Ellen Page has firmly established herself as one of the most talented young actresses in Hollywood today. In 2008 she received Best Actress nominations from the Oscar's, BAFTA, Golden Globe and SAG and won an Independent Spirit Award for her role in “Juno.” Ellen will soon appear in Michael Lander's independent film “Peacock” starring Cillian Murphy, Susan Sarandon and Bill Pullman. Ellen is currently in production on Christopher Nolan's “Inception” opposite Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, and Ken Watanabe.

MoviesOnline sat down recently with Ellen to talk about her new film, “Whip It,” a coming-of-age story which explores friendships, teammate camaraderie and first loves.  For years, Bliss Cavendar (Academy Award nominee Ellen Page) has been dreaming of escaping her tiny, truck-stop of a town Bodeen, Texas.  Unfortunately her devoted, beauty pageant obsessed mother (Academy Award winner Marcia Gay Harden) is convinced that Bliss can only succeed in life if she wins the crown at the local Miss Blue Bonnet Pageant, but the awkward outsider knows there’s something bigger and better out there.  When Bliss sneaks off to the big city of Austin with her best friend Pash (Alia Shawkat) she discovers a world unlike anything she could ever imagine:  roller derby, with its girl-power-meets-punk-rock spirit and its liberating celebration of wild individuality.

Inspired by the likes of Maggie Mayhem (Kristen Wiig), Bliss secretly tries out for a spot on the Hurl Scouts, a rag-tag team of scrappy underdogs.  Soon she’s trading in her gowns and crowns for skirts, skates and scrapes becoming her alter ego, Babe Ruthless.  Leading a precarious double life, Bliss may be a waitress at Bodeen’s Oink Joint by day, but by night, she’s becoming the fastest thing on eight wheels.  Now she’s doing things she never dreamed of -- fearlessly facing off with bad-ass rivals like Iron Maven (Academy Award nominee Juliette Lewis) and falling for a boy in a band (singer/songwriter Landon Pigg) -- while trying to be a heroine to her new friends and teammates.  But when her secret gets out, Bliss will face her toughest fight yet:  to take control of the future . . . on her own terms.

Rounding out a dynamic ensemble cast, “Whip It” also stars Jimmy Fallon, Eve, Zoë Bell, Ari Graynor, Eulala Scheel, Andrew Wilson, Carlo Alban and Daniel Stern.  The film marks the feature film directorial debut of Drew Barrymore, who also stars as the feisty Hurl Scout, Smashley Simpson.

Before she ever tied up her laces, Page knew she was in for perhaps the wildest ride of her young career.  “This has been one of the craziest journeys I’ve gone on in a movie,” Page admits, “because it is a mix of different genres and worlds and energies and it seems like every moment is so crucial to Bliss’s growth and development.  What’s great about this film is that it’s got this rock n’ roll, cool, sporty aspect to it but behind that is an honest story of a young woman going through a lot of changes.  The challenge was molding all that together and Drew did it brilliantly, with her high energy and positive spirit.”

Ellen Page has been very busy promoting her new film and we really appreciated her time. Here’s more of what she had to tell us about “Whip It”:

Sheila Roberts