When Ellen Page came out publicly in a speech at a gay rights convention earlier this year, her words were both moving and inspiring, and had an effect on the LGBT community and the acting industry far bigger than she could have anticipated. But most importantly, she says that the announcement has changed her life, for the better.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Ellen has explained the internal struggle she experienced with her sexuality before making and the revelation, and how it's made her feel "f---ing happy".
She explained: "I knew I would be happier. But, I wouldn't have anticipated just how f---ing happy I am and how every tiny little aspect of my life feels better."
For a long time, Ellen admits she hid her sexuality due to the pressures she felt from Hollywood and as an actress: "For so long I just sort of thought, 'You just can't. I love being an actor, it's a huge part of my life, so I'm going to keep that private.'"
Though conversely it seems it was Ellen's career that helped her decide to make the public announcement. She's been working on a gay civil rights film for the past few years, which stars herself and Julianne Moore, and meant she had to broach the subject of sexuality more openly.
"I would talk about being gay, make jokes about it, or go to a meeting and [mention it] - you know, because I'm also producing and starring in a lesbian civil rights movie and I've been working on it for year."
And while it was clearly an emotionally fraught experience to come out before a crowd of LGBT teens and millions of potential internet viewers, it was clearly worth it. Ellen recalls speaking to Hugh Jackman on the set of X-Men: Days of Future Past the day after the speech. "I can remember sitting behind monitors with Hugh Jackman, and he was like, 'You seem so different already,'" she says. "And I was like, 'I feel different already.'"
If you didn't catch Ellen's speech the first time, watch it below...