FILM · 2007 · USA
Juno
- Directed by
- Jason Reitman
- Runtime
- 96 min
- Studio
- Mandate Pictures, Mr. Mudd, Fox Searchlight Pictures
52 archived facts 6 topics 1 source Last reviewed Nov 2026
Faced with an unplanned pregnancy, sixteen year old high-schooler, Juno MacGuff, makes an unusual decision regarding her unborn child.
52 Interesting Facts About Juno
Interesting Facts (37)
- #001
J. K. Simmons said he was so impressed by the screenplay that he would have been happy to play the teacher, a role with no spoken dialogue in the film.
- #002
Showing all four seasons within a 30-day shooting schedule was difficult. Solutions included digitally darkening spring cherry blossoms so they would resemble summer flowers and having crew members remove falling silk leaves used for autumn from the camera's view. By luck there was a snowstorm (unusual for March in Vancouver), and three different shoots were coordinated that day before the snow melted. Since shooting fake snow can be expensive, this saved the production a significant amount of money for the winter scenes.
- #003
After the box-office success and the film's large following, executives asked Jason Reitman about the possibility of making a sequel, and he said, "What could it possibly be, Juno gets pregnant again?!" and concluded that Juno's story was complete.
- #004
The hamburger phone in the film belongs to writer Diablo Cody.
- #005
Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day liked Bren's line "You didn't have to drive out to east Jesus nowhere" so much that Green Day wrote a song titled "East Jesus Nowhere" for their album 21st Century Breakdown.
- #006
Jason Reitman used different seasons to frame the story because he felt they reflected the trimesters of Juno's pregnancy.
- #007
According to Jason Reitman, the wine Vanessa drinks in the final scene was real. By the time filming of the scene was finished, Jennifer Garner was a little drunk.
- #008
The "pork swords" on the track team were achieved by hanging the balls from the inner waistband of the boys' shorts. Director Jason Reitman then asked the boys to kick their knees so the balls would bounce as they ran.
- #009
The "stupid" T-shirt Mark wears is for Soundgarden's album Superunknown.
- #010
Juno's handwritten message in Bleeker's yearbook was actually written by Diablo Cody.
- #011
At one point before Juno visits Mark, Mark sits at his computer reading the real-life blog of Diablo Cody (the film's screenwriter), known as "The Pussy Ranch."
- #012
The song Mark and Juno play and sing together is Hole's "Doll Parts." The song Bleeker and Juno play together at the end of the film is The Moldy Peaches' "Anyone Else But You."
- #013
In a May 2018 interview with The Guardian, writer Diablo Cody said the only thing she would change about the film would be to make clearer why Juno chooses not to have an abortion. "It was because she just didn't want to. It wasn't about any feeling that abortion was wrong; I'm pro-choice." She also went on to say that the fact that some people have interpreted the movie as anti-choice is "sad."
- #014
The scene in which Juno pulls over her minivan and cries on the side of the road was added after filming was completed and Elliot Page had cut her hair. She wore a fake ponytail, and her long bangs were trimmed more into a face-framing style so they would be visible on screen.
- #015
In the DVD audio commentary, director Jason Reitman mentions that many objects are meant to indicate that Bleeker is Jewish, including the Hebrew alphabet poster on his door, the framed Bar Mitzvah certificate on his wall and the dreidel on his shelf.
- #016
No cell phones are used in the film.
- #017
The compact disc Mark plays Sonic Youth's "Superstar" from is "If I Were a Carpenter," a 1994 compilation of covers of The Carpenters' songs.
- #018
Elliot Page suggested that the character Juno would be a fan of the music of Kimya Dawson and The Moldy Peaches.
- #019
Leah telling her science teacher "I love Woody Allen" is an obvious joke. Leah is supposed to be 17 here, the teacher is around 40, and both are talking about Woody Allen, a famous man who has for many years loved young women (and sometimes, allegedly, girls). So the joke has an uncomfortable but funny air to it.
- #020
In 2019, Diablo Cody said that if she had to do everything over again she would not write Juno, or would turn it into a different story, because so many people used it for a political agenda she did not endorse.
- #021
Juno was the Roman goddess of childbirth and marriage. The name "Juno" has other meanings for Canadians (Juno was filmed in Canada, and many cast and crew members, such as Elliot Page, Michael Cera and Jason Reitman, were born there). "Juno" was the code name of the beach where Canadian troops landed on D-Day; roughly 1,000 Canadian soldiers were wounded or killed taking that beach on D-Day. "Juno" is also the name of the annual Canadian music awards (similar to the US Grammy Awards).
- #022
Most of the posters in Juno's bedroom are by Tara McPherson.
Juno (2007): Juno MacguffImage: Wikimedia Commons · NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS, Public domain - #023
Allison Janney is, just like her character in the film, truly a dog lover.
- #024
The rounded minivan Juno drives is a Toyota Previa. These were last produced in 1997, but they were still quite common in Vancouver, where the film was shot.
- #025
Every phone number in Juno begins with 55501, except for the number Juno dials early in the film, which begins with 5555 (55501 is now the only number reserved for film and TV use).
- #026
At one point in Juno, the title character questions her stepmother Bren's (played by Allison Janney) choice to give her much younger stepdaughter ice-skating lessons. Ten years later, Janney would win an Oscar for I, Tonya (2017), in which she played Tonya Harding's abusive mother, who pushed her own daughter to become a figure-skating champion from a very young age.
- #027
Juno mentions that her friend Leah is interested in teachers, especially Keith. In Leah's bedroom you can see a picture of Keith pasted onto a shirtless man, along with pictures of several other older men.
- #028
There is a sticker for the punk band Bad Religion on Juno's locker.
- #029
WILHELM Scream: Juno and Mark are watching a horror film.
- #030
Contains a major spoiler — show
Namesake: While Juno and Mark are discussing baby names, Juno tells Mark that she was named after Zeus's main wife, who "was really beautiful but really mean." Later, when Juno argues with Paulie in the hallway about getting pregnant, Mark tells her, "Like I would marry you! You'd be the meanest wife ever."
- #031
Contains a major spoiler — show
According to the commentary by Eric Steelberg, Juno's director of photography, included on the special-edition Blu-ray, alternate scenes set in Juno and Mark's room full of boxes were shot but ultimately deemed too sexual and unnecessary. The scenes included the suggestion that Juno and Mark have sex on an old lounge chair, echoing the opening scene in which Juno has sex with Paulie Bleeker.
- #032
Both of the film's stars, Elliot Page and Olivia Thirlby, came out as gay after the film's release. Thirlby stated she is bisexual, while Page announced in 2020 that he is transgender.
- #033
In a Glamour video on YouTube, Jennifer Garner said that she was the one who wanted her character to wear a pearl necklace, because she felt her character would believe she should wear pearls, so she was happy that her pearl-wearing character made it into the film.
- #034
When Leah learns over the phone that Juno is pregnant, she shouts, "Phuket Thailand!" This is an old joke many people use; it is a pun on a real island in Thailand that, when pronounced, sounds like "f--- it island."
- #035
Many of the actors appeared in film adaptations of comic books. Elliot Page played Kitty Pryde in X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), J. K. Simmons played J. Jonah Jameson in the Spider-Man trilogy, and Jennifer Garner played Elektra in Daredevil (2003) and Elektra (2005), all Marvel properties. Michael Cera played Scott Pilgrim in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (2010), published by Oni Press.
- #036
Early in the film, when Juno meets the Lorings, she introduces herself and Mark Loring asks, "Like the city in Alaska?" Juno replies, "No." The city in Alaska has the same pronunciation but is spelled "Juneau." It comes from the French word meaning young. "Juno," meanwhile, is the name of Jupiter's sister-wife, queen of the gods; the Roman goddess of women and marriage. (Coincidentally she is also the goddess of spiritual parenthood, watching over young women going through the process, which makes it a good name for this character.)
- #037
Mack tells Juno that Bren took Liberty Bell to her "tots ice skating class." Allison Janney went on to play Tonya Harding's mother in I, Tonya (2017), in which she takes her "tot" to ice skating lessons.
Production Story (10)
- #038
Director Jason Reitman had planned to shoot the scene in which Juno fills her tray during the school lunch as a homage to a scene in National Lampoon's Animal House (1978), which his father Ivan Reitman produced. But he decided against it because it would have changed the tone of the scene.
- #039
The comic book "Most Fruitful Yuki" is a Japanese manga series. It was published as a one-off comic in 2001, but after appearing in this film it was translated into many languages (including English) and gained a cult following.
- #040
- #041
Jason Bateman's character Mark Loring struggles with the idea of becoming a father. In real life, Bateman's wife had just given birth to their first child shortly before the film was shot.
- #042
Elliot Page came up with Juno's ponytail hairstyle with long bangs at the sides of her face and did her own hair every day.
- #043
Olivia Thirlby originally auditioned for the lead role but was ultimately cast as "Leah."
- #044
While looking for potential parents for her baby, Juno says she is looking for someone cool "like a graphic designer." In real life, both star Elliot Page's father and Diablo Cody's ex-husband are graphic designers.
- #045
Mark and Vanessa's surname in the film, Loring, is also the name of a popular park in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. Writer Diablo Cody lived in Minneapolis for a while.
- #046
Elliot Page was not very topless in the opening scene. She was wearing short shorts, and the underwear she took off was actually just above the camera frame.
- #047
Juno's stepmother, Bren MacGuff, has a nail salon called "Bren's Ten." This is a reference to the Bren Ten pistol, the sidearm of choice for Don Johnson's Sonny Crockett in the 80s TV series "Miami Vice."
Behind the Scenes (1)
- #048
In his memoir, Elliot Page revealed that he had a relationship with Olivia Thirlby during the filming of the movie.
Characters & Cast (1)
- #049
Michael Cera found that he could not successfully take a mouthful of Tic Tacs and then deliver his lines. So he brought the box to his mouth but did not eat any of the candy.
Easter Eggs & References (2)
- #050
The hamburger phone also appears in Bleeker's room, clearly visible in the background.
- #051
Juno says the line, "No, it's Morgan Freeman, do you have any bones that need collecting?" This references The Bone Collector, though the film starred Denzel Washington, not Morgan Freeman.
Career & Awards (1)
- #052
The cast includes two Oscar winners, J. K. Simmons and Allison Janney, and one Oscar nominee, Elliott Page.
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
- Wikipedia
- IMDb
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