Screenwriter Diablo Cody
Clad in a leopard print coat, cell phone in hand, Diablo Cody sits down with us on the Vancouver set of Jennifer's Body to share the details on her new horror comedy. Her eyes, though, are glued to her phone. "I just got the best text message ever…Yes! I'm not pregnant!" she jokes. An avid tweeter (with more than 93,000 followers), Cody's quick to provide the news to her fans, supplying them with another dose of her witty, acerbic view on life and pop culture.
That same voice prevails in Jennifer's Body (done very much in the vein of horror flicks of old), which stars Megan Fox as a demon-possessed high schooler feeding on teenage boys. It's an eccentric way to follow up her Best Screenplay for Juno, but Cody says she's always wanted to write a horror movie (she'd also like to try her hand at directing, and is game to write her own graphic novel). Here's more from Cody on a variety of topics, including the female psyche, who she considers the "monster" in the film, and the female writers she admires.
Q. How did you come up with the idea for this movie?
Cody: I was just sitting at home in Minnesota -- this was a couple years ago -- thinking, "What would actually scare me, what would frighten me?" And all I could think of were girls. Teenage boys are pretty harmless. Teenage women are terrifying. They can be really frightening, really ruthless, and irrational and evil. It's a territory that's been mined before in Heathers and Mean Girls; this is certainly not a new idea, but I just wanted to take it to another level.
Q. Why do you think women have a demonic edge?
Cody: I would blame it on hormonal fluctuations for sure. The fact that society pits women against each other forces us to be in competition. I think all your emotions are heightened when you're a teenager, so romantic relationships have a tendency to get really crazy and dramatic. It creates an atmosphere of terror and intimidation.
Q. What's the relationship between Jennifer (Megan Fox) and Needy (Amanda Seyfried)?
Cody: Megan's a bully, she's clearly the hottest girl in school and she has an entitlement complex. She and Needy have had this kind of S & M dynamic in their friendship ever since childhood. Needy is almost like our Nancy Drew. She's nerdy, very anxious, a good girl, and she's very intimidated by Jennifer. They're the kind of girls that would never ordinarily be friends, but they've had this friendship since childhood, and it's sort of turned toxic in that they can't tear themselves away.
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Q. Is Jennifer's man-eating metaphorical?
Cody: Definitely. Every time I say this people look at me like I'm insane, but I think if you've ever been in love or infatuated with somebody, you feel like you actually wanna eat them. It's not enough for them to exist outside of you; you want them to be a part of you. I think sex is a form of consumption, and to write that stuff was very fulfilling.
Q. How much of the supernatural elements are there?
Cody: I would say it gets creepy about 20 minutes in. It's definitely not the kind of movie that's out to give you that big scare in 10 minutes. It's more of a slow burn à la Carrie. It's good that I have people to pull me back because, oh man, I think in earlier drafts it was a lot gorier. I can't resist a little purging scene; they have the vomit hose.
Q. How are you trying to reorient the horror genre for women?
Cody: I think women have always been revered in the horror cannon in a way that they're not in other genres. They often come out ahead – "last girl"; however, I think even in horror, women don't get the best lines. The one thing that I wanted to do differently is put interesting things in women's mouths. Every time I say that, it sounds dirty. [Room laughs]
Q. Tell us about your cameo in the movie.
Cody: I'm the bartender with no lines. I've taken pity on everyone and not given myself any lines. Maybe they're gonna light me on fire. For real, I've asked. There might be an insurance issue, but I really wanna burn. It's actually a dream of mine.
Q. What's the message of sexuality you're trying to send through the main characters?
Cody: Usually in a movie like this, Jennifer would be sexual and Needy would not be. Needy is not viewed sexualized in this movie at all, but she has a sex life. Nerds f***. People forget about this in movies. I think Jennifer gets herself in trouble by being shallow, more so than sexual. So I didn't wanna make another movie where people get punished for being sexual.
Q. Did you feel pressured to deliver your brand of writing after winning an Oscar for Juno?
Cody: No. It's actually a great relief because most of my peers are trying to build to that, and I'm like, "Ah, I got that out of the way." It is still very bizarre to me to be rewarded on that scale. Juno -- people forget -- is my first screenplay. It's full of mistakes, in my opinion; clearly the work of a really overexcited, manic person who never had the opportunity to write before. It's easy to write fake Diablo funny dialogue [laughs] but I don't wanna be that easy to pin down. If I had to decide between being branded and being thought of as very erratic, I would probably prefer the latter.
Q. Who are some of your favorite female writers?
Cody: Tina Fey. She's doing it big-time, mogul style. For a woman to be doing that is super cool. And female screenwriters -- it's said that there aren't enough of us. Elaine May. You know who's awesome? I'm not trying to be a huge nerd, but I have so much respect for J.K. Rowling because I always think about her when she was writing the first book, and people asking her what she was doing. She was probably like, "I'm writing a book about a boy wizard and I'm on Page 700." [Laughs] You're constantly having to explain yourself to people, and they're always laughing at you.
Q. What is it about writing that you enjoy so much?
Cody: I enjoy it the same way kids enjoy playing with dolls. It's fun to imagine, to make things up, especially when you get to see them enacted on such a grand scale.
More From the Jennifer's Body Set:
Jennifer's Body Set Visit
Set Visit Interview with Jennifer's Body Producer Jason Reitman
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