ILLUSTRATION RUSSELL MOORCROFT
IT STARTED WITH AN OSCAR.
The year was 2008, and the film was Juno, Diablo Cody’s debut screenplay, about a smalltown 16-year-old’s accidental pregnancy. Brimming with endlessly quotable dialogue and oddball charm, it had whipped Hollywood into a frenzy and beguiled audiences. As Cody took to the stage to accept her Academy Award, the world seemed set to open up before this bright new writer in a leopard-print dress. But it wasn’t that simple.