Q: What kind of things did you guys do to try to bond?

Michael: It was minimal. It was pretty minimal.

Ellen: There was some wee playing.

Michael: [Laughs] Yeah. Whatever.

Ellen: I boxed Dan and I beat him. We went to the Aquarium.

Michael: Yeah, that’s true. We went to the Vancouver Aquarium. It was amazing.

Ellen: Yeah, it was pretty amazing.

Michael: We watched some movies.

Ellen: Oh. “Wet Hot American Summer.”

Michael: “Wet Hot American Summer.”

Ellen: It’s a funny movie.

Michael: “Robin Hood: Men in Tights.”

Ellen: “Robin Hood: Men in Tights.” Yeah. There was some bonding a little then.

Michael: Some other stuff. I guess that was it. [Laughs]

Ellen: Some walks, you know.

Michael: Walks.

Ellen: Walks. Sun was setting.

Michael: [Laughs] Yeah.

Ellen: You know.

Michael: Sunset.

Q: Did it take any time to get into the fat suit?

Ellen: No, no. It’s called pregnancy by the way. I’m teasing you. It was almost like a corset in the back. It didn’t take much time.

Q: Can you talk about your character’s relationship with Mark and maybe his feelings towards her?

Ellen: It’s ambiguous. I think my job in that sense was a lot easier. I think Jason Bateman had a much more difficult line to walk down because you know I’m playing a character and there’s a line in the film where Juno says ‘I just like being a piece of furniture in your weird life.’ And I think that’s very much the way she felt. This situation she found herself in gave her a portal into adulthood, a portal into being a part of that which I think when you’re 16 is something that’s exciting about growing up and what have you. So I think she was just kind of infatuated by him and was there and really was naïve in understanding that whole other aspect of the situation. And I think it’s two people that respect each other’s individual situations. Mark sees Juno as a sense of promise and a sense of freedom and he feels trapped in his adulthood I guess.

Q: Did you guy have many conversations about how to avoid the sort of dirty old man vibes? Did it feel like a prequel to “Hard Candy”?

Ellen: Yeah. We cut out…there’s a scene where I kind of attacked him in the basement. It’ll be on the DVD. Again I think Jason Bateman had the harder side of that and he talked a lot with Reitman about it. It was just about again maintaining that balance and it’s purposely ambiguous.

Q: What do you think of Mark? Do you think he’s kind of an asshole?

Ellen: No, no, not at all. I think he’s ….

Michael: [Laughs] That’s a funny question.

[Everyone laughs]

Ellen: I don’t at all. I think he feels trapped in his life and the timing wasn’t great but these things happen and if the situation had remained, it probably would have been a much more unhealthy environment to bring up a child.

Q: Can you guys talk about what you have coming up?

Ellen: Michael, what are you doing?

Michael: I’m working on a movie right now in New York called “Nick and Nora.”

Q: How’s that going?

Michael: It’s going well. It’s probably going to come out in a year or something. Hopefully it’ll be good.

Q: Can you tell us a little bit about it?

Michael: It’s a guy and a girl meet and it takes place in one night. They meet in New York and spend the night driving around New York City looking for this band. That’s it.

Q: Ellen, what do you have coming up next?

Ellen: I have another film coming out in April called “Smart People.” It’s premiering at Sundance and I’m also shooting hopefully a film this Spring called “Jack and Diane” which is with Olivia Thirlby who plays Lea in “Juno.”

Q: So is that the prerequisite now you have to be BFF’s in all the films?

Ellen: Sorry?

Q: BFF’s – Best Friends Forever.

Ellen: Oh. We were attached to that film before. I knew her before “Juno” actually so I’ve known her for a little while.

Q: How close is the personality of your character consistent with your personality? How did you put yourself into that persona for the role?

Ellen: I don’t know. It’s an interesting question. How do you relate? You get it no matter what character you play. I feel like whenever anyone is honest and whole and well written, you’re going to be able to connect to that person because we’re all kind of made up of the same stuff. And I think that’s always one of the really powerful things about approaching each individual character and role and film. And with Juno specifically it’s again like in some ways I’m like her and in some ways I’m not.

Q: [to Michael] How about you and your character?

Michael: Did I relate to him? Yeah. I don’t know how I’d react if I were in this situation. But yeah, I think I’d be terrified and really feel like I don’t know what to do. I think he’s just really scared and that’s probably how I would react to this.

Q: Do people still think you got fired from “Knocked Up”?

Michael: I don’t know. Probably. I can’t believe that people think that those things are real. It’s crazy. I don’t get it.