It's so annoying when you're constantly being told what you're supposed to enjoy and what you're supposed to find sexy and how you're supposed to be, and so on and so forth.

I think a film like "Juno," when it steps away from what's so traditional in the media right now, I think it's just refreshing for people. And maybe they don't even know why -- it could be inexplicable, just this feeling of 'Oh, thank you.' At least it was for me when I read it.

There is a real specificity to the script, in particular, the nature of the language and the dialogue. That could have come off as overly stylized, and part of what's really remarkable about the film, and particularly your performance, is how that's made to seem so natural. How did the language strike you when you read the script?

I loved it. To me it completely worked. And it might not be exactly how I talked when I was 16, but I know that when I was in high school I did kind of have my own unique language with my friends. The way I communicated with my friends was not exactly the same as how I communicated with my parents or how I communicated in a work setting.

So, I think that's a pretty organic thing for young individuals -- hyper, young Junos.

For me, it was a challenge to absorb that and make it organic – not to force it but establish that tone. And hopefully that comes across.

Another thing is how the film doesn't sell out any of the characters; everyone gets considered in a really multidimensional way. Was that something else that struck you?

For me, when I'm approaching something, and this might sound selfish, but it's often more from the perspective of the character I'd be playing, trying not to get too analytical or judgmental.

I find you can kind of get blocked off in a way. She's definitely still extremely young and naive and doesn't yet really understand the whole picture. I think that's something we all go through.

Is it tough to have read the whole script, and you, Ellen Page, know that bigger picture, but you have to get yourself back into the headspace of Juno, who doesn't realize just how much she's in way over her head emotionally?

I don't think it's too hard. You can shoot films that are much more easy to judge, or play characters that are on a surface level completely unlike yourself or believe in things completely different.

I think one of the great things is when you put the analysis and the judgment aside, and it does unblock your heart and you're just there with that person.

That's one of the things I love the most about acting -- removing that blockage.

It's easy to assume that, as a younger person, you were perhaps just playing a variation on yourself. Can you talk to me a little about how you created the character of Juno?

First and foremost, Diablo wrote an incredible script. The words, when I first read it, did bounce off at me. I was lucky that I clearly connected to something and I just went along with that. Then I talked to Jason about Juno, elements of her personality we both thought she had, and it just formed itself.

What I need, at first, is I'm usually alone a lot with a script. I just make sure I can feel the person in my heart, as absolutely corny as that sounds. I just have to emotionally connect to the individual and then figure out how I think they should be portrayed, whether in their voice or their body or what have you.

And then there's the whole other obvious physical element of Juno being pregnant. I've obviously, well not obviously, but I've never been pregnant, and I had to make sure I knew what was going on there but still maintain the fact that she is a 16-year-old girl and has that youth.

As much as she wants to escape it, it's very much there. She's not going to escape the fact that she's still a girl.