Ellen Page has announced that she is gay on Friday, stunning many of her fans.

The 26 year old Hollywood actress, who is best known for her part in Juno, spoke to guests at a Time to Thrive conference, where she said, "I'm here today because I am gay. And because maybe I can make a difference. To help others have an easier and more hopeful time. Regardless, for me, I feel a personal obligation and a social responsibility."

She added, "It's weird because here I am, an actress, representing "” at least in some sense "” an industry that places crushing standards on all of us. Not just young people, but everyone. Standards of beauty. Of a good life. Of success. Standards that, I hate to admit, have affected me."

Page continued, "You have ideas planted in your head, thoughts you never had before, that tell you how you have to act, how you have to dress and who you have to be. I have been trying to push back, to be authentic, to follow my heart, but it can be hard."

Page has won more than 25 awards, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress, a Golden Globe Award, and a BAFTA for critically acclaimed film Juno.

As well as Juno, the Canadian actress has also starred in other notable films such as Smart People (2008), Whip It (2009), Inception (2010), Katherine "Kitty" Pryde in X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), as well as providing the voice acting, motion capture and likeness for Jodie Holmes in the video game Beyond: Two Souls (2013).

Here is the video of her speech at the Time to Thrive conference: