What happened to Olivia Thirlby? All about the actress Elliot Page claimed he had sex with ‘all the time’ while filming their hit comedy Juno

Elliot Page claimed he had sex ‘all the time’ with his Juno costar Olivia Thirlby in his new memoir Pageboy.

Thirlby appeared in the film as Leah, the best friend of the title character who stood by her after she got pregnant while in high school. DailyMail.com has contacted the actress’ representatives for comment.

Although the 36-year-old performer appeared in lead and supporting roles in numerous films in the late 2000s and 2010s, her career has slowed down in recent years.

Thirlby hasn’t appeared in a feature film since 2019, though she may be poised for a career revival 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 back in the spotlight. 

In the ensemble: Thirlby had a supporting role in the film as the best friend of the title character, who helped Page’s character through a high school pregnancy; seen together in 2008

Thirlby, who was born in New York City, was poised for a career in acting after attending performing arts programs.

She and her family were even committed enough to send her to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.

She took part in a stage combat course at the school while attending for a Shakespeare summer course.

Thirlby had an auspicious start in 2006 when she made her feature 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, though it was the only one of the group that didn’t make it to its intended target after passengers revolted. 

The movie was directed by The Bourne Supremacy’s Paul Greengrass, and it received rapturous reviews and two Academy Award nominations.

She subsequently appeared in the 2007 film Snow Angels and appeared in multiple episodes of the TV series kidnapped before scoring her breakout role in Juno.

The dramedy, which also starred Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman and Allison Janney, was a massive commercial success. It grossed around $232 million against a paltry $6–7 million budget. 

The film earned four Oscar nominations, including for her costar Elliot Page, and it won a single Oscar for screenwriter Diablo Cody.

Slow start: The hit film helped elevate Thirlby’s profile, but aside from a few lead roles, she continued to have supporting parts in small movies and independent productions; seen in The Wackness (2008)

Strong start: Thirlby’s feature debut was in the acclaimed United 93. One of her best-reviewed TV appearances was for HBO’s Bored To Death; pictured in Being Flynn (2012)

It’s on that film that Page — who presented as a woman at the time — claims his relationship with Thirlby began.

The Inception actor wrote that he was instantly attracted to Thirlby after meeting her on set.

‘I was taken aback the moment I saw Olivia Thirlby. She seemed so much older, capable, and centered,’ he recalled. ‘Sexually open, far removed from where I was at the time. But the chemistry was palpable, it pulled me in.’

Page claimed that it was Thirlby who made the first move by confessing that she was ‘really attracted’ to him, which led to the two ‘sucking face.’

‘It was on,’ he continued. ‘I had an all-encompassing desire for her, she made me want in a way that was new, hopeful.’

Page even wrote that Thirlby was allegedly the first person to give him an orgasm. 

In 2011, Thirlby would reveal that she was bisexual in an interview with Brooklyn Magazine. 

Although Juno rocked Page to stardom, it didn’t have a similar effect for Thirlby, even though she had a significant role in the film.

Acclaimed: Some of the best reviews of her 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 the boom microphone operator; pictured together in an anniversary post

Same business: He has continued to work in the industry as a boom operator and sound man

In the years after the 2007 film, she mostly continued to appear in small films and independent movies, most of which received poor-to-middling reviews.

She also continued to have supporting roles in many of the films, though her filmography is peppered with some lead performances.

Thirlby would go on to be a recurring character on 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 her 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 in the acclaimed science fiction comic book adaptation Dredd.

Dredd didn’t just garner 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 the boom microphone operator.

He has continued to work in the industry as a boom operator and sound man. 

Back at it? Thirlby is poised for a career revival when she appears in Christopher Nolan’s highly anticipated film Oppenheimer 

In good company: Her role hasn’t been revealed yet, but the film features an incredible ensemble cast with Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon, Gary Oldman, Rami Malek and many others; seen in January 2020

Olivia appeared with Kate Mara — whom Page also claimed to have had a relationship with — in 2017’s Chappaquiddick, about the death Mary Jo Kopechne after the late senator Ted Kennedy crashed the car they were driving into a tidal pool after driving off a bridge.

But the films mostly seemed to get smaller after that point. Thirlby’s last was in the swiftly canceled Y: The Last Man, but she hasn’t appeared in a feature since 2019.

But that’s about to change, as she has three films in post-production, along with a short film, according to the Internet Movie Database.

Thirlby will join the ensemble cast of Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon, Gary Oldman, Rami Malek and many others in Nolan’s highly anticipated film Oppenheimer, about the architect of the atomic bomb, though her character has not yet been revealed.