50 Fun Facts About Juno

Who wrote the screenplay for Juno?

It began as a writing sample to prove she could adapt her stripping memoir Candy Girl, and won her the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.

Who directed Juno?

His only previous feature, Thank You for Smoking, had not yet been released, which made it hard for him to land the script.

In which Minnesota town is Juno set?

The Lorings live in Saint Cloud; the film was actually shot in and around Vancouver.

What is Juno's surname?

Her father Mac and stepmother Bren are played by J. K. Simmons and Allison Janney.

Who plays Paulie Bleeker, the father of Juno's baby?

Cera was one of the actors Reitman had in mind from the start and was part of the original screen test.

Where does Juno find the adoptive couple?

Her friend Leah helps her look; the couple turn out to be Mark and Vanessa Loring.

Who plays Vanessa Loring, the prospective adoptive mother?

Garner took a lower salary than usual to keep the film within its $6.5 million budget, and recommended Jason Bateman for Mark.

What does Mark Loring do for a living?

His rock-band past is confined to a single room of memorabilia that Vanessa has allotted him.

Juno and Mark bond over a shared taste in which two things?

The pair disagree about 'Superstar': she prefers the Carpenters' original, he prefers Sonic Youth's cover.

Where do Juno and Leah run into Vanessa and see her happily interacting with children?

Juno then invites Vanessa to talk to the baby, which kicks for her.

What does Mark confide to Juno shortly before her due date?

He also admits an attraction to Juno, and when Vanessa comes home, that he does not feel ready to be a father.

What does the note Juno leaves on the Lorings' porch say?

Vanessa later frames the note on the wall of the nursery.

Why does Juno deliberately not tell Paulie she has gone into labour?

He notices she is missing from the stands, works it out and runs to the hospital.

Which song do Juno and Paulie sing together on the porch in the final scene?

The Moldy Peaches' Kimya Dawson visited the set while Page and Cera were practising it.

Which cast member of The Office plays Rollo, the convenience store clerk?

The DVD's gag take includes a profanity-laden blow-up by Wilson.

Olivia Thirlby, who plays Leah, had originally auditioned unsuccessfully to play whom?

Reitman still had her in mind from the start and included her in the group screen test.

Reitman cast the film's lead after admiring the actor's performance in which 2005 thriller?

Reitman said he pictured Page as Juno on his first read and went to a film set to offer the part in person.

Handed Reitman's script with no role specified, J. K. Simmons said he would have happily played whom?

Simmons had just worked with Reitman on Thank You for Smoking and got Mac MacGuff instead.

Which DJ and producer has a cameo as Juno and Paulie's chemistry teacher?

Lucas McFadden was doing scoring work for Reitman when he got the script.

The screenplay was written over seven weeks in what unlikely spot?

The Target was in Crystal, Minnesota; she compared writing the script to breathing.

What was the title of Cody's memoir, which producer Mason Novick wanted her to adapt before she wrote Juno?

The book grew out of her blog about a year working as a stripper.

Which detail from Cody's own teenage life made it into the film?

She also dated a tic-tac-loving boy like Paulie and had a cheerleader best friend like Leah.

Which actor's production company, Mr. Mudd, took on Juno after major studios were scared off?

The project then went to Mandate Pictures, and Fox Searchlight released it.

Where was Juno filmed, standing in for Minnesota?

Reitman insists the choice was his rather than a budget dodge; Eric Hamber Secondary played Dancing Elk High.

The crew planned to import snow for the winter scenes. What happened instead?

The schedule was rearranged to shoot during the snowfall, giving much wider snow shots than planned.

How many days of actual shooting did Juno's six-week schedule allow?

Fake leaves, touched-up cherry blossom and a leaf-blowing fan created the seasons that mirror Juno's three trimesters.

Whose idea was it to use The Moldy Peaches' music in the film?

Page played the songs on Reitman's computer; Kimya Dawson then sent him CDs of about 120 songs.

Roughly how many songs did Kimya Dawson send Reitman on CD after reading the script?

None was written for the film; all had been recorded before she was contacted.

Which children's songwriter's 'All I Want Is You' plays over the opening titles?

Reitman found it after hours of searching iTunes with random words; the titles were then cut to fit the song.

Which Kinks song introduces Paulie Bleeker?

Reitman had associated the song with a character from another of his scripts and found it heartbreaking to give it up.

Juno's opening title sequence shows a rotoscoped Juno walking through town drinking what?

Page was photographed on a treadmill from many angles; 900 stills were run through a Xerox until they looked hand-drawn.

Reitman first conceived Juno as a fan of which genre before deciding on punk?

He rejected it as inauthentic and gave her the Runaways, Patti Smith and the Stooges instead.

The score's distinctive acoustic guitar sound came from a second-hand instrument nicknamed what?

Composer Mateo Messina liked the guitar for being tinny and not quite in tune, 'like Juno'.

Whose baby is actually seen on Juno's ultrasound monitor?

The footage of Scott Sanders's son Matthew was composited in during post-production.

Whose suggestion was it that Juno wear flannel shirts and sweater-vests?

Costume designer Monique Prudhomme was nominated for a Costume Designers Guild award for the film.

Juno premiered in September 2007 at which event, where it received a standing ovation?

Roger Ebert said he could not remember an ovation so long, loud and warm.

Juno opened in limited release on December 5, 2007, in how many theatres?

It averaged $60,016 per screen that weekend and made back its budget in twenty days.

What did Fox Searchlight send to journalists and critics to entice them to review the film?

Knock-offs soon appeared on eBay, where sales of the phone rose 759 percent in the month after release.

Which Academy Award did Juno win?

It was also nominated for Picture, Director and Actress; Page was the sixth-youngest Best Actress nominee ever.

Roughly how much did Juno gross worldwide on a budget of about $6.5m?

It was the highest-grossing of the five Best Picture nominees at the 80th Oscars and Fox Searchlight's first $100 million film.

The Juno soundtrack was the first to top the album chart since which 2006 soundtrack?

It was also Fox Searchlight's first No. 1 soundtrack.

Juno was often grouped by critics with which two other 2007 films about unplanned pregnancy?

A. O. Scott argued the film's real message was not anti-abortion but 'pro-adulthood'.

Where was Juno first shown to an audience, a week before its Toronto premiere?

The September 1, 2007 preview was well received; the Toronto standing ovation followed on September 8.

Which Los Angeles design house spent 7-8 months creating Juno's rotoscoped opening titles?

Reitman had met co-founder Gareth Smith at a short-film festival in Japan; the studio also made his Thank You for Smoking titles.

Time magazine coined the 'Juno Effect' in 2008 after a pregnancy spike at a high school in which state?

Seventeen students under 16 at Gloucester High School became pregnant; Jason Bateman publicly defended the film.

Where did the Writers Guild rank Juno's screenplay in its 2021 list of the 21st century's greatest?

The list was compiled by members of WGA West and WGA East.

How many days did it take Juno to earn back its $6.5 million budget?

It managed that with only the final day in wide release, after averaging $60,016 per screen at seven theatres on opening weekend.

Jennifer Garner recommended Jason Bateman for Juno after working with him on which 2007 film?

Bateman was the last cast member confirmed; Garner herself took a lower salary to keep the film on budget.

Why was Juno ruled ineligible for the Genie Awards despite Reitman's protests about its origins?

Genie rules define a Canadian film as one financed at least partly by Canadian sources; the studio also never submitted it.

Page suggested a Cat Power cover of which song, which Reitman hesitated over because a 1989 film had used it?

Reitman decided including it would put a 'new take' on the film's cinematic references.