On a Roll: Ellen Page on 'Whip It' and Physical Challenges

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THAT ADORABLE Ellen Page freaked out her parents in "Juno" by getting pregnant. In her role in "Whip It" -- Drew Barrymore's directorial debut, which hits theaters Friday -- she's got mom and dad hot and bothered over her new hobby: roller derby. They (or at least mom) would rather have her competing in the prissy Miss Blue Bonnet pageant.

Parent-child conflict, girl power, guy drama, best friend tension and, of course, crazy skating ensue. We got the scoop on how it went down from Page.

» EXPRESS: I hear that's really you doing all of that skating.
» PAGE: Yes, I do 90 percent of it. It was a blast. I started training three months before with a derby trainer, Axels of Evil. So I just got to hang out with her.

» EXPRESS: Any injuries of note?
» PAGE: Of course there were some bruises.

» EXPRESS: And did you develop a secret way of hiding them?
» PAGE: Makeup.

» EXPRESS: Right, so the hardest thing in this movie I'm guessing wasn't the skating, but that underwater love scene.
» PAGE: That was actually physically challenging. I had to swim for three hours. And it was one of those things where you think, "People would totally not do this." But I thought it looked cool.

» EXPRESS: So if you had to choose between being in a pageant or a roller derby team, which would you pick?
» PAGE: Is this a joke? I would be on the derby team. I respect that pageants are what some people enjoy though, and more power to them.

» EXPRESS: Let's talk clothes. What was your favorite outfit from the movie?
» PAGE: I really liked the zebra T-shirt with tuxedo pants rolled up.

» EXPRESS: Have any favorite stuff from your real closet?
» PAGE: I do, but I'm not big on getting attached to something. If I have a shirt I like, I lose it.

» EXPRESS: And you're a knitter, right?
» PAGE: I am. I'm a really good knitter. I make all kinds of scarves -- you can never have too many. And I did a really bad hat. It's something to relax with.

» EXPRESS: Did you ever give yourself a roller derby name?
» PAGE: I came up with Hurt Vonnegut. But Drew called me Small Newman, so people on set called me Small.