Elliot Page is shining a light on something many queer people know all too well: growing up feeling like you are the only one in the world.
The actor is helping bring that conversation to the screen with Second Nature, a new documentary that dives into same-sex relationships and gender fluidity throughout the animal kingdom. And honestly? It sounds like the kind of film that could heal a few inner children along the way.
Narrated and co-produced by Page, the documentary takes aim at the outdated belief that queerness somehow exists outside of nature. Directed by Drew Denny, the film uncovers the real science behind animal behavior that has often been ignored, erased, or conveniently left out of classrooms.
For Page, that erasure hits close to home.
“And I think that sense of growing up as a queer kid and feeling alone — ’cause you feel like you are alone, even, of course, in retrospect, you’re not — you weren’t. You feel excluded, you feel like something’s wrong with you,” he told PEOPLE.
Page said that shame is often reinforced by censorship and the false belief that nature only exists within a cisgender and heterosexual framework. All of which “is just completely false,” Page adds.
That is part of what drew him to Second Nature in the first place. According to Page, the documentary is not just informative. It is also emotional, entertaining, and capable of sparking bigger conversations about the impact of erasure in science, media, and culture. And there’s something for everyone to take away, regardless of gender or sexuality.
Since publicly coming out as trans in 2020, Elliot Page has continued to speak for trans representation in Hollywood. In 2023, he released his memoir Pageboy, which offered an unfiltered look at his experiences with fame, dysphoria, relationships, and his struggles to navigate the entertainment industry while living authentically.
On-screen, Page has also continued to push for more nuanced queer and trans storytelling through projects like The Umbrella Academy, which incorporated his real-life transition into his character’s journey. He also starred in Close to You, a Dominic Savage film about a trans man returning to his hometown for his father’s birthday.
With Second Nature, Page continues to spotlight queer existence in spaces where it has historically been erased, including science and nature itself.
The documentary will screen in Los Angeles on May 24 and in New York City on June 26.
