‘Umbrella Academy’ showrunner was ‘really excited’ to show Elliot Page's character transition

The third season of Netflix's The Umbrella Academy is finally here! To celebrate/promote the occasion, actor Elliot Page went on NBC's Late Night with Seth Myers to talk about the upcoming episodes, including how his character mirrors his real-life transition. 

Page broke the news a couple of months ago that his Umbrella character, Viktor Hargreeves, would also come out as transgender in Season 3. During his conversation with Myers, Page shared how Umbrella Academy showrunner Steve Blackman embraced the idea of having Page’s character also transition. 

“When we first talked about it he seemed really excited about incorporating it into the show,” Page shared, adding that he and Blackman brought on “an incredible writer, journalist, author Thomas Page McBee, who I met doing a miniseries called Tales of The City. He wrote an extraordinary book called Amateur, which I highly recommend everybody to read. He was the first trans man to box in Madison Square Garden … Thomas came on board and helped out and I feel proud of it and excited for people to see it.”

Page and Myers talked about other aspects of Page’s personal transition, including how he’s dealt with some of the negative reactions out there. “What I want to focus on right now and has been so extraordinary is the degree of joy that I feel, the degree of presence that I feel. I feel a way that I really never thought possible for a long, long time. So that’s really what I’m focusing on and embracing the most.”

You can check out the entire eight-minute conversation below: 

Season 3 of The Umbrella Academy is now streaming on Netflix. 

Looking for more sci-fi TV? Check out shows like Resident Alien, Brave New World, Project Blue Book, Eureka, Heroes, Intergalactic, and more streaming now on Peacock. Looking ahead, SYFY has the new series The Ark in the works from original Stargate film producer Dean Devlin, as well as Stargate SG-1 producer Jonathan Glassner.