Diablo Cody – Interview with the Screenwriter & Producer of Jennifer's Body
Diablo Cody – Interview with the Screenwriter & Producer of Jennifer's Body
The most famous scripter since Joe Eszterhas unleashes her inner Prom Queen.
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Jennifer’s Body Set Visit from 2008, Staci Layne Wilson reporting
Q: When you started screenwriting, or rather when you [as you say] were pushed into screenwriting… you had no plans to become a screenwriter, right?
Diablo Cody: It wasn't an idea that had occurred to me, no.
Q: How is it now that you suddenly have all these ideas?
Cody: I think I always had the ideas. I just never considered that medium. I always wanted to be a writer. I just never really thought to write movies because to me that was wildly unrealistic. You see how much effort goes into making a film. I've never been known for my ambition or work ethic, so it wasn't something I ever thought I could do.
Q: Everybody was telling us how they were inspired by the warm and great horror films of the 80s. I'd like to ask what are some of the worst horror films that have inspired you?
Cody: I would never say such a thing because I feel that bad horror movies are edifying in their own way. Tough question. I guess I don't really consider any of them bad. It's hard for me to objectively say what's bad and what's tacky. Horror is sort of inherently tacky. It's a garish genre which is why I love it because I'm a garish individual. You know what? Some of those later A Nightmare on Elm Street movies felt pretty bizarre. At that point, Freddy was really just like a character. He had stopped being a shadowy-boogey man and had become this like stand-up comedian. You rooted for him. It kind of squished the perspective. So, yeah, those were corny, but they were really cool. Those were my favorite movies when I was little.
Q: If Jennifer's Body was paired up underneath a certain promo, what would it be?
Cody: Oh, my God! That is such a good question. I would say: Virgin Suicides; Suspiria; Creep Show; Carrie; Just One of the Guys.
Q: After writing this script, do you in your mind see this as akin to certain horror films, and now having seen a lot of it shot, are you thinking, "Oh, now it might be more like this type of horror movie?"
Cody: Yeah. Actually, when I first wrote it, I had intended for it to be gorier and little more exploitative and a little more lurid. The thing is, there are such talented people involved outside of myself that I think it's become a little more atmospheric and a little creepier and maybe even a little more high-brow, which is cool. Rosemary's Baby, also one of my favorite movies, that is really the definition of this sort of classy horror movie.
Q: What was happening in your life when you wrote it, and where did you write it?
Cody: I wrote this probably in the same year I wrote Juno. Juno had not been made yet. It was probably 2006. A couple years ago, when I was still living in Minnesota. It must have been quite a long time ago, yeah because I still had a day job at the time… maybe. Sorry, I'm trying to think about it. What happened was I had written Juno, and I had written a couple more screenplays that summer because I had been hired to do so off Juno, and it was really exciting. It wasn't really satisfying. I thought, "What do I really want to write that's not some idea that's being fed to me by a studio?" I thought, "I want to write a horror movie, cause that's a genre I've always been passionate about." Then I thought to myself that I want to write something that legitimately frightens me. I don't just want to write something that I think is commercial, and I don't want to write something that's familiar. I want to write something that I would actually be frightened by. That was the challenge, and I thought, alright, "What's scary?" Teenage girls. Scary. So I thought about the most terrifying, aggressive female bullies that I had known in my life; the ones that just made my blood run cold when I was younger. I started to imagine them as literal monsters, and that's when I started writing. It turned out to be really inspiring cause this was an easy one to write.
Q: Really?
Cody: Yeah, I was. It was, oh man, it was an opportunity for me to tap into a lot of my own emotions and think about the things that have given me reasons to be anxious of a woman, and just the hunger that society imposes on young girls, sometimes literally. I think of those things as horrific, and I wanted to write that into a horror movie.
Q: Is it at all a reaction? You being a horror fan, you go with the tides. Is this at all a reaction to some of the horror movies you're seeing today?
Cody: I think of it as being a cousin to that stuff, but completely different. I'm not dissatisfied with the stuff that I've seen in recent years. Some of it, I think, is visually dissatisfying. I think a lot of the movies have started to really copy each other visually, and I'm getting tired of that aesthetic, so I'm happy with how sort of rich and warm this film looks. I think there's actually been a lot of really smart social commentary in recent articles, so I'm happy with it.
Q: And what is this film looking like?
Cody: You know, I wrote a lot of colors specifically into the script like Needy has this really gross magenta prom dress that she wears because I love those rich pinks, magenta, bright red. David Mullen shoots the most beautiful night stuff. It's really sort-of enchanted-forest creepy. I really like it. Karyn brings up fairytales a lot as a visual reference, and I hope we're getting that look.
Q: Were you bullied as a teenager, and if so, are there any secret references to the girls who bullied you?
Cody: I wasn't bullied as a teenager, but I sort-of separated myself from those kinds of girls. They weren't really my posy. I remember the competition between girls. I remember this one girl in particular who actually seemed like she might be willing to like tear flesh in order to get what she wanted. Yeah, young girls – society pits them against each other, I think. Obviously, things aren't going to always end well.
Q: When did you become a big fan of horror? Do you remember the first horror film you saw?
Cody: I think the first horror movie I ever saw was Poltergeist, and my mom had allowed us to rent it on VHS because it was PG, I think, which is crazy. It's really terrifying and gory. That guy rips his face off. That would not get a PG now. So my brother and I watched this "family film" that my mom had rented for us, and we were completely transfixed and terrified. I still think about that movie. I'm still mad that the opening credit sequence with the sign-off on the television with the National Anthem, I'm still mad Tobe Hooper did that first because I love it so much!
Q: Jennifer's Body sounds like it's a teen movie yet it's rated R. What will adults like about the film, do you think?
Cody: I think good story telling can pop up anywhere. Sometimes you even go to see a movie targeted at children that's satisfying because it has a good story. I think if you're interested in story and [if] you're interested in dialog and [if] you're interested in social commentary, [then] those are all things that are in the movie. I hope it has things that excite teenagers, to be honest. I hope they're not bored. I think this is an important film for teenage girls to see because as I've said before, I feel that they're underrepresented in cinema, so if they can go and see themselves as heroes and villains, that's good.
Q: What's it like being back in Vancouver with your Juno team after all the success?
Cody: It's awesome! It's so fun. I think maybe we might have had that discussion early on when we were in pre-production here. I think Jason and I had a discussion about how strange it was to be back a year later. The last time we were here we had no idea what was going to happen. We had no idea that the movie was going to be the success that it was. It honestly feels like we never left because this year has been so exhausting and so sort-of lightening fast that it's almost like we had a mini hiatus that involved all kinds of surreal and bizarre shit, and now we're here again. It's cool. It's nice. We had such a good group last year, and it's such a good group this year. Now we had a short hand, and we love Vancouver, and it's just been nice.
Q: What's been the biggest change in the past year?
Cody: I live in Los Angeles now. Like me, personally, you're asking?
Q: You personally.
Cody: Personally, I would say moving to L.A. was a big change. When we shot Juno, I was still living in Minnesota. And other than that, I guess I'm pretty much in the same place.
Q: A lot of people when they pick up their Oscar don't remember that moment.
Cody: I don't remember that at all. Which is strange because I actually have a fairly keen memory, and I'm usually pretty good at that stuff. I never really believed people who they said they couldn't remember a specific moment in time especially if it was a major moment, but I do not remember it.
Q: After seeing it, were you surprised by how emotional your reaction was?
Cody: I haven't watched it.
Q: Really? You've never seen it?
Q: Do you want us to reenact it?
Cody: No. I don't look at that stuff.
Q: Off the subject for a second, have you heard Summertime?
Cody: What?
Q: The new New Kids on the Block song?
Cody: Oh! Yeah. I've heard the song about how I want to take your picture when I pop your ass or whatever. They have two singles.
Q: Oh, I haven't heard that one.
Cody: They have one that's creepy that's about photography that's like a metaphor, like I want to snap a picture of your butt or something. It's really scary. I have heard that one. I have not heard Summertime.
Q: Summertime is not that.
Cody: Is it good? For a second I thought you were referring to the Will Smith song, and yes I've heard that.
Q: No!
Q: I thought she was talking about the Scarlett Johansson song.
Cody: Oh, is Scarlett Johansson doing a song?
Q: Yeah, it's called Summertime or something like that. I got about three chords into it and that was that.
Cody: I haven't listened to that Scarlett Johansson CD.
Q: Are you going to go watch the New Kids when they come to Hollywood?
Cody: I love the New Kids so much. I feel like a traitor now that I haven't heard this Summertime song.
Q: USAToday.com. They have it.
Cody: Oh, my God.
Q: Are you a Great White fan, too, because it sounds like the bar fire is inspired by it?
Cody: It's evocative of that, isn't it? I wouldn't say it's inspired by [it], but what a horrifying thing. Not even necessarily that tragedy, but when you think about any scenario where people are trapped, and the impulse to escape is what actually winds up killing people, that's terrifying. Just the idea of being trampled.
Q: How does that play out in the movie, though, because they said they were going to shoot that today, but now they're not.
Cody: They're not going to shoot it? It's not good. It does not play out well. There is no happy ending to the fire in the bar.
Q: Any concerns at all when the church floor collapsed at a concert here recently?
Cody: When did that happen? I wasn't here.
Q: About three weeks ago.
Cody: That's terrible.
Q: It was during a Christian music concert.
Cody: Where was it? In Vancouver?
Q: Yeah, just south of Vancouver.
Cody: No, I did not hear about that. That's horrible.
Q: They're kind of reintroducing the concept of rock and horror going hand in hand kind of like Black Roses.
Cody: Yeah, they just talked about Black Roses.
Q: Oh, did they really?
Cody: Yeah, I love that you brought that up.
Q: You're kind of reintroducing it. Can you talk about that element?
Cody: You know what? Here's the thing. I'm glad that people see that as reintroducing a classic element to the canon, that's great. To be honest, I actually thought it would just be hilarious to take a band that seemed super-wussy and super like mom-friendly and uplifting and poppy and then have them be secretly satanic assholes, pretty much.
Q: Can you talk about the band itself because they were originally, I guess, called Soft Shoulder?
Cody: Yeah, we couldn't clear the name. I think there is a Soft Shoulder.
Q: Can you talk about the name? The lyrics that we heard in there, I mean, were you just trying to find the lamest lyric?
Cody: I wrote those lyrics.
[Laughter]
Q: I'm sorry!
Cody: That was my intent. I wanted to think what was the cheesiest pop-40 power ballad that you can imagine just taking FM radio by storm one summer? Then just imagine if it had a really dark origin. The band represents greed and ambition and desperation and their willingness to stop at nothing to get famous.
Q: Your next film is supposedly a sex comedy.
Cody: Yeah.
Q: When this finishes, do you feel like you will have exercised your urge to make a horror film?
Cody: No. I want to make many more.
Q: And you've talked before about how you like to direct. Can you see one of your first directorial debuts being horror?
Cody: Yes. I think ideally it would be. I think ideally it would be a horror movie. I don't know. I have to learn to direct.
Q: With so many things on your plate right now, has your writing process changed at all cause I know one time in the past you talked about Dan Brown and how he was a machine?
Cody: I'm still obsessed with Dan Brown and his hour glass. Dan Brown, apparently, I'm obsessed with this and it could be erroneous, but I'm pretty sure that Dan Brown, the DaVinci Code guy, gets up at five in the morning, writes for six hours, then sets a timer for 30 minutes and does push-ups, then goes back to writing. I swear to God, it's like military precision, and I was saying that it was the opposite of my process. My writing process has suffered, I will be honest. When you start producing, when you start working on multiple things at once, you don't get as much done. I don't think I appreciated the free time as much as I used to. I was actually at my most productive when I had a day job because I would get home and really treasure the spare time that I had to write, and now it's like I have so many opportunities to write, I never know which ones to seize. I don't really get as much done. I really feel like a jerk. I'm really not happy lately with my output.
Q: There was a period in the late 90s/early 2000s where it was a lot of teen horror/urban legend movies. What can you say to those horror fans who are worried it's going to be a Scream movie?
Cody: I would say this is a horror movie, and not to sound completely pretentious, but this is a horror movie made by filmmakers. It's made by people who genuinely care about films. Karyn Kusama is a total horror geek. I'm a horror geek. The producers are into this stuff. This was not a mercenary effort to make something that seemed like it fit some kind of profile. We wanted to make a horror movie and we are extremely respectful of the great films that have come before us, and I think people will see that in the finished product.
Q: Can you tell us a little bit about the casting? The leads – are they how you imagined them in your head when you were writing them?
Cody: I tend to not be super visual when it comes to imaging the characters. I think it's because I haven't been writing movies very long, so I never picture specific actors. I tend to go at it like a short story where I'm actually imaging the person in my mind as like a distinct entity.
Q: I'm sorry, what?
Cody: Like I'm making them up. Like I'm imaging my own people.
Q: Are the people that they cast the people you imagined?
Cody: Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. Megan is perfect. Megan is absolutely Jennifer the way I've always imagined her, and Amanda, in a way I think she's created Needy. I always imagined Needy as being very anxious and nervous and submissive, but then Amanda comes in and she brings this incredibly loveable quality to the character because she's such a loveable person. You root for her. That's important.
Q: You made a comment earlier about your work ethic and how it's lacking.
Cody: Yeah, it sucks.
Q: But it seems to me that you were just churning it out and producing.
Cody: I don't think you can ever do enough when you have the opportunity, though. When you're in a moment where you can actually write things and have them get made, you cannot do enough. I wish I could write a script every week. I really do.
Q: How long does it take to write scripts? Is there an average time?
Cody: It used to take me a couple months, and now lately it's taking me six, seven, eight [months]. I have one that I've been working on for ten months that's unacceptable. For me, it's unacceptable.
Q: Is the EW writing cutting in?
Cody: No. Entertainment Weekly, you're talking about? No, that's fun.
Q: What's the best part of the filmmaking process that you've experienced?
Cody: You know, it's like school. As an adult, you don't really get a lot of chances to educate yourself, so for me, to be learning something completely new; to be learning about lenses; to be learning about blocking and everything is really exciting. It sounds nerdy, but it's true. I have to say, though, I'm very pampered. I've been on two good sets. I've heard that if you're on a shitty set, it's not so much fun making a movie. I've heard it can be hell. In this case, it's just been like a wonderful, almost like AB camp. It's fun. I really like it.
Q: What's it like being an Hollywood insider now?
Cody: The coolest thing about being in the Hollywood bubble is getting to meet people you admire, and you admire their movies and you can actually talk to them. They read your scripts. You read theirs. There is nothing better than that. That is better than any award; better than any amount of money you make for a script. The coolest thing for me is being able to interact with people who are heroes to me.
Q: You just did a commentary on Spaced. Did you know Spaced before you knew Edgar Wright?
Cody: I knew of it, and then the more I hung out with Edgar, the more it became apparent that if I did not watch Spaced he was not going to be my friend anymore. I was like, alright, "I'll throw you a bone." Then I watched it and I was like, "This is my favorite show ever made."
Q: Which episode did you pick for your commentary?
Cody: We picked the two episodes that focus on Colin the dog. Colin being dog-napped because Colin is my favorite character on Spaced, and then there was a different Colin-based episode that I came in on.
Q: So you're a dog specialist?
Cody: I am, yes, yes. That's what I took away from Spaced.
Q: Speaking of TV, the series that you've been working on, can you tell us about the status of that and your future plans or aspirations regarding TV? Would you rather stick to filmmaking?
Cody: Working in TV is amazing, especially as a writer. The pace is really inspiring because you have to be creating constantly. I like that, and I like the fact that I can write something and see it on television two weeks later. That's cool, but it is completely different. I mean, when it comes down to it, writing features is probably my top priority. I'm very excited to be working on the series. To be honest, working at Showtime is almost like producing short films. It's not like writing for a network. It's fun.
Q: You're a rarity in terms of being a screenwriter who is a celebrity.
Cody: I hate it.
Q: What is it like? You can't go under the radar the way most do.
Cody: I'm working on it, though. I think I will be able to go under the radar soon. I think people are finally getting completely indifferent to me.
Q: I don't think so.
Cody: I really hope so.
Q: What do you hate about it?
Cody: When you're a writer, you're generally an introvert, and you're generally a person who doesn't want to be calling a lot of attention to yourself especially your outward appearance because you're just more of an inward person. You're more of a cerebral person. You just want to write and you just want to have conversations and you just want to go to the movies. You do not want to be in US Weekly talking about how you're a fashion disaster… which I am. I was born that way. I'm not an actor. Why is this even a topic of conversation? I don't know.
Q: Any ideas for a sequel to Jennifer's Body?
Cody: Wouldn't that be awesome? I've thought about it a little. I like sequels. I like sequels especially when they're done well. It's like, wow, that's a coup.
Q: What's your favorite sequel?
Cody: Oh, man! A horror sequel?
Q: Yeah.
Cody: Do number threes count cause Nightmare on Elm Street 3 is actually one of my favorite horror movies EVER!
Q: You said you're not happy with the pace of your output. What about the quality?
Cody: I'm happy with the quality. I think the quality also gets compromised when you're working on many things at once. I feel like I'm a dude with mistresses sometimes. I can't give anyone my full attention. I would like to focus on that one special girl sometime.
Q: Do you feel you're at that point where… a lot of writers have a number of scripts out there and there comes a time when you can't give your attention to just one and raise that baby. You'll have to get someone else and let get on with it. You've been lucky enough to spend time with this one film.
Cody: I have been lucky. I have been lucky. I guess that could happen. I'm not precious about my writing. I'm really not. Let's say I got re-written. It happens to everybody. I wouldn't freak out. It hasn't happened to me yet, but it could happen. Maybe they'll find someone better, and it would make me look good. You have to think of it that way. That's why I love it when actors adlib, and it works. It's like I can take credit for that.
Q: Can you talk about the films that you're going to be programming at the New Beverly Theater?
Cody: Yeah! I love that you're asking me that. To me, the night that I keep hyping because I'm so excited about it is Little Shop of Horrors, the '86 version, and Labyrinth because it's going to be like a big puppet thing. I'm going to do Nightmare on Elm Street 3 with Fright Night. I'm going to do…have you guys seen Midnight Madness? I'm doing Midnight Madness with White Hot American Summer. I cannot think of the entire lineup now. I'm going to try and get those and do a little Ivan and Jason double-bill. I'm really, really, really, really excited about it.
Q: Speaking of events, any chance you might show up at San Diego's Comic Con?
Cody: Yeah, I think there's a chance. Yeah, I do. I don't know what I'm allowed to say about it, but yeah.
Q: Was it important to you that your next project that was made was different from Juno; that you didn't get type-cast?
Cody: At the time that I wrote this, there were rumblings that Juno could get made, but it still hadn't occurred to me that that was going to happen. So that was definitely not something that I was conscious about while I was writing it which was nice. I still was in the phase where I didn't have to be conscious of that. Now I'm conscious of it all the time.
Q: Music plays a huge part in Juno. When you're going through the writing process, what kind of tunes are you spinning?
Cody: I haven't thought about it yet. I always feel like that is a director-decision, so we'll see what Karyn comes up with.
Q: Can you write with music?
Cody: No, no, no, no. I can't have anything. I wish I could. I always try to do that because it seems like the hip thing to do, like I'm going to put this CD on and it's going to inspire me, and then like 30 seconds later, I'm like, "Shut up! I'm thinking." I can't deal with it.
Q: Do you think you'll get around to writing a novel?
Cody: I would love to write a novel.
Q: Do you have an idea that is ready to go as a novel?
Cody: Yeah, I do have an idea. That was my original aspiration as a kid was to be a novelist. Maybe someday.
Q: What about comic books?
Cody: I want to do that. Yup.
Q: Are you a fan of comics?
Cody: I used to be much bigger. I used to be like the ultimate. I read fucking Star Jammers. I read every title even like really corny ones. I don't as much anymore which is kind of a bummer.
Q: What do you read right now?
Cody: Alright, I'm going to think about this. What could I say that would make me sound really intelligent?
Q: The truth.
Cody: Cormac McCarthy's The Road is riveting.
Q: So sad.
Cody: I haven't actually read it. [laughs] People keep telling me it's good. I'm sorry. To be honest, I feel absolutely terrible saying this because I'm a voracious reader, I have been writing so much in the last few months that I have not been reading like I should.
Q: Can you not write and read at the same time? Some people just put the reading away while they're writing.
Cody: Sometimes I even put movies away while I'm writing which is difficult for me because I love movies so much. I really try to get into an isolated space where I'm not absorbing any influences.
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