Mercy stars Ellen Page and Kate Mara as women on opposite sides of a political dispute, who fall in love against all odds.
In another great win for mainstream LGBT cinema, Hollywood stars Ellen Page and Kate Mara are uniting for Mercy, written by Joe Barton and directed by Israeli filmmaker Tali Shalom-Ezer (Princess).
The movie follows Ellen Page’s Lucy, whom Variety describes as “the daughter of a man on death row,” who falls in love with Kate Mara’s titular Mercy.
Mercy is “a woman on the opposing side of [Lucy’s] family’s political cause,” and their romance will test Lucy’s “value for truth, as her world begins to unravel.” (Anyone else getting major Romeo & Juliet vibes from this story?)
Amy Seimetz, Pablo Schreiber and Elias Koteas will also star.
Ellen Page, an out actress herself, has long been working to increase LGBT visibility in the media. Her road show Gaycation sees Page travel around the world with her best friend, Ian Daniel, to visit LGBT communities. The show is nominated for an Emmy in the “Best Unstructured Reality Series” category.
Incidentally, when Page came out as a lesbian in 2014, Kate Mara sent her the following tweet:
Hey @EllenPage…Be my Valentine?#respect
— Kate Mara (@katemara) February 15, 2014
Ellen Page responded:
“@_KateMara: Hey @EllenPage…Be my Valentine?#respect” yes please
— Ellen Page (@EllenPage) February 15, 2014
Coincidence?! Or were the two friends already then working on this movie together?
Page was at least already preparing for the role last year at the Zurich Film Festival, when she said, “I’m focusing mostly on stories that are meaningful to me and stories for women and supporting more gay characters” (also via Variety).
Anecdotally, Kate Mara’s sister Rooney Mara starred opposite Cate Blanchett in 2015’s smash hit LGBT drama Carol. Let’s hope Mercy will find similar success and acclaim!
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