Diablo Cody was an Oscar Red Carpet standout on Sunday with her Flintstone dress. She seemed to be channeling Betty Rubble. We know that Diablo is not your run of the mill Hollywood celebrity. In fact, her arrival on the Hollywood scene is anything but conventional. The former stripper led a fairly colorful existence before penning the 2008 Oscar winning screenplay Juno.
The writer, who’s real name is Brook Busey Hunt spent a year stripping and doing peepshows in Minneapolis before turning to more legitimate pursuits. She chronicled her escapades in a 2006 memoir, Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper.
Cody, 29, wrote her first screenplay two years ago and against all odds, it has turned golden for her. The 2007 movie, Juno tells the story of a 16 year old who finds herself pregnant. The movie, directed by Jason Reitman, was rolled out in limited release, beginning in early December and quickly picked up momentum. She has several other screenplays in the works, including a Showtime pilot The United States of Tara, that she is working on with Steven Spielberg.
Calling herself an emotional scavenger, the writer admits to being fascinated with stripping and all things seedy. She told David Letterman that the reason she changed her name was because Brook sounded tedious. Diablo means devil.
The former exotic dancer called her current life both charmed and frenzied. The media hype is way over the top right now but she is doing what she can to keep herself grounded under the sudden onrush of success.
Entertainment Weekly named Cody to their list of 50 Smartest People in Hollywood. Her film is a runaway hit that earned her an Oscar for Writing (Original Screenplay). Not bad for a woman who is still young and finding her way.
Check out more photos of Diablo Cody in her current life and from her stripper days.