Sooooooo Jealous

I am envious. I'm not proud of it, but that doesn't seem to change matters.

Here's some background.

One of my favorite parts of the screenwriting biz is the Wish List. When you're working with producers or studio execs and a script gets to a certain point, you get to sit around and compile a list of all the actors you'd love to see in the lead roles and all the directors you think would crush this thing 12 rows into the leftfield bleachers.

It's like fantasy football, only you're talking Angelina Jolie instead of Trent Dilfer.

So last August I'm out to lunch with my Manager and a Big Time Producer, and we've each brought our wish lists and we're throwing around names. Now, one of the projects I'm developing with BTP is a smart teen comedy/romance, and the two names that I am in love with -- actors for whom I would give both kidneys to have involved -- are Ellen Page and Michael Cera.

That's right, Ellen Page and Michael Cera.

At the time of this meeting, I'd heard of Juno but didn't really know anything about it. Superbad hadn't opened yet, so I thought Michael Cera might still be a somewhat under-the-radar call. Ellen Page was amazing in Hard Candy, but by no means overexposed.

They would have been perfect. How do I know they would have been perfect? Because they are perfect... in Juno. Perfect.

We're going to be watching them both for a long time to come. And Michael Cera is going to own romantic comedies for the next two decades. He's going to have every Tom Hanks every-man role he wants. Scary smart, wicked funny, cute as a button, and guys like him, too.

And, of course, Jason Reitman was my was my wish director.