Ellen on why her character in Juno resonated with audiences so much: “It’s a teenage female lead we’ve never seen before. She dresses like she wants, says what she wants, and doesn’t apologize for it…. Girls haven’t had that sort of character before. We don’t have our Catcher in the Rye.”

Ellen on her reputation as a Hollywood outsider: “Sometimes I think I come off as a Hollywood-hater, and it’s not true. I’m not some judgmental prick. It’s not like I’m ‘Boo hoo! People like the movie.’ You know what I mean?”

Ellen on the roles available for young actresses: “You either have the rich Laguna Beach thing, where the only thing they’re worrying about is what jeans to wear to impress Bobby or you have the girl who dresses in black and cuts herself.”

Ellen on her post-Juno plans: “It’s kind of daunting to be a young actor with some stuff happening. I could do the whole [Hollywood] thing if I wanted, but I’m not going to. I look at someone like Johnny Depp or Kate Winslet and they seem to be strong individuals who have decided to take risks and be unique…. It could be easy to rush into something, so I want to take my time to figure out what’s really going to get me excited.”