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Diablo lets her little demon out

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Screenwriter Diablo Cody’s copy of the Oscar Winner’s Playbook has apparently gone missing. The Academy Award-winning “Juno” scribe follows that success (and her critically praised Showtime series “The United States of Tara”) with a horror movie, “Jennifer’s Body” (opening Friday), about teenage BFFs played by Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried (who have a makeout scene -- maybe this is the perfect post-Oscar project after all) whose friendship is tested when one is possessed by a demon. Worst-date-ever murders ensue.

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When did you write this?

Before “Juno” was filmed. I had written something uplifting, and I wanted to do something darker. There are no sing-alongs in this film.

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You’re in the bar scene before the fire, but we don’t see your death.

I was actually involved in a pyrotechnic stunt, but it got cut. My acting is terrible, to be frank. We had to be content with the one shot of my face.

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Aren’t you afraid this could lead to a trend of false diagnoses of demonic possession?

I would feel proud. It’s already wonderful being blamed for the teen pregnancy epidemic.

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Can you think of a movie so scary it practically traumatized you?

One of the first horror movies I ever saw was “Poltergeist.” I’m telling you, that movie would not be rated PG now. I mean, a guy rips off his face. It was more than I could handle at 7 years old. I didn’t sleep for a long time.

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You’ve talked before about this being a different approach for a horror film -- how so?

I think tonally, the film is complicated. In test screenings, people were asked to write down “What other movie does this remind you of?” -- for marketing purposes. And so many people wrote, “Nothing. I have never seen another movie like this.”

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I’d take that as a compliment.

I think it made some people nervous, but it made me very happy.

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calendar@latimes.com

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