47 Fun Facts About Juno

Who wrote the screenplay for Juno?

Diablo Cody was a Minneapolis blogger and alt-weekly columnist when Mason Novick, later her manager, read her writing online and urged her to try a film script; Juno was her first.

Who plays Mark Loring, the husband in the couple hoping to adopt Juno's baby?

Jason Bateman plays Mark Loring, and the film hides an in-joke on his desk: in one scene Mark's computer screen shows the real-life blog of the film's own screenwriter.

What does Juno shout to her father at the moment her waters break?

"Thundercats are go!" is how Juno announces her labour; at the hospital she then demands "that Spinal Tap thing", and Bren has to explain that it is called a spinal block.

What is Juno's surname?

MacGuff is a gift to the store clerk, who greets Juno with "If it isn't MacGuff the Crime Dog!" when she comes back for her third pregnancy test of the day.

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

Michael Cera plays Paulie Bleeker, who meets Juno's declaration that he is cool without even trying by admitting that he actually tries really hard.

Where does Juno find the adoptive couple?

In the ads in the Pennysaver is Leah's idea: Juno scoffs that shopping for parents there is tacky, then finds Mark and Vanessa's listing in its pages.

Who plays Vanessa Loring, the prospective adoptive mother?

Jennifer Garner took a cut in her usual pay to play Vanessa Loring so the film could stay within its small budget. "Some things you do purely for the heart," she said.

What does Mark Loring do for a living?

Mark Loring composes commercial jingles and works mostly from home, which is how Juno finds him alone when she drops by with her ultrasound picture.

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

Punk rock and horror films keep Juno coming back to the Lorings' house, where Mark makes her mix CDs and puts on his favourite gore movie for her.

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

At the mall, Juno and Leah spot Vanessa happily playing with a small child; Juno then lets Vanessa feel the baby, which kicks for her.

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

Mark tells Juno he plans to leave Vanessa and move out on his own; when Vanessa comes home he admits he never felt ready to be a father.

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

Juno's note reads 'Vanessa: If you're still in, I'm still in', and the closing scenes show it framed on the nursery wall as Vanessa holds the baby.

Why does Juno keep the news that she has gone into labour from Paulie?

He has a track meet that day, so Juno keeps quiet; Paulie notices her missing from the stands, works it out and runs to the hospital.

Which song do Juno and Paulie sing together in the film's final scene?

"Anyone Else but You" ends the film in summer, months after the birth: Juno is back to being an ordinary teenager, strumming a guitar with the boy she now calls the best boyfriend ever.

Which cast member of The Office plays Rollo, the clerk who sells Juno her pregnancy tests?

Rainn Wilson, Dwight on The Office, plays Rollo, who watches Juno shake her test stick in the hope of a new result and tells her: "That ain't no Etch A Sketch."

Which actor auditioned for the title role in Juno before being cast as the heroine's best friend, Leah?

Olivia Thirlby later said she was glad to have missed out on the lead: after watching her co-star cope with sudden acclaim, she felt she "would crumble under that".

Juno's director cast Elliot Page after admiring the actor's performance in which 2005 thriller?

Hard Candy had so impressed the director that he pictured its star the first time he read the script; he offered the part in person on another film's set and says he never considered another actor.

Which actor, handed Juno's script with no part named, said he would happily have played the teacher with no lines?

J. K. Simmons was always meant to play Mac, Juno's father, but the director kept that to himself when he handed over the script, leaving him to hope for any part at all.

Juno's script was largely written at a café table inside which chain store in suburban Minnesota?

Target, in the suburb of Crystal: the writer would commandeer the café table nearest the power outlet with a pumpkin latte, and wander off to look at shoes when the words dried up.

What is the title of the memoir Juno's screenwriter published about her year working in strip clubs?

Candy Girl came first: the producer who had landed her that book deal then asked for a sample script to show the studios, and the sample turned out to be Juno.

Which novelty item, like one the screenwriter owned as a teenager, does Juno use to phone the clinic?

A hamburger phone is also how the secret first gets out: Juno rings her best friend on it to say she is pregnant, and it takes some convincing before she is believed.

Which actor co-founded Mr. Mudd, one of the production companies behind Juno?

John Malkovich and his two partners named Mr. Mudd after a convicted murderer who had worked as his driver during a film shoot in Thailand.

Where was Juno filmed, standing in for Minnesota?

Vancouver, British Columbia, even supplied the weather: the crew was budgeting to import snow when a rare March snowfall arrived, and the winter scenes were shot in the real thing.

On which piece of furniture do Juno and Paulie conceive their baby?

An armchair bookends the story: Juno's narration begins "It started with a chair", and she breaks the news to Paulie while sitting in one planted on his front lawn.

Who first suggested the Moldy Peaches for Juno's soundtrack?

Its lead actor, Elliot Page, named the band and played their songs on the director's computer; the director fell for them and built much of the soundtrack around songs by one of the duo.

Which singer-songwriter's back catalogue supplied much of the Juno soundtrack?

Kimya Dawson's band had been on hiatus for almost four years when her ramshackle songs suddenly made her the main act on the number one album in America.

Which children's song by Barry Louis Polisar plays over Juno's animated opening titles?

"All I Want Is You" is a quaint children's ditty, and that is the joke: it plays while Juno strolls to the store for the pregnancy test that is about to upend her life.

Which Kinks song features on the Juno soundtrack?

"A Well Respected Man" came out of a seaside holiday on which a wealthy hotel guest recognised Ray Davies and pressed him to play golf; he took offence and wrote the satire.

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

SunnyD is fuel for a mission: Juno gulps it down on the walk to the store so that she can manage her third pregnancy test of the day.

Juno tells Mark that her father named her after the wife of which god?

Zeus is the god she names, adding that he had other lovers but only one wife; strictly she has mixed her myths, since Juno is the Roman name for the goddess the Greeks called Hera.

Who tells off the ultrasound technician for sneering at teenage mothers during Juno's scan?

Her stepmother, Bren, rounds on the technician while Juno and Leah look on approvingly; the scene came from a friend of the screenwriter who was treated that way when pregnant in high school.

Which detail from protesting classmate Su-Chin stays with Juno as she walks into the abortion clinic?

The baby has fingernails, Su-Chin calls after her; Juno repeats the word, goes in anyway, and bolts from the waiting room a few minutes later.

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

Toronto Film Festival had launched the director once before: two years earlier his first feature, Thank You for Smoking, screened there and left two studios publicly fighting over the right to release it.

Juno opened in December 2007 in seven theatres, split between Los Angeles and which other city?

New York and Los Angeles had the film to themselves at first: Minnesota, where the story is set and its writer lived, had to wait nine more days for it.

Which sweet does Paulie Bleeker eat constantly?

Paulie Bleeker is hooked on orange Tic Tacs; near the end Juno pours boxes of them into his mailbox as a peace offering.

Which Academy Award did Juno win?

Best Original Screenplay went to a first-time screenwriter whose script had started life as a mere writing sample; it was the film's only win from four nominations.

Juno was the first release from which distributor to gross more than $100 million in North America?

Fox Searchlight opened Juno in just seven theatres, yet it outran the label's previous champions, Sideways and Little Miss Sunshine, to become its first $100 million hit.

Juno's was the first soundtrack from a Best Picture nominee to top the Billboard 200 since which film's?

Titanic's soundtrack was the last to manage it; the songs at the heart of Juno's were not even written for the film, but chosen from ones their singer had already written.

Critics grouped Juno with Knocked Up and which other 2007 comedy about an unplanned pregnancy?

Waitress made it three: one Guardian columnist called the trio "a hat-trick of American comedies" in which abortion was treated as unreasonable or even unthinkable.

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

Telluride Film Festival gave the makers their first sight of a crowd watching it; the writer recalls riding a mountain gondola with the director afterwards, both grinning and sure they had something special.

Juno's hand-made opening titles got their rough look when each printed frame was run twice through which machine?

A photocopier, twice, to degrade each frame; the two designers then coloured every one in pencil and cut it out with scissors, throwing "cutting parties" for friends to get through the pile.

Time reported in 2008 that some blamed Juno for a pregnancy spike at Gloucester High School in which state?

Massachusetts: pregnancies at the fishing-port school had more than quadrupled in a year, and the principal said a group of the girls had made a pact to get pregnant together.

What is the name of Juno's little half-sister?

Liberty Bell is still small enough to be bundled along for everything: when Juno goes into labour, her father and stepmother pile into the family van with the little girl and race to the hospital.

What kind of adoption does Juno insist on when she first meets the Lorings?

A closed adoption, although she is offered regular updates: Juno would rather "kick it old school" and send the baby over like Moses in the reeds, which Mark calls kicking it Old Testament.

What does Juno chew on as she tells Paulie that she is pregnant?

A pipe is her prop for the big announcement: Paulie, stunned, can only ask what they should do, and she tells him she means to nip it in the bud.

Which animals does Bren long to own but go without because of Juno's allergy?

Dogs are the sacrifice Bren throws back at Juno in a row: Juno is allergic to their saliva, and Bren vows that once she has moved out she is getting Weimaraners.

Which song does Cat Power cover on the Juno soundtrack?

"Sea of Love" was written by Phil Phillips while he was working as a hotel bellhop in Louisiana, as a way to win over a girl he was trying to impress.