Elliot Page slams ‘Flatliners’ set as ‘reckless and dangerous’
After starring in the remake of the 1990 film, Elliot Page has slammed the set of the ‘Flatliners’ remake as “reckless and dangerous”.
Elliot Page has slammed the set of the ‘Flatliners’ remake as “reckless and dangerous”.
The 36-year-old ‘Juno’ actor played medical student Courtney Holmes in the reboot of the 1990 film alongside Kiersey Clemons, Diego Luna, Nina Dobrev and James Norton, and said it went “off the rails”.
He said in his ‘Pageboy’ memoir: “A brilliant cast, a cult classic, it was set to be great. But it went off the rails, one of those movies that is a true mess from the very beginning.”
Elliot got concerned with a behind-the-scenes exchange as he and Kiersey, now 29, were getting ready to shoot a getaway scene from hospital security, and realised they had no “built-in thick seat belt” like everyone else.
Elliot said he was told he would be “fine” by a stut coordinator and said someone told Kiersey: “It’ll be even better if you aren’t strapped in.”
He added they should have “removed ourselves, called someone, said something”.
But he said as they had been “conditioned” to understand the importance of meeting shooting deadlines they went ahead and were plunged into “a degree of intensity we did not quite anticipate”.
The actor added how another take saw a stunt driver suddenly slam on the brakes due to a random person having accidentally driven onto the street that had been blocked off for filming.
He said: “Luckily everyone was fine. But I think back to how reckless and dangerous that was. How Kiersey and I were treated with such flippancy and disrespect.
“Regardless of a stranger's car making it onto the closed set of a car chase, what if something just… went wrong?”
Elliot, who came out as trans in December 2020, added one of the ‘Flatliners’ producers questioned whether the actor was “mad” his character wasn’t gay.
The film boss had apparently thought Elliot was upset about his female character’s sexuality after he expressed doubt she would wear skirts and heels during her medical residency.
Elliot added: “My astonishment morphed into a quiet boil. ‘Your view of women is egregiously narrow,’ I said to the man, reminding him lesbians wear skirts, too.”
