Last week, Elliot Page sat down with Oprah Winfrey for his first televised interview since coming out as trans last year. Streaming on the latest episode of Apple TV’s The Oprah Conversation, the nearly hour-long exchange saw Page open up about trans visibility, the recent onslaught of anti-trans legislation, and settling into his body as a trans man. The episode was widely praised as a vulnerable, moving conversation — and now, Oprah is opening up about the steps she took to ensure it would be a sensitive, affirming platform for Elliot.
In an article for Oprah Daily, Winfrey detailed conversations she had with Nick Adams, GLAAD’s director of transgender representation. “I was more nervous about this interview than anything. I wanted to get it right,” Winfrey told Adams over Zoom after the interview was over. For Oprah, that process included watching the 2020 Netflix documentary Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen, which comprehensively catalogues how trans people have been depicted in film and TV throughout cinematic history, and the ways those depictions have affected public perceptions of the trans community. “I found it so enlightening,” Oprah tweeted after the episode premiered, shouting out its director, Sam Feder, as well as producers Amy Scholder and Laverne Cox.
Oprah admitted to Adams that she and Page had a preliminary Zoom meeting prior to the interview to make sure she was up to speed on the appropriate language to use, whether surrounding Page’s identity or the trans community more broadly. “I know that words matter and I learned that from a lot of people over the years,” Winfrey said.
For Page, an interview with someone who has the cultural reach and impact that Oprah does presents an opportunity to educate a wide swath of the country about what it means to be transgender. With an unprecedented onslaught of anti-trans legislation sweeping the country, that opportunity is more important than ever — and it’s a powerful show of allyship to know that Oprah didn’t take it all for granted.
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