Oscar-nominated actor
Elliot Page
has become the first transgender man to star on the cover of Time magazine's latest edition.
Page, 34, who was nominated for various awards for Oscar-winning 2007 independent film 'Juno', announced he was
trans
in December.
The actor wrote on Instagram at the time that he could not "begin to express how remarkable it feels to finally love who I am enough to pursue my authentic self".
Page follows in the footsteps of actor
Laverne Cox, who became the first trans woman to appear on the cover of Time, a mark of mainstream media approval, in 2014 under the headline 'The Transgender Tipping Point'.
Page told Time he had long felt a disconnect between how the world saw him and how he felt himself.
"I just never recognized myself. For a long time I could not even look at a photo of myself," he said.
After sharing the news on his Twitter handle, the post immediately received love and support from fans, friends and members of the Hollywood film industry. Actors
Mark Ruffalo and
Reese Witherspoon took to their handles to call the cover a "historical milestone."
Elliot, who was formerly known as
Ellen Page, during his interview said, "What I was anticipating was a lot of support and love and a massive amount of hatred and transphobia. That's essentially what happened."
"I felt like a boy. I wanted to be a boy. I would ask my mom if I could be someday," he added. During the course of the interview, Page also talked about struggling with depression, anxiety, and panic attacks, especially after the fame he received for his roles in 'Juno' and 'Inception'.
"I just never recognized myself. For a long time I could not even look at a photo of myself," he said.
So, the only decision Page made to help him feel more comfortable in his own skin was to get
top surgery
, which is a
surgical procedure
to remove one's breast tissue.
"It has completely transformed my life," he says of the procedure, adding that not all trans men have the surgery, and notes that it is quite expensive.
The pandemic led him to come to terms with his gender identity.
"I had a lot of time on my own to really focus on things that I think, in so many ways, unconsciously, I was avoiding. I was finally able to embrace being transgender and letting myself fully become who I am," he said.