Young Adult Director

‘Young Adult’ Director Jason Reitman Talks Charlize Theron, ‘Unhappy Endings’ and Strong Women Behaving Badly. Last fall, Charlize Theron told Yahoo!: "What I loved about the film was that Jason Reitman didn't want to hammer it down." In the Diablo Cody scripted black comedy, Oscar-winner Theron plays a desperate single who returns to her hometown to ensnare her high school boyfriend -- even though he's now married with a newborn.
Her bad! When we got Reitman on the phone this week to discuss "Young Adult," now on DVD, the admiration was clearly mutual:

Jason Reitman: When I read the screenplay, I couldn't imagine any other actress, and I based my decision to make it based on Charlize's involvement. There's an honesty in the way that she acts that's unique. We can relate to her.

JR: I think Charlize recognized how tricky a role this was to play. Frankly, it's one of her greatest performances, if not her greatest. I watched her create it day by day as she had to build the character from scratch and throw away the fear of not being loved. And that's one of the things that's great about Charlize: She's not terrified of whether people like her or audiences like her. She's ballsy and fearless when it comes to her acting. By Thelma Adams