lot of fun. I think that versatility is absolutely key. I’m not veering off into a mainstream action film. My next film is completely the opposite of "X-Men." That’s important to me.

CS: Do you think teenagers should see "Hard Candy"?

EP: Of course I think teenagers should see "Hard Candy." Girls should see it because there’s this extremely strong, passionate, intelligent young woman and boys, the same reason. Why not? I know why it’s rated R, but I disagree with their whole censorship stuff--but that’s a whole other debate.

CS: Do you consider feminism to be a bad word?

EP: Yes, it’s a bad word because people start judging things in regard to these ridiculous categories and names. Like, all of a sudden you can’t be a feminist because you shave your legs. I think that’s bullshit. It’s about equality and I wonder why everybody doesn’t care about it and the power of women.

CS: Are there any issues that you’re drawn to?

EP: Lately, I’ve been kind of obsessing about the patenting of seeds, which is the most ludicrous thing I’ve ever heard and makes me want to kill myself basically. It’s about patenting corn and then basically stuffing it in the Mexican market and selling it for so cheap that people who don’t have much money can buy it even though they want to buy their traditional corn because it’s natural. Then it infiltrates their crop and all-of-a-sudden you have Monsanto going to these farmers saying, "Hey, we’re suing you!" So, basically, they just want to control the world by patenting seeds.

CS: What’s your favorite movie?

EP: There are a couple of them out there. I love "The 400 Blows." I love "Ratcatcher." I’m a "Waiting for Guffman" fan. I just watched Chaplin’s "City Lights," oh my God, it’s so beautiful! It’s so heartbreaking.

CS: What books are you currently reading?

EP: Right now I’m reading Kafka on the Shore, a Haruki Murakami book. I’m a big Haruki Murakami fan.

CS: Are there any books that you would like to see adapted into screenplays?

EP: There’s this one book called "Skinny" by Ibi Kaslik, this young Canadian author who’s best friends with Emily Haines, the lead singer in Metric and with Amy Millan, who sings with Stars and Broken Social Scenes. It’s about a 16-year-old girl and a 22-year-old girl and they are sisters and the narrative switches between each chapter. That’s a beautiful book.