First Trailer: Julianne Moore And Ellen Page Battle For Equality In Heartbreaking Drama ‘Freeheld’

Julianne Moore and Ellen Page star in Freeheld, an emotional movie about falling in love and fighting for equal rights. 

The first trailer for the LGBT equality movie, Freeheld, starring Academy Award winner Julianne Moore (Still Alice, The Kids Are All Right) and Academy Award nominee Ellen Page (Juno, X-Men: Days of Future Past) was just released today. The two actresses play a lesbian couple that had to fight for domestic partner benefits a decade ago.

The movie is based on the true story of Laurel Hester (Moore) and Stacie Andree (Page), a couple that became accidental activists when their relationship was not recognized after one of them fell ill. Laurel was a police detective who attempted to leave her benefits to her domestic partner, Stacie, after finding out she had terminal lung cancer. The county’s governing body of Freeholders denied her. Laurel died in 2006, and the couple’s public fight helped pave the way for the recent marriage equality cases that resulted in equal marriage rights for same-sex couples across the country.

Freeheld is directed by Peter Sollett (Raising Victor Vargas, Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist) and written by Oscar nominee, Ron Nyswaner (Philadelphia). In an interview with BuzzFeed News, Sollett explained, “It’s not often in the movies that we get to talk about our heroes. And to me, Laurel Hester is a hero — I knew that as soon as I came to know her story.”

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly last month, Page talked about starring in this movie and playing a lesbian character shortly after coming out of the closet herself.

“It got to the point where it didn’t matter what I was doing in my life, there was always this cloud,” she said. “And to be shooting the movie so soon after coming out was some of the most joy I’ve ever felt on a film set, which is a tricky thing to say because we’re telling a story that’s incredibly tragic. But the feeling of being out and playing someone who’s gay, and someone whose courage has allowed me to live my life, that feels amazing. People like Laurel and Stacie are the reason I feel so happy in my life now.”

Freeheld will be in limited release on Oct. 2, expanding on Oct. 16. Watch the trailer for the movie above.

 

Image: Screenshot via Buzzfeed/Facebook