When he burst onto the scene with Thank You for Smoking in 2005, Jason Reitman was commonly referred to as “the son of that guy who made Ghostbusters.” Luckily for Reitman, his first film was a huge success, financially and critically, and the 30-year-old is already looking likely to surpass his famous father (although he will need to cast Arnold Schwarzenegger in two films sooner rather than later).

Reitman returns to the big screen on Dec. 14 with the heartwarming Juno. The film, starring Ellen Page (Hard Candy) and Michael Cera of Superbad fame, chronicles the pregnancy of Juno, Page’s 16-year-old girl who is forced to mature quickly when some errant sperm changes her teenage life. With a sparkling screenplay from Hollywood newcomer and former blogger Diablo Cody that packs in the quirky pop-culture references, along with fantastic performances from Page, Cera and his former Arrested Development father Jason Bateman, Juno is a gem of a film, a well-shot story of personal growth that never strays from its modest intentions. Reitman sat down with The Muse recently to discuss his new film, his directing strengths and his favorite mid-90s disaster films. 

You’ve made two comedies so far, fairly deep comedies about serious issues, but still obviously comedies. Do you think you’re going to expand out into dramas, or have you found your niche? 

I just like smart stuff. I like smart material. I like stuff that’s not politically correct. So I’ve been drawn to a few different things, like I have two scripts I bought, I got a script I’m writing, I got a script I’ve kind of hired a writer to write. And they’re all very different, they all have humor to them, although some are more dramatic than others. For me, it’s just kind of how sharp are they, and how unusual are they. I don’t want to make an ordinary comedy. I don’t want to make something that I feel like I’ve already seen. 

Going into production, I’m sure you knew about the other scripts that dealt with pregnancy and stuff at this time, Knocked Up and such. How did you deal with them? 

I wasn’t that aware of them, to be perfectly honest. I read Juno a while ago, fell in love with it and wanted to make it. Knocked Up started to show up on the horizon and I only saw it after I shot the movie. And Waitress, I saw it after I shot Juno as well, so they really didn’t have an effect on what I was doing. 

This isn’t the first time a bunch of films are produced in the mainstream that have the same sort of thematic elements . . .

You’re right. The question is, “Am I Dante’s Peak or am I Volcano?” 

Which would you be? 

That’s the question. Dante’s Peak is a better name. Volcano at the time seemed cooler, but Dante’s Peak, in the end, is the name that has remained. I mean, Volcano is about a volcano going off in Los Angeles – it’s really weird. And Anne Heche was like a volcano expert. So I guess I hope I’m the Dante’s Peak of this year. That answers the question, right? 

Considering you’ve only made two movies, you’ve put together some pretty impressive casts. Especially Thank You, but this one felt more personal and more appropriate. Do you think it’s just luck that you’ve been able to get such good actors on board with your projects? 

I am lucky. I mean, with Thank You for Smoking, I had this great book, and with Juno I had this great screenplay, so in both cases I think it’s a piece of material, a piece of material that draws the cast. They just get excited about it. An actor needs to be able to read something and go, “I want to be the guy who gets to say that.” and I think that’s what draws them at the end of the day. Fortunately I’ve had a book that had great dialogue and a screenplay that had great dialogue. 

One of the best parts of your film is the idea of balance between comedy and drama. You allow your characters to be silent and give them a good deal of restraint, and then there are outbursts, but its never overbearing.  

I consider myself a rhythmic filmmaker. Every filmmaker has their gift: David Fincher has great gifts in technical ability, lighting and style; the Coen Brothers have the ability to create tension like no other director. I think my gift is for rhythm and tone. It’s like music for me. I can just sense when it’s out of rhythm, just like if you were listening to a song. And totally I feel like I can just watch and feel whether it’s in tone or out of tone. And it’s a guttural thing. It’s something that just kinda happens within me. Usually it’s a response to whether it feels honest or not.

The greatest advice my father ever gave me, the day before I started shooting Thank You for Smoking, he called me up and said, “Don’t worry about making it seem funny. Don’t worry about making it seem dramatic because you can’t. Just watch the scene and ask yourself, ‘Does it seem real? Does it seem honest?’ If it’s not, change it, and if it does, you have to trust your screenplay.”