Unlikely Former Stripper-Blogger Goes Big Time: Diablo Cody Pens 'Juno' at Hollywood.com

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Unlikely Former Stripper-Blogger Goes Big Time: Diablo Cody Pens 'Juno'

By Lisa Collins, Hollywood.com Staff

Diablo Cody

Blogger. Stripper. 'Anthropologist'. Writer.

An avid diarist and former sex industry worker, Diablo Cody is not your average screenwriter, by far. While she has always loved writing, the Chicago-bred writer has traversed the gamut in a resume that stands out in Hollywood, while every move she's made appears to be precisely about its philosophy--namely exhibitionism and entertainment--albeit for her catharsis. Isn't that what the biz is all about anyway?

From peep show girl to phone-sex operator, the bold middle-class-raised Cody inhabited an array of characters with her penchant for sporting multiple wigs--more 'material' for her already percolating imagination.

Whether 'working' the pole or the pen, the 'feminist' identified-Cody and her provocative, anecdotal tales kept her faithful audience coming back for more. And from her Juno collaborators, Ellen Page and director Jason Reitman, there's no question as to how treasured her unique voice remains.

While offering that her sex industry jobs now seem part of her distant past, Cody's writing muscle is clearly in top form, having penned a remarkably witty and nuanced tale with Juno--a story about a curiously clever teen who faces hard decisions, when she discovers she's pregnant with her best friend's baby. The film has garnered much attention of late, placing revved-up Diablo Cody at the top of many writers-in-demand lists.

Juno

The fluttery, alterna-gal Cody anchored down to talk a little old shop meets new shop.

Hollywood.com: You’ve written a novel, Candy Girl, which stemmed from your well-known blog, Pussy Ranch. Can you talk about now writing screenplays in addition to the other two mediums?
Diablo Cody: I never wanted to write a screenplay! To me, writing is this wonderful and indulgent activity where you just fill the page with words; a screenplay just looks like a little skeleton.

HW: It’s very mechanical…
DC: Yeah!!! It’s very mechanical. I love films. I never wanted to write a screenplay and it wasn’t until I was encouraged to do so by my manager. He had initially contacted me via email after reading my blog. He said, "Hey. I read your blog everyday. You should try writing a movie." I said, "I really don’t want to write a movie. [Offering] I have a book I’ve been working on." He said, "Alright!" He got my book published lickedy split and I thought, "Man. This guy means business." He kind of kept dangling this carrot in front of me like, "You write a movie … you won’t have to go back to work. You won’t have to go back to work." [Incredulously] I hate working so I said, "Alright! I’ll give it a try?" So I wrote Juno.

HW: How long did it take?
DC: A couple of months. I didn’t know any better. Like, now I realize I can take my time and I can nurse the script for six months if I want to. At the time I didn’t know people did that. [Laughs at herself] I thought, "Ehh. The movie is two hours long. How long can it take to write?"

HW: When you see the film, is it the vision you had when writing it?
DC: It’s better! Jason Reitman is a better writer than I am, and a master at establishing tone and amazing director. He took what I believe to have been this raw, quivering mass of material and shaped it into something that people are really enjoying.

Michael Cera
HW: What do you think of the casting of Michael Cera?
DC: It’s perfect. Michael Cera--the instant he was cast, any anxiety I had went out the window because I thought, "If Michael Cera’s in it, it’s gonna be a good movie." I just think he chooses great material, so I was flattered.

HW: Did the script change a lot along the process?
DC: No, I feel like I was so lucky in this regard. There wasn’t a massive development process. There was never a formal re-write from the beginning which was really weird. I feel like a lot of the editing was in post-production to be honest. I was on set, which I know is rare for a writer, so I was extremely lucky. Jason [Reitman] is a very collaborative person.

HW: What was involved in the choice of Juno's location?
DC: Probably ignorance or xenophobia because I grew up in the Midwest and that’s all I know. If I had written a movie about New York it’d be like [imitating a lame voice], "Those buildings are tall." You know what I mean? It would’ve been really corny. I tried setting a movie in Los Angeles and I ended up having to modify it to Michigan.

Ellen Page
HW: Comparing Ellen Page’s performance to the character you wrote, where did she surprise you?
DC: Ahhh. You know? She’s so awesome. I can’t even imagine what it might like to inhabit such a relaxed body. Just little physical moments like when she meets the attorney and gives her the little, crazy handshake…that’s straight up Ellen. Certain lines that I always imagined being very distinct sort of ran together and sounded like actual human beings talking versus some nerd sitting at her computer [writing a screenplay.] I think the dialogue I wrote had potential to be too … snappy? If someone had given it a sitcom delivery it could’ve been really gross. Ellen just nailed it.

HW: Why did you choose teenage pregnancy as the central topic in your first film?
DC: That’s a tough one. I think it was the less the pregnancy that appealed to me then the idea of this interaction between this very outspoken unusual teenage girl and then these two kind of conventional antiseptic yuppies. I liked the idea..."What if they were trying to adopt her baby?" The entire movie sprang from that image.

Jason Bateman
HW: Can you talk about the idea of the film as a meditation on maturity?
DC: It’s just me exercising personal demons which I think every script, every novel, is a form of catharsis for its author. I have a lot of issues with maturity, personally. I really relate to the character of Mark [Jason Bateman]. I like that character more than anybody. Everybody hates him. You know he’s like the villain of the film, and I think he’s awesome. I don’t think some of the decisions he makes are awesome, but his band "opened for The Melvins!" And he has all of his stuff crammed in this little room. My heart goes out to him.

HW: The production design and those great locations really enhanced the film.
DC: The production design is incredible and for me that was one of the most intense aspects of the entire experience. I had written it in a certain way and you always assume your little vision, as pretentious as that sounds, will be exclusive to your own experience. Then to see how faithfully they kind of recreated the landscape of my adolescence was kind of creepy and cool--Juno’s bedroom especially. The first time I saw her bedroom, I just cried. I cried a lot.

HW: Do you see yourself acting or directing?
DC: I want to direct but I should never act.

Allison Janney
HW: What was it like seeing your characters brought to life by this cast?
DC: Here’s the thing having never written a screenplay, or even a play, never being in that scenario at all…to me it would’ve been cool just to see four Summer Stock amateurs reading the movie ... so, to see Allison Janney or Ellen Page ... To hear those people reading my dialogue was pretty, pretty, pretty incredible. I remember thinking, "They’re making such mistakes in their careers." I can’t believe they think this is good?

HW: Does it make you worry that people might say that this is an anti-abortion movie?
DC: That does worry me in fact. People are entitled to love the movie for whatever reason they want to love it. I just want it to be loved. I’m pro-choice so for people perceive the movie as right wing propaganda would be a little weird.

Ellen Page and Jennifer Garner
HW: Did you cry when you saw the film?
DC: Yeah, it was actually a really dark day. You’d think it’d be very uplifting and cool. My parents were visiting me in L.A. So I brought my mom and dad...to the editing suite. Jason [Reitman] gave us a box of Kleenex just in case--smart, because my mom sobbed from beginning to end. Then afterwards, it had been SO weird watching the movie, we all started fighting. We fought for the rest of the day ... I think we were just having some nervous breakdown because we couldn’t believe what we had just seen

[Crumpled with laughter, Cody can barely get the last bit out as she finishes the story].

HW: Have you ever read a screenwriting book?
DC: No, no I’ve never read a screenwriting book. [Coyly smiles] And now I’m really superstitious about it too!

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