“Juno” Writer Diablo Cody on 'Superhuman' Elliot Page: 'Love to See Him Living His Truth' (Exclusive)
"I love Elliot," the Oscar-winning screenwriter tells PEOPLE
Diablo Cody is delighted to see Juno star Elliot Page thriving.
The Lisa Frankenstein screenwriter, 45, won an Oscar for the 2007 teen-pregnancy comedy Juno, which starred Page, now 36, plus J.K. Simmons, Jason Bateman, Allison Janey, Michael Cera and Jennifer Garner.
In her acceptance speech, Cody gave shout-outs to the cast and crew, specifically calling Page a "superhuman." Not much has changed in Cody's eyes.
"I love Elliot. I haven't talked to him in a while, but he's still a superhuman in many ways," she says.
The actor came out as transgender in December 2020. Says Cody of witnessing Page's journey over the years, "I just love to see him living his truth and being happy and looking gorgeous."
Last year, Page, who is author of the bestselling memoir Pageboy, told PEOPLE he feels an "ease" now like never before: "It definitely feels a way that I never thought I would get to feel, and that mostly manifests in how present I feel, the ease I feel and the ability to exist."
"There’s been periods in my life where I really felt like I didn’t," he continued at the time. "So often it’s a lot more in the quiet moments. I think we talk about 'trans joy' and euphoria. So much of it is in the stillness. To have my shoulders back. I just was always kind of shut off, anxious. I used to never feel like my skin was my own."
Page earned an acting nomination for Juno, and the film was also nominated for Best Director and Best Picture.
Cody says her Oscar win for Best Original Screenplay that year "definitely changed my life, and it's still a cool fact to have on your Wikipedia page."
Related: Jennifer Garner Shows Support to Juno Costar Elliot Page: 'Huge Love to You'
"But I always say in this business, people are always on to the next. So you get to be the prom queen for the year, and then it's like, 'All right. What else you got?' You can't coast on it forever, unfortunately."
She doesn't remember much about her speech, though. "It's funny because I've actually never watched that speech. I would die if I saw it, because it's so embarrassing. Whenever people reference it, I'm like, 'Oh, did I say that?' Because I was on another planet. That was so scary."
Related: Diablo Cody Teases a Jennifer's Body Reboot or Sequel: 'I Think Something Will Happen' (Exclusive)
Since Juno, Cody, also a Tony Award winner, has written movies like Jennifer's Body, Young Adult and Tully. With her latest, the 1980s-set teen horror-comedy Lisa Frankenstiein, she goes back to high school to mine for material.
"Writing about teenagers is just the best because you have all these heightened emotions to play with, the impulsivity, the lack of the fully formed prefrontal cortex that factors into decision-making. I just think teenagers, it's like they're still kids, so it's a fun world that I seem to just be drawn to."
Lisa Frankenstein is in theaters Friday.
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Read the original article on People.