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That's a big star-in-the-making for William Morris to lose to Endeavor, especially after Ellen Page's Oscar nomination for Juno, since WMA decided at a retreat a few years ago to focus on building the careers of talent because it was too tough to take stars from other agencies. So here's the backstory I'm hearing: Hollywood is whispering that Kelly Bush, Ellen's publicist turned manager of the last few months, moved her. So now a half-dozen talent agencies around town are whining why they didn't get a meeting. Because there were no meetings. I hear Bush tried hard to keep Page at William Morris, where the publicist also has several clients including Josh Brolin. But this was Ellen's decision. "She just never made a connection even though Morris has represented her since Hard Candy at Sundance." But Ellen felt an instant connection with Endeavor's Patrick Whitesell. "Very much so. It was just organic and not premeditated. She didn't take meetings around town."
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I doubt she’s much of a star-in-the-making. I think JUNO will be the high point of her “career”. She always plays the same character (same poses, same voice, same attitude = she can’t really act!) Personally I’m so sick of her and JUNO, I’ll be glad when her fifteen minutes are up.
I would assume WMA will not be referring Kelly Bush too many clients in the near future.
While I agree with randomgeek’s assessment (was Juno any different than her character in X-Men or any other film she’s been in?); this is Hollywood we are talking about. This is the town that lavishes money upon money to hacks like Michael Bay to continue poisoning theaters with his bullshit.
She’ll have a long and prosperous career so long as she continues kissing the right asses.
How much credit can WM really take for Page’s success? As I recall, they didn’t sign her until AFTER “Hard Candy” and it didn’t take a brilliant agent to see her potential in that performance. William Morris can be a great place for an actor, if you aspire to horror movies, TV commercial voice-overs and eventually, your very own sitcom.
I like Ellen Page, but she’s not a “star in the making” if she keeps playing variations of Juno in every movie she’s in. Hopefully Endeavor has some scripts to show her in genres other than “quirky dramedy”.
I’d have to disagree with “randomgeek” about Page being a “one note” performer. As a Canadian and fellow Nova Scotian, I’ve seen her on Canadian TV and movies since she was a kid, basically doing more than the wry-sarcastic “Juno-esque” character most Americans know her for.
But the temptation to typecast is strong in Hollywood because it is the path of least resistance. I figure that Endeavour probably pitched that William Morris would do just that because they’ve been shifting their focus more to music.
Yeah I have to agree that I think Juno is her high point. She can only play specific roles and they are always the same…the joke about Ellen is that she can play Ellen Page really well.
randomgeek has obviously never seen Page’s other movies.
Randomgeek, I guess you havent seen much of her earlier Canadian work. The girl is full of talent, she just needs good material.
Yeah, I think EP has done all she can. WMA is probably relieved.
To randomgeek:
Clearly you have never seen Hard Candy, An American Crime, Mouth to Mouth or The Tracey Fragments – all films where Ellen plays extremely gritty and emotional roles. In actual fact, Juno was the role that was a departure for her…
Geek-
Really? Have ya seen Hard Candy? An American Crime? It’s pretty clear the girl has a ton of talent. I think she’ll have a pretty healthy career.
Both the wife and I worked for talent agencies at one point. It doesn’t matter what you think of the client’s potential. This stuff burns, bad.
It’s hard not to take this kind of career building investment personally. As assistants, there’s little job satisfaction, but hooking a client up with a great gig can sometimes make your $7/hr job seem worthwhile.
I wish her the best of luck, and hope she weighed who got her to that point with where she’s going. This kind of move rarely works out well for those building their career.
… but I bet the “moguls” were behind it!
So sad that the vitriol flows on this topic. She’s in her early twenties, has an Oscar nomination, likes to do Indy Fare, doesn’t go out and get drunk or stoned every night or draw the paps everywhere she goes.
Let the girl develop her craft. She has a lot of years to do it. And has a pretty good base to start from, if you ask me.
And one note wonders? Well, that hasn’t stopped a lot of performers. Many are constantly typecast and only take rare steps away from that casting.
Does that mean Ali was Will Smith’s high point because it was one of the few big box, action/adventure roles he’s taken?
Such harsh and unfounded criticism. So sad.
I agree with SomeAudioGuy, this leaves a bad taste in the mouth of people around town. She will WMA backlash for a while. She should have waited at least three weeks before announcing that she was moving to another agency.
As far as her career is concerned, I agree that she might be “talented” but she is not really that cute. She will probably have a career similar to Haley Joel Osment.
why are you not naming GABBY MORGERMAN? She is not personable and that is who Ellen left. No connection? Who does?
EP is a star in the making?
Please. I HAVE seen her movies and I’m not impressed.
Abigail Breslin. Dakota Fanning. Emma Roberts.
All future stars.
My daughters really like Emma Roberts and the girls on GG and HSM.
They have zero connection to Ellen Page.
An organic bond with an agent of PW’s stature?
She’s apparently as bright as she is talented.
Sarah…
I think people are responding to something more elementary than the grit of those previous movies vs. Juno’s lighter tone. Page is the same. She’s the offbeat quirk girl in all those roles, whether they are gritty or comic. It’s just that she’s in a very specific pigeonhole that won’t translate well to adulthood. Maybe she can change it up, but it’s doubtful…
I find it hard to believe that The Bush had nothing to do with this transition. Wasn’t she Page’s date to the Oscars? Didn’t she convince her to let her be a mgr (getting a percentage of the pie), vs just her company doing PR. Sounds like she is trying to save face with the other agencies to me.
william morris has for years been on the verge of being out of the business, they are totally lame –
Well, geez, what do you want her to play? She’s only 21 years old, its not like she has a lot of choices in the roles that she plays. She can either play a “different” teenager or a “normal” teenager. Good for her for taking the different roles.
And In her upcoming movie Peacock, she plays a twenty four-year-old [I think] mother with a two-year-old son, and the character is a total departure from anything she’s ever done before.
It is of my opinion that a mysterious 14-year-old who tortures a pedophile is a little different than an upbeat 16-year-old who gets pregnant, but hey, I guess that’s just me.
To all who proclaim her Canadian work is swell. Well…We’re not in the land of Maple Leaf. And outside of THREE movies (Juno, X-Men, Hard Candy) the rest I do not recall or even heard of ‘em….No wonder she wants to change agencies!
I’m no fan of the movie Juno, but if you think that Ellen Page is a one-trick pony, repeating variations on a theme, then go rent An American Crime. And get back to me after you do, and if you still think Page plays only one role, then you’ll much more help (like a professional therapist maybe) then I can offer.
Here’s the thing WMA isn’t a place where actors, directors, or writers sign anymore to get movies made. sad, but true. Endeavor is a power broker now, a place where artist can grow and find not only commercial hits, but also find depth as an artist.
Page is young, when you’re young you sure don’t won’t to hang out with dinosaurs–you want to be with people who are still living and breathing and who can things done. And that’s Endeavor, pure and simple.
hank hollyweird,
you’re right that about wma being a dinosaur and totally sucking, but stop the endeavor propaganda — you’re totally lame too.
We totally agree with “feature guy’s” comment about “hank hollyweird”
couldn’t have said it better ourselves.
who are these obnoxious commenters who write with such self-importance? also, would everyone please stop with the “you need a therapist” or “you drank the kool-aid” comments when others diagree? it’s tired and not clever.
Feature Guy?
I’m a dinosaur, I’ll admit it–but Endeavor is where it’s happening right now. And that’s not propaganda, that’s a fact Jack. You must be a ICM or a UTA guy.
She’ll always be fetching pepperoni for the trailer park boys to me.
I don’t understand the fascination with Ellen Page. Seriously, I’m sick to death of Juno (and the stripper who wrote it) and Hard Candy was only scary because of Ellen’s hideous yellow teeth. Don’t they have fluoride in the water in Canada?
I agree with the first person to comment. She’s gone as high as she’s going to star-wise so not getting to represent her isn’t worthy of a single sleepless night.
Wow…such venom towards Miss Page…yikes
This lady can act. And her roles are varied compared to Juno. And, unlike most of her young contemporaries, it is so refreshing to see someone who prefers acting to merely being a celebrity. I like that.
If “playing the same roles” is supposedly so bad (which Ellen does not, BTW)…someone should maybe go tell Angelina Jolie not to do all those “hot chick kicking butt” movies.
And someone compared her to some of these pre-teen stars? Umm…Ellen is 21. Maybe those pre-teen stars would like to aspire to Ellen’s level…a child actress still with a successful career into adulthood.
Unlike most of her fellow actresses, Ellen is one of the few actresses in years who had a movie make $$$ with a female lead. This is the reality a lot of people in Hollywood understand.
Ellen will have a long and successful career. She will have other defining roles in her resume. Even if Juno was her defining role….it definitely is pretty good one to have.
One of her indie films, The Tracey Fragments, comes out on DVD on Tuesday. Go see it. This young lady can act
Ellen Page will have a great career. She is a wonderful actress that can clearly play many different roles. The criticsm of her career is unwarranted because most people have seen her in only one role and that is Juno.
Really, saying “always the same” based on seeing two or three of her movies?
Couldn’t you say the exact same thing about just about any actor if you picked the right two or three movies?
While Page’s appeal is limited, what agency can afford to let any star (in the making or not) wander off?
Okay, since when has being a one trick poney stopped anyone from being a star in Hollywood, talent or no. Julie Roberts (yes, even as Erin Brockavitch she was still a version of the chick from Pretty Woman), Gweneth Paltrow, the entire cast of Friends, Bruce Willis, Stallone, Russel Crowe (except for Romper Stomper and The Quick and The Dead), and the list goes on and on. I think Page has talent. She’s young. Cut her some slack.
“My daughters really like Emma Roberts and the girls on GG and HSM. They have zero connection to Ellen Page.”
I think you’re unsure of the audience Ms. Page is trying to reach.
You are only as good as your last movie. So to think she will be the next big thing (like many thousands before her) is stupid but this Hollywood. Hype is part of their mantra
I wish her all the best but becareful of the traps that has been laid before her. Another Juno or serious drama and she will be forever typecast
anyone want to mention the canadian agent/mgr, Kish?
Didn’t he get her to where she is today?
BLAME CANADA!
I think most of the hating is a symptom of the embarrassment felt by many about the gushing over Juno when it first emerged. Let’s face it, it was an okay at best indie movie that should probably have enjoyed a brief run in a few art house cinemas. The bottom line is EP was not that great in it, the screenplay was pure hipster cheese that has already gone well past it’s sell-by date, and as for an Oscar nom for director? Give me a break! On a second viewing, everyone’s a little shamed that they started giving it props like it was Citizen Kane. I liked Hard Candy but watching it post Juno, I liked it a hell of a lot less, and sad to say, that was mainly due to EPs mannered performance. The fact is that there is such a dearth of female talent (beyond having a good rack) in hollywood, that anyone who can string a sentence together and doesn’t hang out at Hyde, is lauded as the next Meryl Streep.
crashzoom, you said it. Not that that will stop her money-making potential. And hipster cheese… lol… nails that little epic so well. Sorry to sound green but those words on the page were at times laughable.
Forgive me, but most of the criticisms directed towards Ellen Page in these comments are just the same netgeek criticisms you get in any uber-forum for any particular topic.
Smacks a bit of the ‘I was into them before they were big’ comments you might read on music boards.
Get over yourselves.
Actually, Juno is one of those movies that will enjoy a good run for some time to come. You are wasting you time saying that the movie, and possibility Ellen Page, have already past their sell by date. Juno is a quirky dramedy that includes actions that aren’t done in real life such as using a easy chair and a pipe to announce to your boyfriend/father that you are going to have a baby. The I Love Lucy scene where Lucy tries to tell Ricky that she is going to have a baby over lunch, but Ricky is so distracted that she has to wait, is more realistic than that. Also, lets not forget the scene where Leah and Juno use the weekly classifieds to find the perfect couple to adopt the baby just isn’t available in real life. Finally, that beanbag chair of Beeker’s that Juno sits in while pregant isn’t going to allow for her to get up in real life. Had the movie been real life, I am sure that the scene would have had Juno sitting on the bed.
Picky Picky Picky- Ellen Page has incredible screen presence and can act. Maybe she repeats certain mannerisms.( telephone booth scene in TRACY FRAGMENTS – HARD CANDY scene where Jeff almost squashes Haley against the wall )
She does seem to be attracted to roles that have ` Mom – Parent- authority issues but that is the stuff of adolesence. More importantly, she tries for different roles and for someone who is 21 her resume seems to be a tribute to trying for different characters or situations.
Juno was an anomoly inasmuch as it was a lot cheerier than much of her recent work.
You’re creating it- Go take it over Ellen.
Absolutely, EP is over-rated, along with that “Stripper/Witer” – nominated for an Oscar?!!!. Writing “smart-alecky” dialogue in Hollywood is a dime a dozen – I guess it makes a difference when the writer can also go down on a pole when needed. If Juno wasn’t directed by the son of a well connected director, the movie would have been an “after-school-special”. What was the message of that movie anyway? Let’s see, have a baby while still in high school, and give it away as soon as possible without an ounce of guilt.
Doesn’t that whole “she just magically clicked with Patrick Whitesell and didn’t take any meetings” spin just scream of an arranged poaching? Methinks EP got played. Hope it works out for her – I’m in the “she’s talented” camp.
The Message of JUNO- alot more to it than ` Have a baby in High school’ It’s a movie about self discovery- about learning limits and balance- what a person can take and what a person has to give to be happy. I think people have ignored Juno’s rebalancing of the id and the need for Super Ego. She sure makes poor old Bleeker suffer while she figures all that out but realizes he’s devoted to her. Go back and re- screen her negoitation about Katrina Devort- that was an interesting take on teen behaviour.
Trouble for Juno is she can’t take the jealously even when dutiful Bleeker goes out with her pick even though he doesn’t really like the substitute girl friend. Much less being put on hold while love of his life makes up her mind. I really would have liked to know Juno’s thoughts as she stares at the sky after her play for
Mark goes in unanticipated directions.
Think about it doubters.
Juno and it’s screenplay were as widely lauded as they were, was because they encapsulated a generation. A generation that you aren’t a part of. No more than The Breakfast Club or Say Anything or Heathers appealed to the mid-80’s, bright-young-thing demographic. It is a souvenier from and the definition of popular, youth culture at that point and it should be praised for its ability to portray that where so many other pictures fail miserably. Notahater… your understanding of the movie is dumbfounding. Did you actually watch it, or read a forum review? It was a very humane and modern take on a sensitive subject and it was dealt with responsibly. There was definite remorse and guilt but perhaps it was a little too subtle for some.
I think this level of criticism is pretty unjust. I think Ellen is immensely talented and it’s short sighted and a little premature to call her one dimensional. If you were to study her filmography closely enough, you’d see her excel in a number of different roles and deliver convincing performances every time. She is, undoubtedly, slightly inhibited by the youthfulness in her looks, but she needn’t be judged for this. It’s genetic and perfectly normal. She’s not likely to slip into the role of a mid 30’s woman just yet, is she?
She has a lot of potential and you needn’t compare her to Hayley Joel Osment or any other child actor. This girl has long transcended their status and quality of output and, above all else, is an adult. Not a child. She will continue to do well.
Uh… ben stiller… adam sandler… there are plenty of actors with long careers and have been damn near the same character. she’ll be fine idiots.
One cannot deny in truth that Ellen has talent. She was probably making “leaving noises” for six months to a year which is why all the dump-on-Ellen-buzz began. Many agents (especially WMA) do this when they sense a client may be defecting. Ed Limato’s lackey assistants (Especially his former-JP Henraux are deft at this tactic!).
Ellen is a smart actress- but she definitely needs more range and Endeavor will have the vehicles to see if she can really cut her teeth into a lasting career. All the “nay-sayers” really should wait a while before trashing her.
We haven’t seen what she is truly capable of yet- but we will!
@ Jessy S.
Hey, its a movie. Movies aren’t all true. Wanted for example. Tell me can you really make a bullet go all around the room by swinging the gun. No. Okay you say “But Juno was meant to be realistic fiction right?” Fast and Furious. Floorboards of cars don’t pop out of the car all of a sudden. You say “what does racing have to do with this?” Okay then Eagle Eye. You really think a defense system will start calling people and tell them to meet a certain place and do certain things like drive to macy’s and buy clothes.No. “oh what a coincidence the guy who voice locked the operation Gullotine has a twin brother with the same exact voice?” They are movies!!! They (directors/writers) try to make it as real as possible so they can haul in people but have to distort certain facts to make it interesting. So Jessy S. don’t be so dumb and think that everything in a movie has to be true. I hope others agree with me in this comment.
Kind of amazed at the “She is one dimensional” comments. I find her to be one of the most versatile, talented actress in the industry. Not young actors, but actors in general. She has a lot to learn, no doubt, but her filmography and role diversity/performances are something to note. She sinks so incredibly deep in her characters – I certainly don’t see the same mannerisms, movements, or actions within all of her characters.
In Juno, her performance was solid but not her best. In Hard Candy I thought she was great and if I were to criticize it would be for being a tad bit over the top. That’s more of a quip on the script than Ellen, she had little to work with. I haven’t seen American Crime or Smart People but I intend to very soon. Her performance in The Tracy Fragments is astounding, and she completely carries the film. I find her to be very versatile and talented as an actress. She will go very far… I have yet to see actresses dissapear completely into character the way she does. It’s breahtaking to watch.