'Jennifer's Body' writer Diablo Cody

There are very few writers in Hollywood who command name recognition. Perhaps the newest person to join their ranks is Juno scribe Diablo Cody, who has since gone on to helm the excellent TV show United States of Tara and pen the recently released horror-comedy film Jennifer's Body. Herein we talk about Bust magazine, being on Showtime, and the beauty of Heathers. Enjoy; it's a treat!

Hi, Diablo. How are you?
Oh, I’m good! I’m so excited to be talking to you.

Oh, this is great! You are?
Yeah, I think this is super cool.

Awesome. First of all, I’m thrilled that you’re psyched to speak with me, and I also wanted to say how thrilled I was when I found out you were on the cover of that recent issue of Bust.
[laughs] Thanks! Yeah, I was excited about that too. I’ve been reading Bust for so long; I had a subscription in college, and I was like, “I can’t believe I’m going to be on the cover.” I was so psyched. It’s good to have my interview sandwiched between, like, the erotica and the knitting instructions.

[laughs] I noticed your interviewer for that was somebody who writes with you on United States of Tara, so I imagine that was cool.
It was pretty cool! The funny thing about that is it was an entire coincidence: Jill [Soloway] had contributed to Bust before and they called her and said, “Do you want to interview Diablo Cody?” and she was like, “You mean Diablo who I work with?” And they were like, “What?” They didn’t even know that we work together and share an office.

[laughs] That’s awesome.
It was really strange, yeah! It was a happy accident.

So I know the second season of United States of Tara is coming up in January; what sorts of changes are there going to be in tone, in storyline…?
You know, I’m so glad you’re asking this, because actually I’m so incredibly excited about the way the show has grown and developed in the second season. We’re all happy with the first season and we’re all thrilled with Toni [Collette]’s Emmy nomination, but we wanted to really… to really kick things up a notch this season. And I thought last season the family was really isolated. They stayed in their house a lot; they didn’t really interact a lot with other people, which was necessary at the time, but I wanted to see—how does somebody with [Dissociative Identity Disorder] function in society? What are her outside relationships like? Do her alters have outside relationships? And also all the while Tara is pursuing radical new therapy; she’s on a new medication; she’s trying to suppress the alters, which may cause them to resurface in unpredictable ways… we’re dealing with Marshall’s sexuality, Kate’s sort of transition out of the house and into adulthood, and it’s just—it’s thrilling. I am more satisfied with the second season of Tara than with anything else I have ever written. I am so happy with it.

The way you’re describing it is kind of like how, with Sims 2, you’ve got the families all established in their houses and then Sims 3 takes them out into the neighborhood.
Yeah!

I’ll… be honest. I don’t have Showtime, so I watch the show online, and—
[laughs] You know what, the fact that you watched it at all I admire! [laughs]

I don’t like watching TV online, but I make an exception for you. So you should feel very, very flattered.
Yeah, I certainly do.

And I’ve really loved it, especially the character of Marshall. I think it’s really nice that there’s a show with a gay character that addresses it but doesn’t make a big deal out of the fact that he is gay. I mean, it’s not as if coming-out arcs don’t reflect what people really go through, but it’s interesting to find different ways of having a gay character and falling back on that.
Right. And that was in part how—we felt like the family was dealing with enough that we don’t think they would really be that razzed over their son being gay. [laughs] And, you know, we wanted to show them as a progressive, loving, supportive family. In season two I didn’t want to approach his sexuality in, as you said, this clichéd way where it’s a stupid big deal; at the same we did realize, as a teenage boy being gay in Kansas, he’s going to have some questions about… he’s going to start having relationships, and we have done some of that. Stay tuned!

Yes. It’s just nice to see that the confusion isn’t coming from the family for once.
Thank you for noting that. I appreciate it!

Speaking as a viewer, I appreciate that there’s a show like that in general! By the way, what were some of the influences in terms of tone or atmosphere or writing for this show?
It’s kind of a challenge because Tara is a half-hour show. Which… means it’s a comedy, pretty much. At the same time, it’s obviously not like a multi-camera sitcom where it’s a laugh riot. You know, it’s about a woman with a very real mental disorder. So… honestly, there weren’t a lot of textbooks for us. We always joke that we’re making the first traum-com. Traumatic comedy.

That’s good. I like that.
[laughs] So, honestly, I wish I could have plopped down with some other shows and gleaned some inspiration but it was a challenge. I think probably Weeds is our closest cousin… but, yeah, I think we struggled with tone more than anything on the show.

It’s good that you’re on Showtime, too, because networks like Showtime and HBO seem to give even more play room than other networks—I mean, out of necessity, but still.
Oh, you have no idea. We are so lucky to be on Showtime; it’s wonderful.

And you’ve got great company, too; there are some fantastic shows on Showtime—that I unfortunately don’t get to watch, but… [laughs] maybe someday.
Someday. Yes. Someday you will be a Showtime subscriber.

Yep. Counting down the…
[laughs]

I’ve got a non sequitur: did you ever watch Daria while it was on the air? Because you seem like you would have—
Yes, oh my god, I love Daria! I watched Daria religiously.

Are you psyched it’s coming out on DVD in 2010?
I’m extremely excited. Weren’t they having issues with the music rights and things? I even looked this up because I love Daria so much.

That’s what I thought it was because I… don’t know what else it could possibly be. But I’m so excited. I’ve been watching bootlegged episodes on YouTube for years.
[laughs] Yeah. I’m totally a fan of that show. I was in love with Trent.

Ah! I was so sad he and Daria never got together. I didn’t like Tom that much.
Yeah, I know. I think everybody feels that way.

What are some other TV shows that you like?
Oh, man. Well… here’s the thing, and it’s really shameful, but I really like reality television. I know that it’s bad and I know that it’s mindless. It’s a very nice way for me to relax my brain… and I also have this thing where I tend to really avoid scripted television because I’m afraid of being influenced. And it also makes me so incredibly insecure. [laughs] There are so many incredibly brilliant people out there working in TV right now! I think if I sat down and watched True Blood I would probably get a complex because I’ve heard it’s awesome.

It is awesome! It is awesome.
Yeah? Maybe I should just bite the bullet and go ahead and watch it.

Just give in.
I know! I mean, I’m telling you, I’m such a wiener. I constantly feel inadequate. Let’s see, what have I watched lately?

Look, there’s so much vampire-related stuff out right now that if you don’t watch True Blood you might have to make up for it by watching Twilight and nobody really wants that.
You know what’s so strange? I know Jennifer’s Body is not about vampires or anything, but it’s so odd to me that there’s this huge surge of interest in bloodsucking and all that stuff because, I don’t know, we just kind of fell into the record somehow.

And can I just say—I know, I know, I’m late to the game—but I just watched Heathers for the first time several weeks ago.
Isn’t that just the most wonderful movie ever?

It’s phenomenal! And I have such a crush on Jason Dean now, by the way.
Everybody does. Honestly, it’s so disappointing that he blew up at the end because… it’s such a… it’s such a waste.

I know, right? But while I was watching the film it occurred to me that it was probably a major influence on Jennifer’s Body.
Well, Heathers has been a major influence on my life. Heathers influenced Juno; Heathers influenced my wanting to be a writer; it’s influenced everything I do. Heathers influenced what I ate for breakfast today. [laughter] Which was not a brain tumor like the line in the movie. But—yeah. And talk about a movie that would really be able to walk the line between hilarious and horrific—it was masterful.

Yeah, it’s fantastic. And do you know—the when the international poster for Jennifer’s Body came out, with the title written across it like with lipstick or crayon or something, the first thing that came to my mind was “Oh! That looks kind of like the cover of Heathers! I bet everybody behind the film totally loves that!”
Oh, you want to know something? I actually haven’t seen the international posters! [laughs] I can’t wait to see it. I can’t wait to see it, and I wish I’d had a personal hand in art direction—I swear to god, the funny thing about doing this big studio movie is there’s so much happening all around me that I can’t even process all of it. Like I haven’t even seen all the marketing materials. I hear about commercials; I haven’t seen them. It’s funny that this is all being rolled out and I’m just like— “…Okay.”

You’re like, “Wait. Wai-wait—wait. The trailer premiered before which movie? Wait, there are posters where?”
Yeah! It’s like, I’m over here writing Tara, which is what I do every day, and meanwhile this Jennifer’s Body machine has come out. It’s pretty funny.

Well, the international poster looks like the poster of a future cult classic. It’s awesome.
Oh, I’m so excited. That’ll be the one that I get for my house. [laughter]

Do you have one of Juno up in your house too?
I don’t have one up in my house. I do have one in my house but it’s rolled up somewhere. I have something else from Juno up on my wall that’s sufficient. I have a record plaque of the soundtrack. It makes me feel like I’m on Cribs.

[laughs] And in case you aren’t up to date on the trailers, either, there are two: one is more focused on the horror and one plays up the comedy.
I’ve seen that. I prefer the funny one.

I saw both of them around the same time and the horror one looked interesting but I got the sense there was enough comedy in the movie that it might be a little misleading.
Absolutely. It’s not a straight horror movie. I’m okay if people think that because that generally means there’s an audience… [laughs] I’m fine with misleading the public!

[laughs]
But it is not a straight horror movie. It is not a Final Destination.

Yeah. It seems like a campier, more intimate kind of…
Campy and intimate are the perfect words to describe it and I want people to know that it’s the crux of the movie. The director Karyn Kusama and I both love camp and there are moments that—I hope people recognize that tone.

It’s an entirely different film from Juno but I’ve heard some of the dialogue and it’s still got a similar style even though it completely jumps genres.
Yeah, it’s kind of… it’s weird because in focus audiences half the audience says “Oh, this reminds me of Juno,” while the other half says “This was nothing like Juno! I was shocked.” So I really don’t know which it is.

What made you decide to go write a horror film after writing Juno and then working on Tara? I mean, it’s a complete departure, it seems like.
You know, I wrote Jennifer’s Body right after Juno. A few years ago. And it’s just… I love horror movies and I had finished Juno and I thought, “Alright… well, that was my first screenplay; I finished it… now I guess I can write screenplays!” [laughter] “What do I want to do?” And I wanted to do a horror film more than anything.

Are there other things that you kind of want to branch out and try or do you think you’ll stick to the fields you’ve already sort of dipped your feet into?
I wouldn’t mind writing, like, an intimate family drama. You know, I love dysfunctional families, and I adore The Royal Tenenbaums and all those kinds of movies. And I would definitely like to write another horror movie—maybe even something more hardcore.

Maybe even something super-low-budget, with bad special effects on purpose and dialogue so corny it has to be heard to be believed? Something like that?
[laughs] I think I would enjoy that, yeah. But other than that I think I’m probably going to stay in the black comedy area for the most part.

Jennifer's Body is currently in theatres.