The movie, which came out in 2007, was directed by Jason Reitman and written by Diablo Cody. It tells the story of Juno, a teenager played by Page, who finds herself pregnant after sleeping with her high school friend Paulie, portrayed by Michael Cera.
At first, Juno thinks about getting an abortion. But she’s discouraged after seeing a pro-life group protesting outside the clinic. Instead, she decides to go through with the pregnancy and chooses to put the baby up for adoption. She eventually connects with a couple, Vanessa and Mark Loring (played by Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman), who are eager to become parents.
During one of their conversations about baby names, Page says he now regrets a particular scene they filmed together because of the line his character delivered.
What was the Juno joke?
In this scene, Mark and Juno are hanging out on the sofa when he casually mentions that he and Vanessa have started tossing around potential baby names.
He shares that Vanessa is fond of the name ‘Madison’. That’s when Juno responds with the line that Page has since reflected on and feels uneasy about.
That line hasn’t aged well over the years. Page has openly acknowledged just how problematic and homophobic it really was, now that he looks back on it with more awareness.
What has Elliot Page said since?
In a 2017 interview with Bustle, Page revisited that particular line and his feelings about it. He said: “It wasn’t something I totally registered at the time, but, of course, now that I’m older I do.”
“So many movies I loved as a kid are just rampant with homophobia and transphobia and biphobia, and I’m not excusing it by any means.”
He added that he’s become more passionate about pushing for better and more accurate LGBTQ+ representation in Hollywood. He also shared that during a Planned Parenthood table read of the Juno script, he chose not to say that joke out loud.
Despite that personal struggle, the film was a major hit. It earned widespread acclaim and received four Academy Award nominations, including one for Page’s powerful performance.