Elliot Page claimed he had sex “all the time” with his Juno co-star Olivia Thirlby in his new memoir Pageboy.
Thirlby appeared in the film as Leah, the title character’s best friend who supported her after she became pregnant in high school. DailyMail.com has contacted representatives for the actress for comment.
Although the 36-year-old performer appeared in leading and supporting roles in numerous films in the late 2000s and 2010s, her career has slowed in recent years.
Thirlby hasn’t appeared in a feature film since 2019, though she may be set to relaunch her career with her role in Christopher Nolan’s highly anticipated biographical drama Oppenheimer.
Below, DailyMail.com takes a look at Thirlby’s varied career after she found herself in the spotlight.
Shocking claim: Actress Olivia Thirlby, 36, is back in the news after Elliot Page claimed they had sex ‘all the time’ while filming their hit 2007 film Juno ; seen in 2021 in LA
Overall: Thirlby played a supporting role in the film as the title character’s best friend, who helped Page’s character through a high school pregnancy; seen together in 2008
Thirlby, who was born in New York, was ready for an acting career after attending performing arts programs.
She and her family were even committed enough to send him to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.
She participated in a stage combat course at school while taking a summer course on Shakespeare.
Thirlby got off to a promising start in 2006 when she made her film debut in United 93, a thriller detailing the hijacking of United Arlines Flight 93, one of four planes taken over by terrorists on September 11, 2001, even if it was the only one of the group that did not hit its target after the revolt of the passengers.
The film was directed by Paul Greengrass of The Bourne Supremacy, and it received rave reviews and two Oscar nominations.
She then appeared in the 2007 film Snow Angels and appeared in several episodes of the TV series Kidnapped before scoring her breakout role in Juno.
The comedy-drama, which also starred Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman and Allison Janney, was a huge commercial success. It grossed around $232 million against a paltry budget of $6-7 million.
The film earned four Oscar nominations, including for co-star Elliot Page, and it won just one Oscar for screenwriter Diablo Cody.
Slow start: The hit film helped raise Thirlby’s profile, but apart from a few starring roles, she continued to have supporting roles in smaller films and independent productions; seen in The Wackness (2008)
Jumpstart: Thirlby’s feature debut was in the famed United 93. One of his best-reviewed TV appearances was for HBO’s Bored To Death; pictured in Being Flynn (2012)
It was on this film that Page – who presented as a woman at the time – claims her relationship with Thirlby began.
The Inception actor wrote that he was immediately drawn to Thirlby after meeting her on set.
‘I was surprised as soon as I saw Olivia Thirlby. She seemed so much older, capable and centered,” he recalls. ‘Sexually open, a far cry from where I was then. But the chemistry was palpable, it attracted me.
Page claimed it was Thirlby who made the first move by admitting she was “really into” him, which led to both “faces sucking”.
“It was on,” he continued. “I had an absolute desire for her, she made me want in a new, hopeful way.”
Page even wrote that Thirlby was allegedly the first person to give her an orgasm.
In 2011, Thirlby would reveal she was bisexual in an interview with Brooklyn Magazine.
Although Juno propelled Page to stardom, it didn’t have the same effect for Thirlby, even though she played an important role in the film.
Acclaimed: Some of the best reviews of his career were for the 2012 comic book adaptation Dredd, starring Karl Urban (pictured)
Work romance: In 2014, she married Jacques Pienaar, whom she met on the set of the dark action film when he acted as a boom microphone operator; pictured together in a birthday post
Same activity: He continued to work in the industry as a boom operator and sound recordist
In the years following the 2007 film, she mostly continued to appear in small films and independent films, most of which received mediocre to average reviews.
She also continued to have supporting roles in numerous films, although her filmography was dotted with a few lead performances.
Thirlby would become a recurring character in HBO’s Bored To Death, which starred Jason Schwartzman, Ted Danson and Zack Galifianakis, and she had a supporting role in the acclaimed arthouse film Margaret, which starred Anna Paquin, Mark Ruffalo, Matt Damon, and a trio of future Succession stars: J. Smith-Cameron, Jeannie Berlin and Kieran Culkin.
The film was released in 2011 but had been filmed in 2005, before his Juno breakout.
Also in 2011, she appeared in the hit romantic comedy No Strings Attached, which starred Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher.
In 2012, she appeared with A Quiet Place star and director John Krasinski in Nobody Walks, as well as the acclaimed sci-fi comic book adaptation Dredd.
Dredd not only garnered great reviews, but also helped her find love.
In 2014, she married Jacques Pienaar, whom she met on the set of the dark action film when he acted as a boom mic operator.
He continued to work in the industry as a boom operator and sound engineer.
Back to it? Thirlby is set for a career revival when she appears in Christopher Nolan’s highly anticipated Oppenheimer
In Good Company: Her role has yet to be revealed, but the film features an incredible cast with Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon, Gary Oldman, Rami Malek and more; seen in January 2020
Olivia appeared with Kate Mara – who Page also claimed to have had a relationship with – in Chappaquiddick in 2017, about the death of Mary Jo Kopechne after the late Senator Ted Kennedy crashed the car they were driving into a pool tide after leaving a bridge.
But the movies mostly seemed to get smaller after that point. Thirlby’s last was in the quickly canceled Y: The Last Man, but she hasn’t appeared in a feature film since 2019.
But that’s about to change, as she has three movies in post-production, as well as a short, according to the Internet Movie Database.
Thirlby will join the cast of Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon, Gary Oldman, Rami Malek and more in Nolan Oppenheimer’s highly anticipated film about the architect of the atomic bomb, though her character has yet to be revealed.
