Star Amerasu and Elliot Page on Wishes, Warhol, and Queer Liberation

Star Amerasu is one of those multi-hyphenates you can’t quite pin down. She’s a musician and DJ, but also the director and star of After Hours, a short film that captures a moment of catharsis for a trans woman at the end of her rope. You might also recognize Star from her satirical sci-fi skits online, where she plays Pandemia, a not-so-benevolent AI overlord in a dystopia where credits are currency and the broke are sent to work on the Jeffree Star Yak Mines. Both hilarious and bleak, Star’s work reflects the unsettling reality of the present and warns what might happen if we don’t fight for a better future—something her collaborator and friend Elliot Page can’t stop thinking about.

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SATURDAY 9 AM MAY 10, 2025 L.A.

ELLIOT PAGE: I think of you as someone who has always been thinking about new futures in all of the work you do, no matter the medium—whether it’s your nonprofit work, music, film. All that being said, what are the three things that you think will be essential in the year 2099?

STAR AMERASU: Okay. Flash forward, we’re in 2099. One of the things that’s essential is having a good vibe, like bitches with bad vibes are not going to survive 2099.

PAGE: Are you at all worried about surveillance or the entity that’s rating your vibe?

AMERASU: I think Pandemia is going to be there—she’s going to be the AI assistant, tour guide, everything. You know how everyone’s talking to ChatGPT? In 2099, they’re going to be talking to a version of me that I’m not in control of. So don’t get mad at Star when Pandemia is coming for your bad vibes.

PAGE: [Laughs] Got it.

AMERASU: That’s number one. Number two is cultivating a sense of self that is so powerful that you can shape your reality. And then number three is knowing where the fresh water is.

PAGE: Or we’ll need affordable personal machines that can convert ocean water.

AMERASU: And we’ll have machines that can convert sunlight into electricity.

PAGE: Oxygen’s going to be an issue as well. This leads to another question—you and I both are rightfully concerned about the trajectory of our planet, but we also have hope. I’ve played some superheroes—

AMERASU: You’ve been anointed. You have the power. [Laughs]

PAGE: If you woke up tomorrow with a superpower, what would that be?

AMERASU: It always changes. There was a time when I wanted to be invisible. There was a time when I simply wanted to fly. No longer. If I wake up tomorrow and have a new power, I want to be able to control matter. Turn it up, turn it down, go left, go right, open a portal, go somewhere else.

PAGE: Like Kitty Pryde [Page’s character in the X-Men movies] when she’s going through walls and all of that.

AMERASU: But there’s an alternate universe where it’s not Kitty Pryde. Kitty transitioned to Karl Pryde.

PAGE: [Laughs] You can write that film for Marvel.

AMERASU: The Disneyification of Elliot Page is coming. Get ready.

PAGE: Oh, shit. [Laughs] I know lots of people feel this way, but you and I are nature people; we’ve spent a lot of time in nature together, and we gravitate towards it for stillness and reflection. How do you handle being in the big city, and what do you do when you are feeling stuck or overwhelmed?

AMERASU: Every city has a park somewhere. I try to find the oldest tree in the park and touch it, commune with it. I also do walking meditations. I was in the South Pasadena area for a while, and even just walking through a tree-lined street gave me something. You got to get to the trees. Talk to them, touch them.

PAGE: Totes. I have moments where I’m just like, I got to grab Mo [Page’s dog] and throw him in a backpack and take the train out to Coney Island to walk the boardwalk. Even in winter. It just completely reinvigorates me.

AMERASU: Yeah. The ocean is so good. The ions. I’ve lived near water for the majority of my life, and I think it’s super important for us as humans to be close to a giant body of water.

PAGE: The beach in Nova Scotia? Heaven. Okay, so I wrote a book called Pageboy—

AMERASU: A New York Times bestseller, might I add.

PAGE: That you are in. I talk about our meet-cute and your impact on my life. What’s the title of your memoir, Star?

AMERASU: Just off toppy, Wish Upon a Star: The Star Amerasu Journey.

PAGE: Yes.

AMERASU: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Cuntiness: A Memoir.

PAGE: I love that. I think you’re going to get a book deal out of this.

AMERASU: [Laughs] Period!

PAGE: So this question is what we’re all really needing the answer to right now. If a witch suddenly appears and hexes you for accidentally stepping on her shrine to a long-forgotten goddess, what’s the hex and how’s it going to impact your life?

AMERASU: Okay. I’m thinking—she’s like, “And now you’re cursed with no sex for a hundred years.”

PAGE: No sex, including with yourself?

AMERASU: Hopefully not. I don’t know why my mind went there—a therapist could answer that. But maybe to break the curse, I do some sort of ritual or give her a couple buttons and a sprig of fresh lettuce, a five-leaf clover, some sort of gumdrop, 10 pennies—something like that. I’m sure there’s a way to get it gone.

PAGE: Speaking of this sort of thing, do you have any rituals that are a part of your life or that you want to share?

AMERASU: Any time I pass a body of water, I throw a coin in it and make a wish. A little brook on the side of the road, I’m making a wish. I go to the ocean, I’m throwing something in there. I was just in Montreal. I threw a loonie into the river.

PAGE: That’s a big wish.

AMERASU: Yeah, I also like to pray. I’m not super religious, but I think prayer is powerful—the idea of believing in something. The other day, I went to the Oratory of Saint Joseph in Montreal, and I was like, “Please, please bless all the pure-hearted souls around the world and help the trans and the gays and the theys and the entire LGBT community because lord knows we need it.” Do you have any rituals?

PAGE: I guess my morning walks with Mo, even though that’s just something you have to do, walking your dog. But connecting with nature and the trees feels ritualistic. It’s very important for my body and my mind. And, I guess, Duolingo.

AMERASU: [Laughs] Period. What languages are we learning on Duolingo?

PAGE: Portuguese.

AMERASU: Tudo bem.

PAGE: Speaking of this time in our community, what words of advice would you give to anyone who’s struggling right now?

AMERASU: Hold on to hope. Even in the darker moments that both of us have had, we still didn’t give up. And also, not becoming bad people because of the things that we went through. It’s about using my anger to motivate me to help other people. I think our trans-cestors were very much like that—like Sylvia Rivera, Marsha P. Johnson. These were people that were in the streets. Whenever I’m feeling really upset about what’s happening, I try to figure out ways that I can actually support at least one or two people in my community, connect some of my trans friends with opportunities, things like that.

PAGE: Absolutely.

AMERASU: Do you have any advice?

PAGE: Despite everything going on in the world, I feel so grateful to be trans. I feel so solid and grounded and present in a way that I really never imagined possible. Of course, there’s going to be days where we feel overwhelmed and affected, but I just cling to that feeling that—pardon the pun—absolutely transformed my life for the better. I’m like, “I’m not going to let you take that feeling away.” I’ll approach this moment and all these issues with those feelings of love and hope and empathy. It’s about connecting with the community, being there for one another, and helping each other grow and thrive.

AMERASU: Exactly. No notes. Mwah.

PAGE: That’s right. I have a couple more general questions. Salty or sweet?

AMERASU: Always sweet. I have the nastiest, sickest sweet tooth. What about you?

PAGE: I’m a salty boy. But I love when you’re like, “Is it annoying if we go on this long walk to this random bakery?”

AMERASU: It’s like a side quest. I love rewarding myself. Yes, queen. [Laughs]

PAGE: Beginnings, middles, or ends?

AMERASU: I love beginnings. The middle is the diciest part for me. What about you?

PAGE: I guess it depends what it is. When I’m thinking of IRL, of course, the beginnings of a new adventure, a new project, a new love. And then when I think of movies, I’m such a stickler for endings. You nail that final shot and you’ve got me.

AMERASU: Yes. Wait, was that all the questions?

PAGE: That’s it.

AMERASU: Awesome. We did it. Bye, Interview.

PAGE: We love you.

AMERASU: Andy Warhol, if you can hear me in the spiritual realm, I’m calling out to you, bitch. You better give me what I want.

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Hair: Izumi Sato using Bumble and bumble at Art Department & W Tokyo.

Makeup: Yuki Hayashi using RMK at CLM.

Nails: Pika using Aprés at See Management.

Photography Assistant: Bryan Anton.

Fashion Assistant: Sienna Ropert.

Makeup Assistant: Valerie Vitko.

Production Assistant: Maian Tran.