Elliot Page and Olivia Thirlby: Juno co-stars' relationship explained - did actor date Kate Mara?

Elliot Page’s new book, which was released on 6 June, is one of the most highly anticipated celebrity memoirs in recent years, alongside the likes of Prince Harry’s Spare, Matthew Perry’s Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, and Jennette McCurdy’s I’m Glad My Mom Died. Pageboy see’s the acclaimed actor and trans activist reflect on his life, gender, sexuality, mental health, Hollywood and more. 

One revelation that has already gotten fans of the actor talking is his admission to having a relationship with Juno co-star Olivia Thirlby (The L Word: Generation Q, Y: The Last Man), who played Juno’s best friend Leah.  

Page came out as transgender in 2020, taking to social media to make the announcement by writing: “I want to share with you that I am trans, my pronouns are he/they and my name is Elliot. I feel lucky to be writing this. To be here. To have arrived at this place in my life. I feel overwhelming gratitude for the incredible people who have supported me along this journey.”

What did Elliot Page say about Olivia Thirlby?

In Pageboy, Page explains that he and his Juno co-star, Olivia Thirlby, used to “have sex all the time” whilst they were filming the 2007 coming of age dramedy. He explained that, although he and Thirlby were the same age, she seemed “so much older, capable, and centred”. 

He wrote that their “chemistry was palpable” and that after spending a lot of time together, Thirlby “looked directly at me and said point-blank, “I’m really attracted to you””. 

He continued: “At that, we started sucking face. It was on. We started having sex all the time: her hotel room, in our trailers at work, once in a tiny, private room in a restaurant… We thought we were being subtle. Being intimate with Olivia helped my shame dissipate. I didn’t see a glint of it in her eyes and I wanted that - done feeling wretched about who I am.”

In a 2011 interview with Brooklyn Magazine, Thirlby came out publicly as bisexual, stating that she is “not 100% straight”. Thirlby went on to marry her Dredd co-star Jacques Pienaar in December 2014.

Thirlby has not yet commented on Page’s memoir or what he has written about their relationship. 

Did he date Kate Mara?

Page also wrote about a relationship he had with Kate Mara (Black Mirror, The Martian) in his memoir, claiming that the two had dated whilst Mara was still involved with Max Minghella (The Handmaid’s Tale, Babylon). 

He wrote: “The first person I fell for after my heart was broken was Kate Mara. She had a boyfriend at the time, the lovely and talented Max Minghella.” 

Describing their romance, which happened whilst Page was filming the 2014 film X-Men: Days of Future Past, he continued: “This was right after I’d come out as gay and it was a time of exploration and also heartbreak. I think my relationship, or whatever you want to call it with Kate, very much encapsulates a certain dynamic that I consistently found myself in, which was falling for people that - I think a lot of us do this - who aren’t fully available. And the sort of safety in that and the highs and lows and the serotonin bump, and then it goes away.”

Page explains in his book that Minghella was supportive of their relationship, with Mara telling him: “I never thought I could be in love with two people and now I know I can.”

Speaking to People, Page said that Mara has read the book, with the actress set to join him at an upcoming LA book event. The two have remained close, with Page stating that “the love and care that we have for each other is its very own special thing”. 

Mara married her Fantastic Four co-star Jamie Bell in 2017 after the two started dating in 2015. In 2019, Mara and Bell welcomed their daughter and in 2022 she announced on Instagram that she had given birth to their son.