Awards Ellen Page on Oscars Diversity Controversy: 'How Could You Not Feel Angry?' Ellen Page opens up to PEOPLE at the Sundance Film Festival By Lindsay Kimble Lindsay Kimble Lindsay Kimble is the Executive Editor, News at PEOPLE. She have been working at PEOPLE for seven years. Her work has previously appeared in POPSUGAR, Us Weekly and Entertainment Weekly. People Editorial Guidelines and Melody Chiu Melody Chiu Melody Chiu is an Executive Editor at PEOPLE overseeing music, events and emerging content. She has been with the brand since 2009, editing, writing and reporting across all entertainment verticals. She has written cover stories on Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, Melissa McCarthy, Blake Shelton, Jordan Turpin and Sandra Oh. The Los Angeles native graduated from the University of Southern California and has appeared on Extra!, The Talk, Access Hollywood and Good Morning America. People Editorial Guidelines Published on January 25, 2016 01:00PM EST Photo: Nicholas Hunt/Getty Update: In December 2020, Elliot Page came out as trans and announced that they use he/they pronouns. This content was written in January 2016, before Page publicly announced that they are trans. Ellen Page says that the Oscars diversity controversy extends far beyond just Hollywood. Joining a host of other industry elites who have issued their opinion about the lack of actors of color being considered for an Academy Award, Page tells PEOPLE at the Sundance Film Festival that the issue “means a lot to me as an audience member and as a human being.” Page, who was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar in 2008 for Juno, says that the Academy’s sweeping new guidelines, designed to address that lack of diversity among its voting body, are “crucial.” “It means a lot to me as someone who does this job,” she explains, adding, “I think the issue is much more systemic and I hope that’s what changes, hearing more diverse stories, but I feel like finally there’s some steps going in the right direction.” The star, who was at the annual Utah festival to promote her new drama Tallulah, also issued some suggestions for the continued implementation of positive changes across Hollywood. “There needs to be more diversity behind the camera, and more people getting hired in every aspect of the business, and more support for those stories and more opportunity,” she tells PEOPLE. “You look at something like Orange Is the New Black, and how many actresses we were introduced to who we may not otherwise have seen because they had no opportunity.” (And the connection is personal for Page, as she shares the screen with acclaimed OITNB star Uzo Aduba in Tallulah.) “That makes me feel like, how could you not feel angry at that, you know?” Page says. “And I hope that is what is going to continue to happen, and just as an audience member I want to go see more stories from different perspectives. We do this job, sure to entertain, but also to reflect aspects of what it means to be a human.” VIDEO: Oscars Boycott Backlash Page also opens up about her own aspirations to get behind the camera – if she can work up the nerve, that is. “I am really liking producing to be honest,” she says of her dual role for Tallulah. “And when I say that, learning to do it and that’s something I’m continuing to do – there are things in the pipeline, is that what people say? And I do think about someday directing, but not next week.” The eventual venture “scares the s—” out of Page, who says she’s continually impressed by directors. “I feel like I’m enjoying learning so much because obviously when you’re a producer you’re so much involved in post, you’re so much involved in different components, and I feel grateful to be learning so much about that right now,” she explains. “Maybe in the future, I’d love to direct.”