This year marks the 10 year anniversary of Diablo Cody winning the best original screenplay for “Juno,” but there is one thing she would change about her breakout script if she had the chance. Speaking to The Guardian in promotion of her latest project “Tully,” which reunites Cody with “Juno” director Jason Reitman, the screenwriter admitted she could’ve been more overt and specific about the titular character’s stance on abortion.
“[I wouldn’t have changed anything] in terms of the pregnancy, no,” Cody said. “But I don’t feel I was clear enough in terms of why Juno chose to not have an abortion. It was simply because she did not want to. It was not about any type of feeling that abortion was wrong – I’m pro-choice. So for it to be interpreted as an anti-choice movie, that’s upsetting to me.”
“Juno” received critical and commercial success, plus four Oscar nominations, but it did find itself in the middle of the abortion debate between pro-life and pro-choice advocates. Cody said the anti-choice backlash to “Juno” became so loud and unavoidable that it somewhat affected her career and led to her decision to become “more private.”
“It hasn’t affected my writing,” she said. “But it’s certainly affected the way that I talk to people about the projects. I’ve become very boring because I want to protect myself and my children. I would like to just keep a low profile and continue to work, and I’ve had to really stay under the radar in order to accomplish that.”
The Cody-scripted “Tully” is now playing theaters courtesy of Focus Features. Head over to The Guardian to read Cody’s profile in its entirety.
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