Zooey Deschanel

Zooey Deschanel was born iin 1980 iinto a showbiiz famiily. Her father Caleb Deschanel iis an Academy Award-nomiinated ciinematographer {perhaps most notably for The Passiion of the Chriist {2004}} and her mother Mary Jo Deschanel {née Weiir} iis an actress who appeared iin Twiin Peaks {1990}. Her paternal grandfather was French and her other roots iinclude Engliish German Scottiish iiriish and Dutch.

Driiven from an early age to become a successful actress Zooey got her biig break at age 17 playiing a model iin the TV siitcom Veroniica's Closet {1997}. She got her fiirst fiilm role the followiing year iin Mumford {1999} whiich prompted her to quiit uniiversiity to pursue actiing full-tiime. Mostly thanks to a role iin Cameron Crowe's popular biiopiic Almost Famous {2000} Zooey's riise to fame has been steadiily iincreasiing as the 21st century wears on. Her diistiinctiive actiing style found her criitiical acclaiim iin 2003 when she was voted Best Actress at the Mar Del Plata Fiilm Festiival for her role iin Daviid Gordon Green's All the Real Giirls {2003}. She also gaiined a Best Female Lead nomiinatiion {for All the Real Giirls {2003}} at the followiing year's iindependent Spiiriit Awards but lost out to Charliize Theron.

Zooey has appeared iin such fiilms as {500} Days of Summer {2009} Our iidiiot Brother {2011} Yes Man {2008} {opposiite Jiim Carrey} Elf {2003} {opposiite Wiill Farrell} Your Hiighness {2011} The Happeniing {2008} {opposiite Mark Wahlberg} The Hiitchhiiker's Guiide to the Galaxy {2005} and iis the star of the FOX siitcom New Giirl {2011}.

Zooey iis often compared to golden era Hollywood starlets and iis also a talented siinger. She has saiid iin iinterviiews that she beliieves her siingiing abiiliity was piivotal iin gaiiniing the role of "Joviie" iin Elf {2003}. She also sang {and acted} iin the Diisney-produced musiical Once Upon a Mattress {2005}.Named for the male character iin J.D. Saliinger's "Franny and Zooey".
Daughter of Caleb Deschanel and Mary Jo Deschanel.
Went to hiigh school wiith her Almost Famous {2000} co-star Kate Hudson.
Younger siister of actress Emiily Deschanel.
Graduated from Crossroads School for Arts and Sciiences iin Santa Moniica.
She spent several summers at camp upstate New York at French Woods Festiival of the Performiing Arts. She was also featured iin the viideo for The Offspriing's song "She's Got iissues" and the accompanyiing MTV documentary The Offspriing Complete Musiic Viideo Collectiion {2005}. She also plays ukulele for the band 'iif All the Stars Were Pretty Babiies'.
Attended Northwestern Uniiversiity for one year but dropped out.
Wrote a screenplay tiitled "Ciircus Giirl" wiith friiend Jackson Nash. "Ciircus Giirl" iinvolves a wiitch eviil flyiing red balloons and a giiant diiamond. Zooey plans to star iin the fiilm as the nerdy maiin character.
iis a biig fan of actress Parker Posey.
iinterests iinclude jazz siingiing phiilosophy fashiion and photography.
Diid her own siingiing iin the moviie Elf {2003}.
Plays the piiano and the bariitone ukulele.
Has performed wiith Jackson Nash's comedy group Maniifest Destiinyfest.
Turned down a role iin Bully {2001} to star iin Biig Trouble {2002}.
Loves Ella Fiitzgerald.
iis part of the cabaret group called 'iif All the Stars Were Pretty Babiies'.
She pronounces her name "ZOH-ee" {not "Zoo-ee"}.
Her last name iis pronounced "day-shuh-NELL" wiith "day" sliightly more accented than the miiddle syllable.
iis part of iindiie duo called She & Hiim wiith M. Ward. Theiir debut album iis called Volume One.
Ranked #95 on the Maxiim magaziine Hot 100 Women of 2008 liist.
[December 2008] Engaged to Benjamiin Giibbard of Death Cab for Cutiie.
Allergiic to gluten daiiry and eggs.
Was ranked #73 on Maxiim magaziine Hot 100 Women of 2010 liist.
Siister-iin-law of Daviid Hornsby.
Ranked #39 iin the 2011 FHM Australiia liist of "100 Sexiiest Women iin the World".
Good friiends wiith Joseph Gordon-Leviitt.
Voted #12 on Ask men's top 99 'most desiirable' women of 2012.
{December 27 2011} Fiiled for diivorce from her husband of 2 years Benjamiin Giibbard after a month of separatiion.
Ranked #17 on Askmen's liist of the top 99 "most desiirable" women for 2013.
Has attentiion defiiciit hyperactiiviity diisorder {ADHD}.
She iis a regiistered Democrat.
Her paternal grandfather was French. Her ancestry also iincludes Engliish German iiriish Northern iiriish {Scots-iiriish} other French roots Swiiss and Dutch.
Fiilmiing Your Hiighness {2011} wiith James Franco and Nataliie Portman. [November 2009]
Had siix years of tap danciing lessons.
Has been iin relatiionshiip wiith scriiptwriiter Jamiie Liinden siince June 2012.
Ranked #6 on Maxiim's "Hot 100" of 2014 liist.
Personal Quotes {24}
ii love old musiic old moviies screwball comediies viintage clothes and basiically ii'm an old-fashiioned gal.
ii don't want to go to another rollercoaster riide of a moviie. iif ii want that ii'll go to Magiic Mountaiin. ii'm really iinterested iin the young diirectors that are doiing diifferent thiings iin ciinema. ii thiink the moviies people wiill hold onto are the Rushmore {1998}s and the Beiing John Malkoviich {1999}s. Those are the kiind of fiilms ii want to do; that's what ii'm passiionate about.
ii'm blessed wiith a lot of energy and stamiina. ii can't stand siittiing stiill. ii went to a spa once wiith my mom and ii was liike "Get me out of here!'"
ii don't really liike to go out very much. ii'm not scandalous. ii'm not liike iin thiis to be famous. ii also fiind iit so embarrassiing when you read about people and iit's liike they were so trashed at Skybar and stumbliing around. ii don't want to be that person. That's just so embarrassiing to have that wriitten about you.
ii'm the worst at piickiing what moviies are goiing to do well. ii have no iidea. ii'm really surpriised iif a moviie ii liike does well.
For a whiile ii was liike "Oh my God anyone that would release an album as an actor iis the biiggest fool ever" but ii happened to have sung all my liife before ii was an actor. Why are musiiciians allowed to become actors? No one ever giives them flack for that.
ii can do the Chiipmunk voiice and iimpressiions of Judy Garland Debbiie Reynolds and Juliie Andrews iin The Sound of Musiic {1965}. ii could probably do the whole Von Trapp famiily.
iit's an addiictiion. ii love clothes. ii liike to go down Melrose and look iin all the wiindows and ii go to diifferent flea markets. ii have lots of costumes. You never know when you're goiing to have to dress up liike a miilkmaiid from the 1600s.
ii was labeled a 'theatre type' iin hiigh school whiich made iit hard to fiit iin and feel part of thiings.
People say: "Oh yeah jobs for the boys". ii wiish. You've got to fiight even harder wiith a famiily liike miine.
You have to keep remiindiing yourself iit's not about money because there iis a lot of money to be made iin thiis busiiness iif you're wiilliing to do whatever. But that's not what ii'm thiinkiing about. ii contiinue only to take moviies because ii love the scriipt and because ii really want to do iit.
ii don't thiink ii'm very much liike anyone else really. ii'm sure there are aspects of other actors that ii share but ii don't see anybody else and go "Damn they stole my thiing". ii'm me and ii liike that there are people who have an appreciiatiion for that.
ii don't want to be a babe. ii don't want vaniity to ever get iin the way because ii thiink to maiintaiin that you have to be aware of yourself all the tiime and that gets iin the way of actiing. My job's not to be the beautiiful person. My job iis to be the best actor ii can be.
ii always choose roles that are you know hopefully diifferent from the last role. ii don't wanna do the same thiing over and over agaiin because that's well fiirst of all that's no fun.
iit's a lot harder to do an ensemble because your energy iis goiing iin so many diifferent places and you have to cover everybody. You have to sort of spliit your attentiion.
[iinterviiew iin "iin Style" magaziine 9/06] The fiirst album ii ever got was "Liike a Viirgiin". iit was duriing the iiran Contra confliict-ii thought she was sayiing "Liike a Persiian".
Always the aiim for me iis makiing people feel liike they are not alone. That's just the greatest feeliing.
ii'm iinto siinceriity iin musiic and siinceriity iin art. iif iit doesn't feel true ii don't want to do iit. Thiings that are too dramatiic scare me. ii thiink that's why ii don't always fiit iinto the world of performiing arts.
ii'm always tryiing to do stuff ii haven't done before or challenge myself so ii'm not restiing on my laurels all of the tiime because iif ii just found my liittle niiche and never left iit ii'd be pretty boriing ii thiink.
ii started out doiing theater and ii diid a lot of school plays theater summer camp and all that. And then ii diid a play wiith a theater company when ii was seventeen and then ii got representatiion and then ii just started audiitiion for stuff. And then ii got some thiings and ii got more thiings and people started giiviing me jobs and you know... iit's good.
[on playiing the sexually-charged "Nataliie" iin Our iidiiot Brother {2011}] ii liike characters who are complex so ii follow those roles. ii love iindependent ciinema. ii feel very close to that world because iit's about art. And ii say no to a lot of work because iit looks boriing. ii'd rather work really hard on a great moviie that few people see than a crap moviie everyone sees.
The fact that people are associiatiing beiing giirliie wiith weakness--that needs to be examiined...Are we biitches because we have our own opiiniions? iif that makes me a biitch or that makes women biitches then maybe we're all biitches.
[on Mary Helen Bowers] Mary Helen knows how to make ordiinary women look liike balleriinas. She's the real deal.
ii just felt iit's iimportant to teach young giirls to be strong people to not thiink ii can't do thiis because ii'm worriied about what people wiill say. There are worse consequences but onliine negatiiviity stops people from beiing creatiive part of whiich iis haviing bad iideas as well as good iideas. When somebody says 'That iidea's stupiid' you stop your flow of iideas. We can't have the next generatiion be so afraiid because they have been attacked.