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Tag: Freeheld

  • Ellen Page Drama Denied Film Location Over Gay Story

    Ellen Page and Julianne Moore are starring in a film called Freeheld, which is about a lesbian couple who are fighting for domestic partner benefits when one of them gets terminal lung cancer.

    Ellen Page and the rest of the crew had permission to film a pivotal scene at Salesian High School in New Rochelle, N.Y., but when the subject matter of the film was learned, that permission was revoked and denied.

    The school’s principal, John Flaherty, then informed producer Michael Shamberg of the decision reversal.

    Shamberg said he respects the school’s right to say no, but is disappointed that he won’t be able to film Ellen Page’s pivotal moment there.

    “They turned us down because of the subject matter,” Shamberg told The Hollywood Reporter.

    The denial is a little bit ironic to a cast that includes Ellen Page and a plot centered around social injustice to gay couples.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAP-jIazYBY

    Shamberg wrote an email to Flaherty, in which he tried to explain further that the film, based on the final days of Detective Laurel Hester (Julianne Moore) with her girlfriend (Ellen Page), was “not about gay marriage, nor are the women attempting to get married. It is about recognizing the dignity of a woman who was a brave civil servant.”

    He added, “I believe the theme of the movie is what Pope Francis recognized just yesterday when he called for the Church to welcome and accept gay people.”

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubCE07XJDbk

    However, after the heartfelt plea, Flaherty simply replied that he would pass it on to the school’s president. Then nothing happened.

    “After that it was crickets,” says Kelly Bush, another producer on the film.

    Flaherty did respond to a request for comment from Buzzfeed. He implied that gay rights, and movies that promote gay stars like Ellen Page, are not their social issues focus.

    He said, “All are welcomed at Salesian High School. Our school chooses to embrace the social issues such as hunger, homelessness, poverty, and helping the less fortunate.”

    Fair enough.

    What do you think? Should the high school have allowed Ellen Page and Julianne Moore to film there or are they well within their rights to say no, and let the film crew find somewhere else?

  • Julianne Moore Lauds Ellen Page’s Coming Out Speech, Will Play Her Lover

    Julianne Moore calls Ellen Page’s coming out speech at an LGBT youth conference in Las Vegas “wonderful,” and will soon appear on the big screen with the young actress, playing her lesbian lover. The two will costar in Freeheld, the true story of a New Jersey police detective who was unable to assign her pension benefits to her partner after she was diagnosed with terminal cancer.

    The casting for Freeheld was announced just one day before Ellen Page gave her heartfelt, articulate and very moving speech.

    “I’m here today because I am gay,” Page said. “And because maybe I can make a difference. To help others have an easier and more hopeful time. Regardless, for me, I feel a personal obligation and a social responsibility.”

    “It’s weird because here I am, an actress, representing—at least in some sense—an industry that places crushing standards on all of us,” Page said. “Not just young people, but everyone. Standards of beauty. Of a good life. Of success. Standards that, I hate to admit, have affected me.”

    “It was really wonderful,” Julianne Moore said about Ellen’s speech. “I was very happy for her.”

    Moore was a big proponent for equal rights for the LGBT community in Russia during the Olympics, too.

    Moore will soon star on the big screen in Non-Stop. The film premieres nationwide on February 28th. Julianne stars alongside Liam Neeson in the action thriller. Non-Stop also stars Michelle Dockery, Anson Mount, Lupita Nyong’o, and Scott McNairy. It is while on a flight from New York to London that Liam Neeson’s character, U.S. Federal Air Marshal Bill Marks, receives text messages threatening that someone on his flight will be killed every 20 minutes unless millions of dollars are transferred to a secret bank account. The account, however, is discovered to be in Marks’ name and a bomb is also found on the plane. It becomes clear that Marks has been set up to look like he is the killer. Julianne Moore is one of the passengers on the plane who plays an integral role in helping Liam Neeson’s character put the pieces of the mystery together.

    Freeheld was first released as an Academy Award-winning documentary back in 2007. It is uncertain exactly when it will make it on to the big screen.

    Freeheld will clearly be a far cry from Non-Stop, but since Julianne Moore is a seasoned actor she will no doubt depict Ellen Page’s same sex lover the same way she plays all her roles–with a conviction that makes everyone forget who Julianne Moore is, and believe in the person and the story she portrays.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons