'Jennifer's Body' Set Visit

Megan Fox gets possessed in the new movie from Oscar-winning writer Diablo Cody

By Greg Ellwood
Special to MSN Movies

Do you want to know a movie-studio publicist's nightmare?

There are many (including having the leading man of your upcoming movie jump up and down on a couch on "Oprah"), but nothing can be worse than shuttling in more than 30 journalists from all over the world to Vancouver, British Columbia, to not talk to one of the hottest stars in the world. That's the scenario that fell into the laps of 20th Century Fox PR peeps for the set visit for their new horror comedy "Jennifer's Body."

It was May 2008, and, the day before the influx of journalists, a lucky paparazzo had caught the Jennifer in question, played by Megan Fox, shooting a topless scene for the movie (with the assistance of pasties) in a local lake. Needless to say, the photos were all over the Web and in many a young man's e-mail inbox within hours. (And, ironically, the studio opened the trailer for the movie with the same scene.) On the day of our visit, as we headed toward the rainy set, our friendly publicist insisted Ms. Fox would still talk to us, but I heard a twinge of doubt in her voice.

Luckily, "Body" is one of those rare films for which the writer and producer are just as intriguing as the cast in front of the camera, so much so that they both overshadow the picture's director, Karyn Kusama (on a mission to make everyone forget "Aeon Flux"). It turns out that the film is the second collaboration between Oscar-winning screenwriter Diablo Cody and "Juno" director Jason Reitman, who moves over to the producing chair for "Body." And, only a few months removed from the "Juno" phenomenon, both were still eager to sit down and talk about their new venture.

"There's something really exciting about making a horror film that is written by a woman, directed by a woman and starring two young women, because horror's been generally made by guys since the beginning of time," Reitman says. "Instead of a movie about a guy who's slowly picking off beautiful girls, there's a young woman who's going through a high school picking off every type of guy there is."

Reitman's quick synopsis is spot on. The movie finds longtime girlfriends Jennifer (Fox) and semi-awkward Needy (Amanda Seyfried) heading to the local dive bar in their Podunk town to check out the band Low Shoulder, who are almost on the verge of making it big time in a Maroon 5 way. Needy's boyfriend (Johnny Simmons) questions why the band has to come out to play in a dump like their small town, but Jennifer is awestruck by the band's lead singer, Nikolai (a devilishly oily Adam Brody), who convinces her to come out and "hang" with the band. Disregarding Needy's protests, Jennifer gets in the van with no clue she has been selected as an evil sacrifice to propel the band to superstardom.

From that point on, she undergoes a dramatic transformation and becomes a danger to every young man in town. Yep, she's then the high school's drop-dead gorgeous Queen Bee who has to satisfy her hunger with blood. And as Needy soon discovers, her superpowered BFF has Needy's own boyfriend in her sights. Can Needy stop Jennifer before she devours the whole town?

Cody actually wrote "Body" years before getting her break with "Juno." And, as she made clear, neither character is a clone of the sarcastic, pregnant teenager that Ellen Page made infamous.

"[Jennifer] is a bully; she's assertive. She's sort of a bombshell. She's clearly the hottest girl in school, and she has an entitlement complex. And she and Needy have had this sort of S&M dynamic in their friendship since childhood," Cody reveals. "Needy is almost like our Nancy Drew. She's kind of nerdy. She's very anxious. She's a good girl. She's an overachiever. She's very intimidated by Jennifer. They are the sorts of girls who would never be friends, but they have had this friendship since childhood and it has turned toxic, but they can't turn themselves away. They have that bond."

Even during production, many were comparing "Jennifer's Body" to a bloody version of "Mean Girls," and Cody understands the comparison. However, she notes the idea of evil young women going a little too far isn't anything new. "Body" should stand on its own, but Cody notes bluntly: "Teenage boys are pretty harmless. Teenage girls? It's territory that's been mined before. It's been mined in 'Heathers.' It's been mined in 'Mean Girls.' It's certainly not a new idea. I just wanted to take it to another level."

As for why this continual cycle of girls vs. girls exists, Cody has her own theory, and it's one she exploits superbly in her screenplay.

"I would blame it on hormonal fluctuations, for sure," Cody says. "The fact that society pits women against each other and forces us to be in competition. It's almost like I think all your emotions are heightened when you're a teenager. So, romantic relationships have a tendency to get crazy and dramatic, and all that stuff sort of creates an atmosphere of terror and intimidation."

Reitman was drawn to bringing Cody's vision to the screen because of how different "Body" is from the majority of slick but cold slasher films such as the "Saw," "Hostel" or "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" franchises that have been filling movie theaters recently.

"When I think of [the original] 'Nightmare on Elm Street,' there was a warmth to those teenagers that I related to. They were not aware that they were in the middle of a horror film. And I really loved those characters and I empathized with them," Reitman says. "That's what I read when I read Diablo's screenplay. It's a return to that."

Having grown up in the business under the wings of his father, Ivan Reitman, the filmmaker also knows many are prepared to try to tear Diablo down with her sophomore effort. Even before seeing a cut of the film, which debuts as a midnight selection at this year's Toronto International Film Festival, he wasn't so sure they would succeed.

"When a young woman writes a screenplay and it wins an Oscar the first time out," Reitman says, "you can't help but presume, 'OK, was this it? Was that all the fuel in the tank? Did she just get lucky?' And then you start reading more of her materials and then you say, 'This is the real deal. I'm going to be reading a lot from this woman for the rest of her career.'"

The true woman of the hour, whom we still haven't met as the day drags on, is Fox, of course. And Reitman is more than happy to discuss how impressed he's been with her during the shoot.

"She's really [expletive] funny, the same way Rachel McAdams was in 'Mean Girls,'" Reitman says, as a referential trend starts to appear in our interviews. "I've seen auditions of people trying to do Diablo's dialogue and it's like falling off a cliff. It's tough dialogue, and she just nails it. She's mean and funny and dangerous and sexy and everything you could ever want from her in this."

Yes, ladies and gentleman, from a writer who has seen the finished product, it's true. Megan Fox can act. Having been freed from the incompetent reins of Michael Bay, Fox displays an unforeseen comedic timing that may have her segueing into romantic comedies later in her career.

But, back to 16 months ago and the "Body" Vancouver set. As many veteran journalists (including this one) soon realized that Fox wasn't going to speak to the assembled throng (to avoid the questions over the pictures the day before, no matter what the publicity team insisted), we were able to watch the "Transformers" star shoot a funny scene with Seyfried.

Recreating the interior of the town bar on a soundstage, the scene consists of Jennifer and Needy arriving before the pivotal concert and making their way to a prime vantage point. Along the way, Jennifer shoots down a proposition from a jock on the football team (a future victim?) and coos like a little schoolgirl as Brody's character sets up his equipment. Both she and Seyfried shoot the long tracking shot numerous times as they inevitably nail down the intricate rhythm of Cody's dialogue.

As the sun begins to set and the unit publicist continues to insist she's going to pull Megan over to talk to us, we meet the true victim of the day: Seyfried.

With the throng of writers having to head to the airport to catch flights back home that evening, the "Mamma Mia!" star is hastily corralled into a small tent in front of the huge group. Like a deer in headlights, Seyfried talks about the film, but nervously, as though she's rarely been in this press-conference situation on her own (which, as she told me in a later one-on-one interview, was the case). The former -- you guessed it -- "Mean Girls" star admits the horrific scenes in "Body," with their gallons of fake blood and dismemberment, have given her serious nightmares.

"I'm very affected by real life in my dreams," Seyfried confesses. "I had to watch when Jennifer was being sacrificed, and it was really difficult."

But she smiles when recalling an important girl fight between her character and Fox's.

"I got hip-bone bruises from her," Seyfried says of their duel. "I was straddling her for days. It was kind of fun. I feel like I got a good workout from it."

And if you haven't heard already, Seyfried received a kiss from Ms. Fox as well.

Perhaps it turned out more to be a comedy-horror film. Find out for yourself when "Jennifer's Body" opens nationwide on Sept. 18.