TORONTO - Ellen Page says she drew from her own insecurities when tapping into her latest role as a beauty-queen-turned-roller-derby-crackerjack in the ensemble dramedy "Whip It."
Despite the film's wild premise, Page says it's a simple coming-of-age tale she found easy to relate to, noting she still struggles with forging her identity despite the rapid success she's found in the film industry.
"I, of course, have moments where I'm incredibly lost," Page said while recently promoting the film at the Toronto International Film Festival.
"I think it's something that's really easy to relate to when (we're) all just figuring out who we are and there's so much media saturation of what a girl is supposed to be in, what a boy is supposed to be in, what we're supposed to like and not like and what to buy and what we're supposed to look like and all of these things. And it's easy to get just like completely lost and confused and to know what path we're supposed to go on.
"I think really the key thing is just learning to be present and learning to be grounded and just being excited."
Looking relaxed and confident in tousled hair and a T-shirt, it's easy to assume that the 22-year-old Page has it all figured out.
Since bursting onto the scene with her high school pregnancy comedy "Juno" in 2007, the Halifax actress has been a bit of a phenom in the film world. Her turn as a wisecracking teen led to guest appearances on such career-defining series as, "The Simpsons" and "Saturday Night Live" and movie roles in A-list projects that include Christopher Nolan's upcoming film, "Inception," starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Marion Cotillard.
Page returns to the big screen this weekend with the light-hearted dramedy, "Whip It," in which she plays rebellious Texas teen Bliss Cavendar, who adopts the alter ego Babe Ruthless when she discovers the rowdy world of roller derby.
The film also marks the directorial debut of Drew Barrymore, who said she picked Page to helm her first feature after being impressed by her poise. Barrymore went on to stack the cast with famous friends like Juliette Lewis, who plays the villainous Iron Maven, Kristen Wiig, who plays Maggie Mayhem, and Jimmy Fallon who plays game announcer Johnny Rocket.
Barrymore threw a role in for herself as the accident-prone roller-ditz Smashley Simpson, saying she hoped that diving into training with the rest of the cast would help bond the crew.
Page says they became like family on the set, but admits the job was the most physical she's had to tackle. She notes that her three months of training began soon after she wrapped a whirlwind of press and Oscar hoopla surrounding "Juno."
"It was strenuous and what have you but I live for that stuff, I just absolutely love that and loved throwing my mind and my body into that," said Page.
Barrymore said it was important to her to explore the complexities of the mother-daughter relationship in the film, focusing much of the story on a heartbreaking rift that emerges with Bliss's increasing defiance.
Page, at the Toronto fest with Marcia Gay Harden and Daniel Stern, who played Bliss's straightlaced parents, praised the story for presenting real characters she hoped would inspire viewers.
"It was incredibly sincere and the relationships were real and wholehearted and it didn't treat a teenager like a teenager in a patronizing way, it was a person," she said.
"It's nice to make a movie like this for young women."
"Whip It" opens Friday.
