So what kind of pressure did you feel, post-Juno, to write something good?
None.

I don’t believe you.
Seriously. How could I possibly? The experience that I had with Juno is something I could never replicate, ever. First of all, you never have your first baby again. Second, the whole production was really charmed from start to finish. I mean, every moment of it was special. And then it culminated in Oscar nominations.

And a win.
And a win for moi. It doesn’t get any better than that. I’m so fortunate that I got to have that experience. Now I almost feel this great calm coming over me. I’d be feeling a lot more pressure if I was still striving for that goal.

So clearly, next step: horror film. I would presume that you are a big fan of the genre?
Absolutely.

Was it always your dream to write a killer-cheerleader movie?
First of all, she’s not a cheerleader. She’s on the flag team.

What’s a flag team?
It’s like the drill team. They come out with their flags and twirl them and synchronize with the marching band.

Got it.
It’s a little cornier than cheerleading.

Did you have this idea before you wrote Juno?
This started as a short story that I was working on, pre-Juno, back when I had aspirations of being a real writer. I don’t know if you’ve written a lot of short stories, but it’s a pain in the ass.

I’ve heard this. So you had the flag-team-girl idea waiting?
Honestly, I’d been sitting on a lot of stuff. I was the typical frustrated writer.

And now everything’s been sold.
Ha. Not all of it. I just finished a new screenplay three weeks ago.

Can you tell me what it’s about?
Nope. But I will tell you that it is dramatic.

So not a horror film?
No. Well, it depends how horrific you find single women.

Is there a role in it for Megan Fox?
I have to be perfectly honest: I don’t think so. Megan Fox is incredibly talented and charismatic, but you need to write a very specific role for her. Preferably a demon. Or the most beautiful girl in the world.

Or the most beautiful demon in the world.
She can play a friend fatale or, you know, Shia LaBeouf’s companion. But honestly, I can’t even look at the girl. She’s so gorgeous, it’s unnatural.

Were you already a fan of director Karyn Kusama when you brought her on board for Jennifer’s Body?
She’s so fucking cool. It wasn’t like we set out to have a female director. But she pulled out this scrapbook of visual references for the film. Ten minutes later, I was like, “You have to direct the movie.” Aesthetically, she was one of the first people to understand that we wanted it to have the rich, saturated, colorful look of a ’70s horror movie, not that modern, antiseptic, metallic thing everyone’s doing.

That Day-Glo look.
Yeah. We wanted it to look like Carrie.

Is directing in your future too?
It’s weird to me that people think directing logically follows screenwriting. I don’t even know if I have chops to write, much less direct.

You don’t have to tell anybody that.
I know. I’ve been given the opportunity to direct more than once.

And?
And I’ve said no.

I guess it’s easier to sit around in your pajamas and write.
[Laughs] He says to the woman who is literally in her pajamas. I’m also really sorry that I dropped the word moi earlier. That was superobnoxious of me!

Read our review of Jennifer’s Body.

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