J. K. Simmons said he was so impressed by the script that he would have been happy to play the teacher, a character with no spoken dialogue in the film.
Showing all four seasons within a 30-day shooting schedule was difficult. Solutions included digitally darkening spring cherry blossoms to resemble summer flowers and having crew members remove falling silk leaves from the frame for autumn. 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 film a significant amount of money for the winter scenes.
After the box office success and the film's large following, executives asked Jason Reitman about the possibility of making a sequel, and he stated, "What could it possibly be, Juno gets pregnant again?!" and concluded that Juno's story was complete.
Jennifer Garner reduced her A-list salary to a percentage-point deal when Juno was expected to be a small, low-grossing independent film, but when Juno became a major success at the box office, the decision paid off and gave Garner her best payday to date.
The hamburger phone in the film belongs to writer Diablo Cody.
Among the five Best Picture Oscar nominees (2008), it was the highest-grossing film.
Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day liked Bren's line "You didn't have to drive out to east Jesus nowhere" so much that he wrote a song titled "East Jesus Nowhere" for Green Day's album 21st Century Breakdown.
Jason Reitman used different seasons to frame the story because he felt they reflected the trimesters of Juno's pregnancy.
According to Jason Reitman, the wine Vanessa drinks in the final scene was real. When filming for the scene was finished, Jennifer Garner was a little drunk.
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.
The "pork swords" on the track team were achieved by hanging the balls from the inner waistband of their shorts. Director Jason Reitman then asked the boys to kick their knees so the balls would bounce as they ran.
After working together on The Kingdom (2007), Jennifer Garner suggested Jason Bateman for the role of Mark Loring.
Michael Cera discovered 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.
The film's original title was going to be "Junebug," but it was changed to avoid confusion with Amy Adams's film Junebug (2005).
The "stupid" shirt Mark wears is for Soundgarden's album 'Superunknown'.
Juno's handwritten message in Bleeker's yearbook was actually written by Diablo Cody.
At one point before Juno visits Mark, Mark sits at his computer reading Diablo Cody's (the film's screenwriter) real-life blog known as "The Pussy Ranch."
The animated opening title sequence was created by a company called Shadowplay, and the shots of Juno walking were achieved by having her walk on a treadmill that was later removed.
It was the first film released by Fox Searchlight Pictures to gross $100 million at the box office.
The hamburger phone also appears in Bleeker's room and is clearly visible in the background.
Jason Bateman and Michael Cera had worked together before playing father and son on the television series Arrested Development.
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.
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.
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."
Olivia Thirlby originally auditioned for the lead role but was ultimately cast as "Leah."
In an interview with The Guardian in May 2018, writer Diablo Cody said the only thing she would change in the film would be to make it clearer why Juno chose not to have an abortion. "It was just because she 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."
The scene where Juno pulls over and cries by the side of the road was added after filming was completed and Elliot Page had cut his hair. He was wearing a fake ponytail, and the long bangs were cut more around the face so they would be visible in the shot.
In the DVD audio commentary, director Jason Reitman mentions that many objects, including the Hebrew alphabet poster on Bleeker's door, the framed Bar Mitzvah certificate on his wall and the dreidel on his shelf, were meant to show that Bleeker is Jewish.
No cell phones are used in the film.
Director Jason Reitman 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 objected to it because it would have changed the tone of the scene.
The compact disc Mark plays Sonic Youth's "Superstar" from is a 1994 compilation of covers of The Carpenters' songs titled "If I Were a Carpenter."
Elliott Page suggested that the character Juno would be a fan of the music of Kimya Dawson and The Moldy Peaches.
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.
Elliott Page's Best Actress Oscar nomination for the performance was the only nomination in that category that year to also be nominated for Best Picture.
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; 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.
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 many people used it for a political agenda she did not endorse.
Juno was the Roman goddess of birth and marriage. The name "Juno" has other meanings for Canadians (where Juno was shot and where many cast and crew members such as Elliot Page, Michael Cera and Jason Reitman were born). "Juno" was the code name of the beach where Canadian troops landed on D-Day. About 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).
J. K. Simmons and Allison Janney went on to win Oscars for playing tough, authoritarian, tough-love characters in Whiplash (2014) and I, Tonya (2017), respectively.
Most of the posters in Juno's bedroom are by Tara McPherson.
Allison Janney, just like her character in the film, really is a dog lover, a dog lover.
The rounded minivan Juno drives is a Toyota Previa. These were last produced in 1997, but they are still quite common in Vancouver, where the film was shot.
Except for the number Juno dials early in the film, which begins with 5555, all the phone numbers begin with 55501 (these are now the only numbers reserved for film/TV use).
At one point Juno questions her stepmother Bren's (played by Allison Janney) choice to put her very young stepdaughter in ice skating lessons. Ten years later, Janney would win an Oscar for I, Tonya (2017). There she played Tonya Harding's abusive mother, who pushed her own daughter to become a skating champion from a very young age.
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 many more older men.
There is a sticker of the punk band Bad Religion in Juno's locker.
Tully, the 2018 film also written by Diablo Cody and starring Charlize Theron, was initially reported to be a sequel to Juno; it later turned into another star vehicle for Charlize Theron.
It was rated 12A in the United Kingdom, but was raised to 15 on DVD because of added material (Elliot Page swearing at the polls), sharing the same rating as Ireland.
WILHELM Scream: while Juno and Mark watch a horror film.
Namesake: while Juno and Mark discuss baby names, Juno tells Mark that she got her name from Zeus's main wife. "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! L You'd be the meanest wife ever."
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.
According to the commentary by Eric Steelberg, the film's cinematographer, included on the special edition Blu-ray, alternative scenes were shot in Juno and Mark's room full of boxes, but they were ultimately deemed too sexual and unnecessary. The scenes included the suggestion that Juno and Mark had sex on an old lounge chair, echoing the opening scene in which Juno has sex with Paulie Bleeker.
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.
Both stars of this film, Elliot Page and Olivia Thirlby, came out as gay after the film's release. Thirlby stated she was bisexual, and Page stated in 2020 that he was transgender.
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 having her character wear pearls in the film made Garner happy.
Brad Silberling was initially going to direct, but there were creative differences.
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 wordplay; a real island in Thailand that, when you pronounce it, sounds like "f--- it island."
As of 2024, it contains Elliot Page's only Oscar-nominated performance.
Both Kraken references, and the main character's name being Juno, show Diablo Cody's love of mythology.
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."
Elliot Page revealed in his memoir that he had a relationship with Olivia Thirlby during the filming of the movie.
Many of the actors have appeared in film adaptations of comic books. Elliott 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.
At the beginning of 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," on the other hand, is the name of Jupiter's sister-wife, the queen of the gods; the Roman goddess of women and marriage. (Coincidentally, she is also the spiritual parent, the goddess of pregnancy who watches over young women going through this process. This makes it a good name for this character.
Juno says the following line: "No, it's Morgan Freeman, do you have any bones that need collecting?" This is a reference to the film The Bone Collector, but the film starred Denzel Washington, not Morgan Freeman.
Paulie wears Nike Rival D Plus III at the track meet and afterward when he goes to the hospital to see Juno.
Michael Cera and Jason Bateman had previously worked together on Arrested Development (2003).
The producers would like to thank: Marpole Curling Club.
Among the cast there are two Oscar winners: J. K. Simmons, Allison Janney, and one Oscar nominee: Elliott Page.
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 took her "tot" to ice skating lessons.
Terry Zwigoff was offered to direct Juno, but he turned down the offer.