Actor Elliot Page has appeared in 30 movies over his multi-decade acting career, almost all of them before he came out publicly as transgender in December 2020. Working as a film actor while in the closet led to difficult moments—but he names his participation in one specific movie with one particular director as his biggest regret.
Page names working with Woody Allen on the 2012 film To Rome With Love as nothing but a mistake. That might not be too big of a surprise: Many, many actors regret their work with Woody Allen, who has been known since 1992 for repeated accusations of sexually abusing his daughter, eventually becoming a pariah in the film industry in recent years.
Page described in a 2017 Facebook post reported at the time (and naming Page pre-transition) by People magazine, “I am ashamed I did this.” Reflecting on the decision to appear in one of Allen’s movies, the actor wrote,
“I had yet to find my voice and was not who I am now and felt pressured, because ‘of course you have to say yes to this Woody Allen film.’ Ultimately, however, it is my choice what films I decide to do and I made the wrong choice. I made an awful mistake.”
Page is not the only actor who remains less than pleased with starring in To Rome With Love. Greta Gerwig similarly said that she “would not have acted in the film” had she been aware of the allegations against Allen, The Hollywood Reporter notes.
It may come as a shock that the actor and actress both starred in an Allen flick. To Rome With Love, which follows four separate love stories across Rome, is often considered one of the director’s worst movies to date. The romance film has a 46% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an even lower audience rating. As one critic writes:
“Each segment cannibalizes the other until all are reduced to broad strokes or snippets of thoughts, ramshackled together, creating a confection that aims to be a Prada cupcake but ends up messy proletariat pudding.”
That’s a far cry from Page’s critically acclaimed works, such as The Umbrella Academy, which the star just hinted is wrapping filming.
