‘The only cool thing about getting older’: Tully scriptwriter Diablo Cody, a mother-of-three, on how life experiences help her tell stories
Cody, Oscar winner for Juno, reunites with director Jason Reitman for film about a mother, played by Charlize Theron – who put on 23kg for the role – battling postnatal depression and the night nurse who helps her through it
Canadian filmmaker Jason Reitman, the son of Ghostbusters director Ivan Reitman, has made his name creating character-driven dramas which he instils with a brand of wry humour all his own.
His 2009 movie Up in the Air gave George Clooney one of his best roles and rocketed Anna Kendrick to stardom. He tailored 2005 film Thank You for Smoking perfectly to Aaron Eckhart’s smarts. But it was 2007 film Juno, his initial collaboration with scriptwriter Diablo Cody, that brought him to the world’s attention.
Cody won the Academy Award for best original screenplay for her story of a pregnant teen who pulls no punches, and Reitman and Ellen Page, who played the title role, were also nominated.
So began a collaboration between Reitman and Cody that would bear fruit in 2011 film Young Adult and now Tully, about a mother struggling with postnatal depression after the birth of her third child. Charlize Theron stars in both movies, which reflect the life stages of the writer-director duo.
Reitman, 40, is the divorced father of a pre-teen daughter, while Cody, also 40, has three children with her husband, Dan Maurio, and lives in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles.
