Diablo Cody
Diablo Cody
Brook Busey-Maurio, better known by the pen name Diablo Cody, is an American screenwriter, producer, director, author, journalist, memoirist, stripper and exotic dancer. She first became known for her candid chronicling of her year as a stripper in her "The Pussy Ranch" blog and in her memoir Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper. Later, Cody achieved critical acclaim for her debut script Juno, winning awards such as the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, the...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionScreenwriter
Date of Birth14 June 1978
CityLemont, IL
CountryUnited States of America
For me, writing essays, prose and fiction is a great way to be self-indulgent.
I usually try not to think about actors while writing, because the odds of those stars aligning and you getting those specific people are so rare.
I always say when you write a book, you're a 'one-man band.' Whereas, when you finish a screenplay, it's just a sketch.
I can't write at night. For me, I'm programmed to believe that nighttime is for relaxation.
I've come to find more satisfaction and enjoyment in writing screenplays over the years because that's what I do primarily now.
I had gone to the bookstore, and while I hadn't bought any books on how to write a screenplay, I'd bought a couple of scripts so I could see how the formatting works. I just needed to know how a Hollywood screenplay looked on the page, which was something I was totally unfamiliar with.
I write small and weird. Romcoms are not in my skill set.
I actually have two children now, and sometimes I wonder if that's it. Because they do make writing and directing more complicated and more difficult, especially now that they're very young.
The stuff I write isn't strictly autobiographical, but it's personal, if that makes any sense. It draws all these little incidents and people out of my life and then contorts them.
If this whole writing thing doesn't work out, I'll be getting right back on the pole.
The things that I write are autobiographical in a surreal sense, like when you have a dream and you go to the doctor's office, but then you turn around and it's actually your childhood home and the doctor has turned into Ryan Reynolds.
The fact is, when I wrote 'Juno' - and I think this is part of its charm and appeal - I didn't know how to write a movie. And I also had no idea it was going to get made!
That's also why comedy and horror are my two favorite genres of film to write, because you get these outbursts of emotion from people, laughter and shock, and it's really thrilling, and I like to be thrilled.
I don't know if I have some kind of defiance disorder or something, but if I'm hired to write something by "The Man," or by a studio, for whatever reason, it's really hard for me to finish. I inevitably wind up using that time to write something else.