Character Informing the Narrative: A Conversation with ‘Lisa Frankenstein’ Screenwriter Diablo Cody

A coming of RAGE love story from acclaimed writer Diablo Cody (Jennifer’s Body) about a misunderstood teenager and her high school crush, who happens to be a handsome corpse. After a set of playfully horrific circumstances bring him back to life, the two embark on a murderous journey to find love, happiness... and a few missing body parts along the way.     

Nostalgic comfort. That’s the feeling I had while watching Diablo Cody’s latest film Lisa Frankenstein, helmed by Zelda Williams. It has the elements of John Hughes poignant teen dramedy, with the spirit of whimsical and iconic characters like Edward Scissorhands and Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas. And with like any of Diablo’s previous films – there’s a takeaway tucked away in the subtext of the thematic elements. And that’s where she tends to have the most fun, it seems, when tackling her stories head on.

Diablo Cody recently spoke with Script about where the idea of this story originated for her, the challenge of writing no dialogue for a main character, why she loves collaborating with directors, and the importance of being a producer on the projects she writes.

This interview has been edited for content and clarity.

Sadie Dean: Where did the seed for this story come from?

Diablo Cody: There were a few inspirations that brought me here. One of them was the movie Weird Science. And that was a movie that loomed large in my imagination when I was a child. I grew up in the 80s and I watched all those John Hughes movies. And there was something about Weird Science, seeing these two nerdy guys create the perfect woman that got me thinking, even at that time, ‘Well, what would this look like from the other perspective?’ So that was a big inspiration. And it's actually why the movie is called Lisa Frankenstein, because it was an homage to Lisa, the perfect woman from Weird Science.

And the second thing is, for some reason for years, I had had the seed of an idea in my mind of this script about a living girl and her dead boyfriend. And I don't know why I was so fixated on that idea. And I think I originally thought of it in like sort of very romantic, melodramatic terms. But when I actually sat down and started writing it, it became more of this like 80s-inspired comedy. And I don't think I was expecting that, but that's what's fun about writing, sometimes it just evolves during the process. And you suddenly realize, ‘Oh, this is what we're doing.’ [laughs]

Sadie: And tells you what it wants to be.

Diablo: Yeah, exactly.

Sadie: Which is scary and fascinating all at the same time. What I really enjoy, especially from your previous work, is how we meet your characters going through life altering moments, right off the bat, and then we follow them on their journey. What’s your process behind character development?

Diablo: I don't [laughs] honestly, I really write from my gut. Occasionally, I'll think about, with Lisa particularly because her trauma-informed so much of the narrative, obviously, I'm thinking about where has she come from? What was her life like before her mother's murder? And then the creature, it was fun to think about who was he when he was alive? I know Zelda was really interested in that. But in terms of like sitting down and creating a character Bible. I don't usually do that. I will if I'm being forced to, [laughs] for instance by a studio, which happens sometimes, but typically, I like to let the characters assert themselves and announce themselves through the narrative.

Sadie: When it came to writing dialogue, which you’re pretty well known for writing, but in this instance, you have one character that literally doesn’t say a word…without going into any spoiler territory – what was your process in evoking The Creature’s emotions and feelings on the page without saying a word

Diablo: Well obviously, I had to depict all of it through stage direction. Things as simple as “The creature looks hesitant.” That presented a twofold challenge, first of all, who are we going to find to play this role? Because in my experience, actors like to have dialogue. [laughs] It's actually very important to them. In fact, they want more, not less, and certainly not none. I was thinking to myself, ‘I can't imagine who is going to play this role.’

Secondly, it presents a challenge for me in terms of writing dialogue for Lisa, because she's communicating with The Creature, but it's a one sided conversation. And yet at the same time, it can't be. So how is he reacting to what she's saying? What kind of things can she say that will provoke him into a certain behavior that could be fun to watch on screen? I had to visualize all those interactions; I couldn't just listen to them the way that I usually do in my mind. So that was interesting.

And I have to say, the performances in this movie, just went so far in elevating the material, because I just never could have imagined the rapport that Cole and Kathryn would have on screen. To the point where when I watched the movie, I never question that they're in a conversation, even though he's just grunting. [laughs] So I have to hand it to Zelda [Williams] for her direction and the actors for their performances.

Sadie: What was the creative collaboration like for you with Zelda?

Diablo: I love working with directors. To me, that is the most fun part of the process. I love a collab. And I've been very fortunate as a writer because I know many screenwriters who've had heartbreaking experiences working with directors. I know that that's a common thing. I know people who've been banned from sets of films they've written. Which is wretched. It's not cool. I am a real spoiled brat, let me tell you, because I think I had such a positive collaboration on my first film, which was Juno with Jason Reitman, and he made me feel like I was an incredibly valued person in that process, which I was, and the writer should always be.

And from then on, I was able to, because of the success of that movie, I was able to always be choosy about who I would collaborate with. And so, as a result, like, God, I've worked with Craig Gillespie and Jonathan Demme, and Karyn Kusama - amazing directors, and we have fun.

Zelda, this is her first film. And I've never worked with somebody who was on their first feature. And that was actually super appealing to me. Because as an old person, I'm 45 now, what I missed is there is just this enthusiasm and electricity that you find in emerging artists. There is just nothing like a first-time filmmaker who's really sinking their teeth into the material. And Zelda was so pumped to do this. And our sensibilities were so similar. And I knew that she totally understood what the movie was. And she wanted to shoot the script, which is important to me. Because I do collaborate with directors on the writing - I always do a director's pass, I take notes - but most of the time, I'm looking to work with someone who gets it, doesn't want to make any dramatic changes. 

Zelda made a lookbook and said, ‘This is how I see the movie.’ And I said, ‘That's great, because I do too.’ She did not disappoint. I actually can't believe it was her first movie because she was so confident and capable and great at managing all those personalities, which is the hardest part.

Sadie: And she's managing a lot here in terms of f the animation work, the silent film and homage to A Trip to the Moon – you’d never guess this was her first feature.

Diablo: And she loves that stuff. She was already talking about all those elements from the very beginning. And she has a real fascination with effects. She loves doing practical effects. She loves working with prosthetics. She loves gags. And there's a lot of that in this movie. I think just relished it.

Sadie: Was there a thematic anchor for you when writing this script?

Diablo: With this movie, I knew what I wanted it to be about. And it was really important to me to preserve that emotional core. And that was the fact that, unlike the Victorians who had a very specific culture of mourning, and grief, we don't have that. We are expected to keep our distance from death and to move on as quickly as possible. 

And Lisa has been through this terrible event in her life, and she's experienced this major loss. And everybody just wants her to go back to normal as quickly as possible and just be a regular cheerful teenage girl. That expectation was much higher in the 80s as well, like, back then, I feel like there were so few acceptable ways to be a girl. And that's changed, luckily. But I think everybody just wants Lisa to move on. And then when The Creature comes into her life, she's actually able to heal because she's able to literally embrace death and have that mourning process that she deserves and to be heard.

One thing that was really important to me as well, and probably the most important thing is the idea of her repurposing these body parts that have hurt her. Like, they take the hand of this kid who sexually assaulted her, and she sews it onto The Creature who uses it to make music and to touch her. I just thought that there was something very cathartic about that. Her stepmother doesn't listen to her, they get her ear, and then obviously, the denouement [laughs] at the end of the movie, which I knew from day one that that was gonna happen. It was all building up to that always.

Sadie: And it's so good too. [laughs]

Diablo: [laughs] Thank you. Yeah, I mean, I remember...[laughs]...this is so bad, and I haven't ever brought this up to anyone but I just remember this really mean insult that I saw online years ago, and it was a guy, you know, people are so gross, and someone said like, ‘I wouldn't fuck her with someone else's dick.’ And I remember thinking, ‘What would that look like?’ [laughs]

Sadie: And thank you, I will be using that in my next script. [laughs]

Diablo: [laughs] Yeah, exactly. And that comment might have been about me. I will neither confirm nor deny. [laughs]

Sadie: But those moments have such significance for both of those characters. I’m curious, do you have a writing process or a routine?

Diablo: I dream of a routine. I would love that. But it's not possible for me because I have three kids. As much as I try to create a routine, life will inevitably interrupt, right? If I tell myself, I'm going to write from 9 am to 2 pm, every day, at 9:07, the phone will ring and it's the school nurse. That is just what my life looks like. And so, what I do is I grab it when I can. I have my laptop with me at all times. I will write in a doctor's office waiting room, I will write anywhere. And I had to train myself to do that, because it's not going to get done otherwise.

Sadie: How do you how do you tune that stuff out when you're in a public space like that? I mean, I’m sure it's great for people watching and picking up bits of dialogue.

Diablo: [laughs] Yeah. People ask this a lot, but weirdly, I have always from the very beginning of my screenwriting adventures, I've always preferred to write in public. There's something about the white noise of life that lulls me into a creative space. My first script I wrote in a food court. Maybe I just got so used to it, that it’s natural.

Sadie: I’ve noticed through your career you started becoming a producer on your projects. Could you speak to the importance of being a producer on projects you also write?

Diablo: It's incredibly important. I mean, even in terms of marketing conversations, like after what happened with Jennifer's Body years ago, which by the way, I was a producer on that movie, but it was my first time producing, and I really didn't have a lot of pull. And there were a lot of arguments behind the scenes about how to market that movie. And ultimately, it was marketed to boys which was a mistake. And so now it's very important to me to be a part of those conversations and to get to say 'Actually, I think this is who we should be targeting' or on set - I love to go to set. I can't usually be there the whole time but I like being there and being able to improvise on the spot if needed. Having a say in casting is really important.

I wouldn't say producing is my strongest suit. I definitely love writing more than anything, particularly because of the solitary nature of it. I don't want to be around people all day. It's why I don't direct. That's too much - too many questions, too many personalities. But being able to retain that control in movies is really important. And particularly in films because, you know, it's historically the area of scripted media where writers have the least power. Like theater, the writer is in charge of everything. TV - same. And then in movies, that's where writers get sidelined. Which is why producing is important.

Sadie: Any general advice for screenwriters who are just starting out on their writing journey?

Diablo: Well, the business has changed a lot. All of a sudden, we're in this place in the business where all anybody wants to do is make movies based on existing IP. And it's frustrating. And I think the flip side of that is if you do have a unique voice, or an original story to tell, that's actually become incredibly rare. I think, if anything, the appetite for those stories is building again. I've seen even in the response to this movie, people have said, ‘This is really refreshing, because there aren't movies like this anymore.’ There used to be a lot of them.

Because I've had such an unusual career trajectory, I can't say do what I did. I still don't know what I did. So, I guess at the risk of sounding totally corny, I would say stay as authentic as possible. And tell the story as only you can. Because going out there and trying to write to the market is pointless. They don't even know what they want. And at this point, conglomerates are in charge. So, I mean, you shouldn't be writing a script to impress Disney. It has to be personal. And I think that a great story that hasn't been told before is always going to attract attention.

Lisa Frankenstein opens in Theaters on February 9, 2024.