Watch: Gay Rights Doc 'Freeheld' That's Being Turned Into A Feature Starring Ellen Page, Financing For Film Secured

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by Joe Cunningham
August 23, 2012 12:19 PM
6 Comments

When “Inception” hit in 2010 most of its major players wasted no time in cashing in on the boost to their profile that it gave them. Leonardo DiCaprio obviously just carried on being a massive star, but the likes of Tom Hardy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Marion Cotillard all made some smart career moves that have seen their stars exponentially rise since -- not least by signing on to Nolan’s follow-up, “The Dark Knight Rises.” Someone we haven’t seen of much of though is is the film's Araidne, Ellen Page. Maybe she was put off by the blockbuster experience (as if “X-Men: The Last Stand” wouldn’t have already done that), because instead, she has simply lined up a part in a Woody Allen flick and a couple of other small features including Zal Batmanglij's "The East," rather than follow the same blockbuster path as her castmates.

That trend looks set to continue for Page after one of her long-gestating projects has finally secured the funding it needed to make its way to the screen. Way, way back when The Playlist was inhabiting a whole different place on the Internet, it was reported that Page was attached to star in a dramatic feature-length version of the Oscar-winning short documentary “Freeheld” with Catherine Hardwicke attached to direct. While Hardwicke seems to have since moved on, Page is still on board to star as Stace Andree, a woman who was denied the pension benefits of her longtime female partner and New Jersey police detective Laurel Hester when the latter became terminally ill. The story chronicles the pair’s legal battle for the benefits to be assigned to her partner. And if you want to see if for yourself, just close your office door, click below and watch the 40-minute documentary.

Deadline reports that Incognito Pictures has come through with the money needed and they will now produce the film, which has a screenplay penned by Ron Nyswaner – a writer who has experience writing about gay rights cases after being Oscar-nominated for his “Philadelphia” screenplay. Now that the film has financial backing the search for the rest of the cast (most importantly for Andree’s older partner) and for a director, assuming that Hardwicke will not find her way back to the project. When this will roll remains to be seen, but for now, Page is finishing up on Lynn Shelton’s “Touchy Feely” alongside Scoot McNairy, Allison Janney and Rosemarie DeWitt.

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6 Comments

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jingmei | August 24, 2012 12:11 AMReply

Ellen Page is really awesome. Just from the tunes above kinda underrated this actress. Needless to say if should check back some films of her such as Hard Candy, Super, or An American Crime(with Catherine Keener) of The Seagaments(sort of the title). And found out that perspectively speaking Canadian actors are interesting.
Zack | August 24, 2012 12:36 AM

Page and Keener's performances were all that made "An American Crime" watchable for me. Not in terms of quality, just because it was so excruciating.
Zack | August 23, 2012 12:42 PMReply

Ha! She's wearing a cravat, despite that being an accessory typically associated with men! So quirky!
Zack | August 23, 2012 4:31 PM

Gosh, thank you for that lovely welcome! I didn't realize the people of "21 century" had never been taught about the concept of sarcasm.
CO | August 23, 2012 3:47 PM

Welcome to 21 century.
Tim | August 23, 2012 12:25 PMReply

Why are you linking to a pirated stream of the film? Do you think the filmmakers would appreciate this?