Critics and fans alike are buzzing about Juno, a hit movie about the trials and tribulations of a smart-mouthed pregnant teenager. Breakout star Elliot Page plays the 16-year-old title character, whose razor-sharp sarcasm masks a lovable vulnerability.
Juno's dad and stepmother, played by J.K. Simmons and Allison Janney, are a quirky pair who show unconditional love to Juno in her time of crisis. After weighing her options, Juno decides to give up the baby for adoption.
The search for adoptive parents leads Juno to a suburban wife—played by Jennifer Garner—desperate for a baby. Jason Bateman plays the potential daddy-to-be, a 30-something man who still holds out hope of becoming a rock star.
Director Jason Reitman, who earned accolades for the award-winning film Thank You For Smoking, brings first-time screenwriter Diablo Cody's delightfully witty script to life. With hilarious one-liners, biting wit and a whole lot of heart, Juno is the hit of the season.
"It's really special," Oprah says. "It's the movie to see this year, and it's so fresh."
As the film's title character and star, Elliot's performance has been called brilliant and Oscar® worthy. Film critic Roger Ebert says, "Has there been a better performance this year than Elliot Page's creation of Juno? I don't think so."
Elliot a 20-year-old Canadian actor, says he fell madly in love with Diablo Cody's script the first time he read it. "[I thought], 'I have to do this,'" he says.
Despite his skyrocket to fame, Elliot remains humble about his success. "I'm sitting next to Oprah right now on a couch," he says. "I'm just so grateful to be in the film in the first place. ... It's a huge gift."
With all of the acclaim Juno is receiving, Elliot's performance has generated Oscar® buzz—but Elliot is concentrating on his work.
"I'm first and foremost an actor, because I love to act. I'm obviously not an actor for [awards]," he says. "Of course it's extremely exciting, and it represents that, wow, maybe I'll get to be in a couple more movies."
Elliot says the recognition has also given him a sense of choice, allowing him to choose roles he is really passionate about. "And that, [to] an actor at any age, is a massive gift."
Like her co-star Elliot, Jennifer Garner has been receiving rave reviews for her performance as an uptight suburban wife who desperately wants a child. Did Jennifer have a hint that Juno would be such a breakout success? "You just never know," she says.
Jennifer says there was an ease to filming that made Juno something special. "Sometimes everything is a struggle, and you're always trying to find what is going to make a scene work or how to communicate with the other actors," she says. "But this was never hard. It never seemed like work at all."
Every time she watches Juno, Jennifer says she cries. "I cry at different points," she says. Jennifer tells Elliot about one particular scene that always gets to her. "I cry when you're giving birth because it just seems like a little girl shouldn't be going through that," she says. "And you play it with such vulnerability, and it kills me!"
As for her personal life, Jennifer says things with husband Ben Affleck and 2-year-old daughter Violet are going great. In 2007, Ben made his directorial debut with the film Gone Baby Gone. "He directed a great movie," Oprah says. Jennifer couldn't agree more! "Wasn't it beautiful?"
In Juno Jennifer's character is obsessed with decorating the nursery. Oprah wants to know, did Jennifer have the same problem preparing for Violet? "I did a horrible job picking the nursery," she says. "I picked stuff that had no storage and immediately, you know, had a baby and all this stuff came in and I said, 'I need drawers. I need counters. I need things—places to put things!"
The witty dialogue in Juno was written by first-time screenwriter Diablo Cody. Just six months before this talented writer sat down to write the film, Diablo says she was working as a stripper in Minnesota. "It's a bad idea because it's very cold there. You have to wear a lot of layers," Diablo jokes. "I don't recommend it. Writing movies is way better."
Although she says it wasn't her intention, stripping inspired Diablo to write a memoir about her experience. Soon enough, she was contacted by a producer. "He had read some of my writing on the Internet, and he said, 'I think you're funny, you're kind of cool, you should try writing a screenplay,'" she says. Without formal training, Diablo wrote Juno in just a couple months. "I felt like I had the skeleton of something that could be special," she says. "But then it takes amazing actors like these [Elliot Page and Jennifer Garner] to come in."
Diablo's mother, Pam, and father, Greg, say they are thrilled at her success—and are happy she has changed careers! "In the end, we're all a product of some of our experiences, and maybe without those experiences she wouldn't be where she is today," Greg says.
Diablo says Juno is based somewhat on herself, like the hamburger phone in Juno's room. When Pam first saw the phone, she says it made her cry. "[Diablo] had a hamburger phone at home, and I used to see her on it all the time, and she used to shake it because it wouldn't work properly," Pam says.
Oprah says she thinks Juno is the movie to see this year. "How did you get it to be so fresh?" she asks. "I don't know," Diablo says. "I guess, you know, when you're coming from the middle of the country and you're not part of the industry and you're just telling your own story, I think it's easy to be more original."
