There are a million and one reasons why I love Ellen Page in "Juno" (opening Friday in Sacramento - here's my interview with Page that ran in Sunday's Ticket+), but maybe one of the biggest is that, like me, she's a self-confessed music freak.
"I'm a huge music fan and I get very emotionally connected to music," Page told me during our recent interview.
Which meant that when "Juno" director Jason Reitman asked Page what kind of music her pregnant 16-year-old character might like, the 20-year-old actress (pictured with movie baby daddy Michael Cera) already had it figured out.
"I told him the Moldy Peaches - Jason didn't know who they were so I played him a CD and he just totally fell in love with them," Page says.
Loved 'em so much, in fact, that Reitman contacted Moldy Peaches singer Kimya Dawson to see if she wanted to contribute to the film's soundtrack.
Dawson's solo stuff, like her band's, is part of the so-called "anti-folk" movement - meaning it's soft and acoustic but not exactly sweet, placid, earnest or rabble-rousing.
It is, however, intimate, sassy and smart and perfectly fits the film's quirky nature - and young Juno MacGuff's personality
So much so that Juno gets to sing the Moldy Peaches' "Anyone Else But You" in a scene for the film.
It almost goes without saying that Page was over-the-moon about this opportunity.
"That song's been in my life for years - it's on a lot of my 'Hey, good sir, want to fall in love with me?' CD mixes," she says. "I put that song on the mix CD I gave to my first boyfriend in high school."
And yes, just like Juno, Page can sing and play guitar - she's even done a few coffeehouse gigs in her native Halifax, Nova Scotia.
You know, if this acting thing doesn't work out for her (although Page did just snag a Golden Globe "Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical" nomination for her "Juno" role), it's good to know she's got another talent to fall back on.
Also, the "Juno" soundtrack doesn't come out on CD until Jan. 15. Until then, check out Dawson's music over at her MySpace page.
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