A transgender actor can also simply play a soldier, a neighbor, a villain, a detective, a father, a historical figure or a mythological character.
The broader principle is that an actor’s identity does not need to define the limits of every character available to them.
What Hollywood’s Representation Numbers Show
It would be overly simplistic to claim that Page’s current lack of offers can definitively be explained by discrimination. Casting decisions depend on countless factors: available scripts, timing, financing, age, genre, scheduling, the size of a role, a director’s preferences and the unpredictable movement of projects through development.
Page himself has not presented a detailed list of producers or studios that rejected him because he is transgender.
That distinction is important.
Still, broader data shows why concerns about limited opportunities for transgender performers cannot simply be dismissed.
GLAAD’s 2025 Studio Responsibility Index, which examined 250 films released theatrically or directly to streaming in 2024 by 10 major distributors, found that 59 movies contained LGBTQ characters.
Only two of those films included transgender characters.
The finding does not measure every role available to transgender actors, because transgender performers can and should be considered for characters who are not explicitly transgender.
But it does illustrate how narrow explicit transgender representation remains in mainstream film.
The situation has improved unevenly over time.
GLAAD reported that there were no transgender or nonbinary characters in the major-studio films it tracked in 2020. In its study of 2021 theatrical releases, the organization counted a transgender character in a major studio release for the first time in five years.
Progress has occurred, but the numbers suggest that representation remains fragile rather than guaranteed.
That history provides important context for Page’s career without proving the reason behind any individual casting decision.
An Interesting Contrast With 2021
There is another detail that makes Page’s current experience particularly notable.
When TIME interviewed him in 2021, the situation initially appeared very different.
Following his public announcement that he was transgender, Page’s representatives were reportedly receiving considerable interest. TIME wrote that casting directors had contacted his manager and that his team was seeing more activity than it had in years. Some opportunities were connected specifically to transgender stories, while others were roles for male characters that had nothing specifically to do with being transgender.
Five years later, Page is describing a quieter landscape.
That does not necessarily mean Hollywood collectively changed its mind. The entertainment industry is too fragmented for such a simple conclusion.
But it demonstrates one of the uncomfortable realities of an acting career: momentum is rarely linear.
Attention can rise dramatically and then disappear.
An acclaimed performance may generate meetings but no finished project.
A billion-dollar film may not immediately create another role.
A celebrated actor can still spend months—or longer—waiting.
Page Isn’t the Only Odyssey Actor Facing That Reality
Perhaps the strongest argument against reducing Page’s situation to a single explanation comes from another member of the Odyssey cast.
Samantha Morton, whose performance as Circe also attracted attention, has publicly discussed experiencing her own period without acting work.
According to TheWrap, Morton said she had not worked for approximately a year since making The Odyssey, despite having established representation and a long, acclaimed career. She reflected on age, competition and broader changes within the entertainment industry while discussing the uncertainty actors face.
That comparison does not erase the distinct challenges transgender actors may encounter.
But it does illustrate how unpredictable casting can be even for respected performers coming directly from a major success.
Hollywood frequently creates an illusion of stability around famous actors. Audiences see premieres, magazine covers, press tours and awards campaigns and naturally assume that employment follows automatically.
In reality, an actor can be highly visible while professionally uncertain.
Page’s comments expose that contradiction.
The Strange Economics of a $1.6 Billion Movie
The scale of The Odyssey’s success makes the contrast even sharper.
Box Office Mojo reported that the film had reached approximately $1.644 billion worldwide by September 13, with nearly two-thirds of the total coming from international markets.
That performance turned the movie into much more than a successful literary adaptation.
It became a global theatrical event.
Audiences turned out across Europe, Asia, Latin America and North America. The film earned more than $111 million in the United Kingdom alone, while France contributed nearly $86 million and South Korea more than $80 million.
For an industry that spent years debating whether audiences would continue leaving their homes for large theatrical experiences, the success of Nolan’s film offered compelling evidence that event cinema remained powerful.
But enormous box-office revenue does not distribute career benefits evenly across an ensemble.
The leading stars of a blockbuster may already have multiple projects in development before the movie even opens. Supporting performers may receive critical attention without immediately finding the right follow-up.
And the time between being cast, shooting a film and seeing that film released can stretch across years.
That means public perception of an actor’s “moment” does not necessarily correspond with the actual production calendar.
Page’s situation is therefore both unusual and strangely typical.
It is unusual because of the extraordinary scale of The Odyssey.
It is typical because uncertainty is built into the profession.
The Meaning of Sinon
Within the wider conversation surrounding Page, his role as Sinon carries symbolic significance as well.
Rather than being constructed primarily around contemporary gender identity, the character places Page inside an ancient mythological world.
For transgender performers, roles of this kind can represent an important form of normalization.
GLAAD and other representation advocates have long argued that meaningful inclusion does not only mean creating stories specifically about LGBTQ identity. It also means allowing LGBTQ performers and characters to exist throughout the full range of genres—action films, fantasy, romance, comedy, historical dramas and major commercial spectacles.
Page’s presence in a Nolan epic operates within that broader idea.