Juno's Ellen Page & Michael Cera

Canadians Ellen Page and Michael Cera are only 20 and 19 and they are soft-spoken, even shy young actors who've garnered rave reviews when they come alive on a screen. Michael cracked us up as a high schooler out to get his first hook-up in Superbad. Ellen first impressed as a 14-year-old attracted to an older man on the net in Hard Candy. Can you say stars of tomorrow? Ellen and Michael play a couple dealing with teen pregnancy in the offbeat, cleverly written Juno, which is getting rave reviews before even hitting major theaters.

We sat down with the bright, cute duo in Beverly Hills and were able to break through their armor long enough to get some candid answers to our questions. Picture petite, brunette Ellen in light beige jacket over blue tee and jeans and Michael in black coat over black polo shirt and jeans. Both look very young for their ages. Hey, they make a cute couple. Both play guitar and got to sing and play together in the film. Ellen contributed a lot to the film's quirky soundtrack. Tune in...

TeenHollywood: How quickly upon reading the script were you like 'I wanna do this project'?

Ellen: When I read the script, it just blew my mind and I fell totally in love with it and I just really wanted to be a part of it. It's one of those things where immediately when you started reading it, you knew it was something special and then the more you read, the more it surprised you and the more you realized it was devoid of stereotype.

Michael: I really liked the format of the script. It was not written like a script. It didn't look like she was trying to write it like a script. It was more like a book. [to Ellen] Do you remember that? Like I remember certain paragraphs were just broken up oddly. That kind of made me want to do the movie. I thought 'well, if it's written oddly, if it's not written like a script, then it's got to be a good movie'. Now I've found out that that's not the way to make a decision. [we laugh].

TeenHollywood: What did each of you like most about your characters? What about that character really caught your eye?

Michael: I really liked that my character is just kind of immediately left out of the equation, like I didn't have any sort of control in the matter. It's like, you know, a movie that takes course over 9 months or so and the whole time I'm just not aware of what's going on and have no control over it and I thought that would just be fun to do.

Ellen: I was excited about this character because I felt like it was a teenage female lead that we've just never seen before and although she was incredibly unique and witty and all of these things, she was also very genuine and it all felt just very sincere.

TeenHollywood: You are so perfect for this role, Ellen. Are you concerned that you'll get stereotyped as the edgy, clever teen girl?

Ellen: I have a film going in April, where I play someone completely different from Juno, so that is a nice little bonus that it worked out that way. It's a very, very bitchy, arrogant, young republican. It's just about continuing to play roles that I feel excited about.

TeenHollywood: Michael you didn't have a typical high school experience. A lot of it was finished on the internet. Are you grateful that you didn't have to go to high school since it's an awkward time?

Michael: I went there for a year, which doesn't seem like a lot, but a year gives you an idea. I was never a senior in high school but I got the idea. This movie didn't really stretch.

TeenHollywood: You play and sing a cute duet in the movie. Was that stressful to get it right on camera?

Michael: It was a little scary with the crew and everything. A little scary.

Ellen: It's like one big long shot too, so you have to nail it.

Michael: We did it like three times I guess. It was fun. We [practiced] a few times at the hotel. It's only two chords, not to diminish the song.

Ellen: It's a beautiful song and that's one of the reasons why it's so good. It's that minimalist, Moldy Peaches awesome thing.

TeenHollywood: The dialogue in this film is quick and clever and, for once, doesn't make teens sound like idiots. Was that refreshing for you and did you worry about playing it?

Ellen: If anything you want to play it understated. You want it to feel as genuine and sincere as possible. It felt really organic to me.

Michael: The dialogue is so great, you don't want to hit it too hard and really call a lot of attention to it. It was just so much fun to say those things and to do it without putting too much emphasis on the things that we were saying. I like the idea that these guys just talk like that all the time. That is how the script felt. Everyone in that town, or in that world, was on the same page with each other talking like that.

TeenHollywood: Did you relate to your teenaged dad character?

Michael: Yeah. I don't know how I'd react if I were in this situation. But yeah, I think I'd be terrified and really feel like I don't know what to do. I think he's just really scared and that's probably how I would react to this.

TeenHollywood: I read in an article that you guys said that you are big music geeks. What are some of your favorites that you listened to this year?

Ellen: I like the new 'Radiohead' album a lot. There is an Icelandic artist Johan Johansson. No relation to Scarlett Johansson. Icelandic guy's awesome new album. 'Cat Power'. Oh, 'New Young Pony Club.' They are great, they kind of make me feel a sugar high when I listen to them. I listen to a lot of sit-on-your-couch-and-cry music. 'Cat Power' is sit on your couch and cry music, but in a good way.

TeenHollywood: Do you sit on your couch and cry?

Ellen: No, I don't. Sometimes I lie on my couch in pure bliss.

TeenHollywood: Ellen, you have great understanding parents in this. Did you have difficult times with your own parents? Were they pretty understanding about things like you wanting to be an actor? You too, Michael?

Michael: My parents were really supportive and great. They still are.

Ellen: Same. Supportive but they have never pushed. It's a really good balance.

TeenHollywood: Ellen, are you anything like Juno?

Ellen: I'm obviously totally not the characters that I play. But you always get the 'How do you relate?' question no matter what character you play. I feel like whenever a character is honest, and whole, and well-written you are going to be able to connect to them. We are all kind of made up of the same stuff. It's just about approaching it by connecting to that person and creating whatever individual aspects you feel are right.

TeenHollywood: Did you have any time on set to hang out and talk? Did you go anywhere when you were shooting?

Michael: Yeah, on set there is a lot of time. In between I know I had a lot more free time than she did. I had a few weeks where I wasn't shooting anything. She was working while I was hanging out. We hung out on set.

Ellen: We went to the movies. We went to the Vancouver Aquarium. It was amazing, and we went on walks.

Michael: Casino Royale was out. Oh, and Bridge to Terabithia but that wasn't playing anywhere near our hotel. We watched Robin Hood: Men in Tights. There was a little bonding then.

Ellen: Oh and Wet Hot American Summer. It's a funny movie.

TeenHollywood: Michael, did you have any certain comedic influences growing up?

Michael: I like Bill Murray a lot. He was the main one, I loved Ghostbusters, and he is so cool in that. In fact he's amazing in that, he's just so confident. That's how I thought I would be, I was sure I would be like that when I was growing up [laughs]. Maybe later, when I'm older.

TeenHollywood: What do you say to people who think this movie is a "pro-life" film because of her decision?

Ellen: I think it approaches it in an extremely democratic way. Diablo Cody was writing about a 16-year-old girl that got pregnant, decided to have the baby and give it to a young, yuppie, uptight couple for adoption. That's what the movie is about. You know what I'm saying? I didn't even think about it when I read the script. The film shows it as an extremely viable option which is obviously the most important thing for young individuals.

TeenHollywood: Juno starts off with lots of pithy comebacks for people and then as her pregnancy proceeds she becomes more vulnerable and acts more her age in a way. Was it a conscious choice to try to play her like that?

Ellen: I don't know. I feel like yeah, a big part of being young is maybe some arrogance and not even necessarily on purpose. It's just that's when you're developing an independent mind and you're learning a lot at kind of an intense, rapid rate. And you know Juno obviously goes on a pretty intense journey. The film doesn't overdo the intensity of it which is one of the reasons why I liked it but yeah, she definitely goes through a lot of personal growth and such in the extremeness of the situation.

TeenHollywood: Was it great working with your director Jason Reitman? Do you remember any particular direction he gave you?

Michael: Jason was doing a lot of cool things and he had just had a baby and I think that was really contributing to his [direction]. Like I feel Ellen's stomach in one scene and he's like, 'That's the craziest feeling. You have no idea what this feels like. Your mind has to be blown by this.' So that helped a lot. I felt really good about it. I knew it was a good script and really liked it and thought it had the potential to be really good. And I think I felt it was going well when we were doing it.

TeenHollywood: What was the level of improv on this?

Michael: A lot of it stuck pretty much to the script. Watching the movie, I remember a lot of my favorite lines in the movie being exactly how they were in the script. There was never really a need for it and it always felt like everything was there and it felt great running the scenes. Everyone was so excited about the script that just being able to do it as it was, was enough.

TeenHollywood: Michael your life has been going well this year with the success of Superbad. Can you comment on that?

Michael: It's been pretty good. I have no control over it. Superbad was a lot of fun to work on and make. That was great. It'd be easier to talk about that I think. I have no idea about the rest of this stuff. It did pretty well I guess and everyone was happy. It was great.

TeenHollywood: Ellen, can you talk about your character's relationship with Jason Bateman's character? You guys have some great scenes together. [He is the yuppie dad who might adopt the baby].

Ellen: It's ambiguous. I think Jason Bateman had a much more difficult line to walk down. There's a line in the film where Juno says 'I just like being a piece of furniture in your weird life.' And I think that's very much the way she felt. This situation she found herself in gave her a portal into adulthood. When you're 16 that's exciting. I think she was just kind of infatuated by him. Mark sees Juno as a sense of promise and a sense of freedom and he feels trapped in his adulthood I guess.

TeenHollywood: What's coming up for both of you?

Michael: I'm working on a movie right now in New York called Nick and Nora. It's going well. It takes place in one night. A guy and a girl meet in New York and spend the night driving around New York City looking for this band. That's it.

Ellen: I have another film coming out in April called Smart People. It's premiering at Sundance and I'm also shooting hopefully a film this Spring called Jack and Diane which is with Olivia Thirlby who plays [best friend] Leah in Juno.

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Lynn Barker is a Hollywood-based entertainment journalist and produced screenwriter.