Ellen Page

Born: February 21 1987
Where: Halifax, Canada

The self-styled "tomboy from Nova Scotia" is best known to international audiences as Kitty Pryde in X-Men: The Last Stand.

However, she has also attracted critical acclaim as the paedophile target Hayley Stark in Hard Candy and as a motor-mouthed gymslip mom in Juno.

The daughter of a graphic designer and a teacher, she attended three different high schools before graduating from the Shambhala School in Halifax.

A keen actress from an early age, she attended the Neptune Theatre School and made her first award-winning TV appearance in the Canadian children's series Pit Pony when she was ten years old.

Subsequent roles included that of Treena Lahey in the TV show Trailer Park Boys before Page made her big screen debut aged 15 alongside Molly Parker in the drama Marion Bridge.

It was this appearance that cemented her desire to be an actress although she was anxious to avoid "stereotypical roles for teenage girls".

Minor Canadian TV and film roles followed, including the movies Touch & Go and Love That Boy, as well as the lead in the children's TV movie I Downloaded A Ghost.

In 2004, she appeared in the TV sci-fi thriller series ReGenesis before getting her big break as the 14-year-old Hayley Stark in Hard Candy.

The controversial 2005 role which cast Page as a potential victim of a paedophile who turns the tables on her predator (Patrick Wilson) landed Page the Empire magazine best newcomer award.

The following year director Brett Ratner specifically requested that Page play Kitty Pryde/Shadowcast in the blockbuster sequel X-Men: The Last Stand.

Returning to the indie sector, Page then delivered a dramatic tour de force as the sassy teenager who discovers she's pregnant in the critically-acclaimed Juno.