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Ellen Page

Interview By: Dan Portnoy
DanielPortnoy@TheCinemaSource.com

What better way to welcome the transition into adulthood than to have a starring role in one of this year’s most talked about films? All I did on my eighteenth birthday was buy a few lottery tickets that ended up costing more than they made me, but you can’t win if you don’t play right? For young actress Ellen Page, rather than scratching off a few winless lottery tickets, she’s beginning a career that demands a different kind of ticket all together. While with one lucky ticket you can make it big, when it comes to Ellen the box office quantity is the winning number. But Ellen is optimistic, and rightfully so because with Hard Candy, a film containing subject matter already generating quite a stir, there probably won’t be any need for luck.

Hard Candy is powerful and disturbing, you may love it or hate it but no matter which way you feel you will be profoundly affected. Page plays Hayley, an insightful, proactive fourteen year old girl who sees a problem within her community. The problem lies within Jeff (Patrick Wilson) a middle aged man with a “thing” for teenagers. Hayley, who by no coincidence meets Jeff on the internet and eventually winds up at his home. With the wheels in motion, Hayley prepares to un-hatch a scheme she has concocted to force Jeff to come clean about his lifestyle and the disappearance of a little girl named Donna Mauer. But what if Jeff doesn’t want to reveal his secrets? Clever little Hayley has a way to get him talking…

Ellen was immediately attracted to the role of Hayley and the film which brought her to life. A once and a lifetime chance and besides, how many more years does Ellen have to be able to play a fourteen year old? And according to Ellen, “how often do you read a script and have the opportunity to play a character like that. It just astounded me…I can’t tell you how ecstatic I was and how grateful I was to have that script in my lap.” Hayley, unique and exciting but human and real, is what makes the character so effective. “I just let my heart connect to it…I really was interested in her not being a superhero and establishing a sense of vulnerability.” To see this young girl step into this grown up world and take it upon herself to try and make a difference, is remarkably heroic but at the same time she is still only fourteen, and it’s because of that contrast that the film is able to achieve its goal.

So what kind of person is Hayley? Aside from my brief characterization, I’ll let Ellen give you the run down. “Hayley is an extremely intelligent, passionate fourteen year old girl who basically sees something wrong with society and she’s decided she’s going to do ...

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