Drew Barrymore snags Ellen Page for Whip It! :: Film & TV News :: Articles

Juno star Ellen Page is slated to appear in Whip It!, Drew Barrymore’s upcoming directorial debut, Variety reported recently. Likely to begin filming this summer, it will feature Page as a small-town Texan "alterna-teen" named Bliss who finds herself (and actual bliss, natch!) when she trades one brutal world for another and ditches beauty pageants for roller derby.

Admittedly, this writer was initially flummoxed by this announcement. When she thinks of Drew Barrymore, she thinks of Charlie’s Angels, mascara and Jimmy Fallon’s wedding (because this writer was flipping through People magazine last night and read that Barrymore attended said nuptials, along with her boyfriend, the Mac. Please don't judge this writer). And when this writer thinks of Page, she thinks of… well, things significantly more awesome than Charlie’s Angels, mascara and Jimmy Fallon’s wedding.

But as it turns out, the two have much more in common than this writer first thought. For starters, they’ve both portrayed pregnant, high-school teenagers—Page in Juno and Barrymore in Riding In Cars With Boys. They also almost have the same birthday—Page’s is February 21st (she’ll be 21 this year) and Barrymore’s is February 22nd (she’ll be 33).

And finally, the strangest (and definitely most convoluted) coincidence of all: Juno was penned by Diablo Cody, whose autobiography is titled Candy Girl, while Whip It! is based on the novel Derby Girl by Shauna Cross, who also wrote WI!'s screenplay. According to Variety, Cross herself is a roller derby league member (roller derbier? derbster? rollie?) who battles under the assumed name Maggie Mayhem. And, as you might have guessed, ‘Diablo Cody’ is also an alias—her given name is Brook Busey-Hunt.

So, now that these completely meaningless, admittedly stretched connections have been thoroughly parsed, this writer has revised her stance: Whip It! might actually end up fairly awesome. But, just like whether or not Page’s Oscar buzz will pan out, we’ll have to wait and see.