Zooey Deschanel



Zooey Claire Deschanel (born January 17, 1980) is an American actress and singer-songwriter. In 1999, she made her film debut in Mumford, followed by her role as Anita Miller in Cameron Crowe's 2000 semi-autobiographical film Almost Famous. Deschanel soon became known for her deadpan comedy roles in films such as The Good Girl (2002), The New Guy (2002), Elf (2003), The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005), Failure to Launch (2006), Yes Man (2008), and (500) Days of Summer (2009). She also did dramatic turns in the films Manic (2001), All the Real Girls (2003), Winter Passing (2005) and Bridge to Terabithia (2007). Since 2011, she has played Jessica Day on the Fox sitcom New Girl, for which she has received an Emmy Award nomination and three Golden Globe Award nominations. USA Today described her performance as "Given a role tailored to launch her from respected indie actor to certified TV star, Deschanel soars, combining well-honed skills with a natural charm."

For a few years starting in 2001, Deschanel performed in the jazz cabaret act If All the Stars Were Pretty Babies with fellow actress Samantha Shelton. Besides singing, she plays keyboards, percussion, banjo, and ukulele. In 2006, Deschanel teamed up with M. Ward to release a debut album, Volume One, under the name She & Him in March 2008. They released a follow-up album, Volume Two, in the U.S. in March 2010, with their Christmas album A Very She & Him Christmas being released in 2011, Volume 3 in 2013, and Classics in 2014. She also received Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media nomination for her song So Long, which featured in the Winnie the Pooh soundtrack.

Deschanel is also a co-founder of the female-focused website HelloGiggles, which was acquired by Time, Inc. in 2015.

Early life
Deschanel was born January 17, 1980, in Los Angeles, California. She is the younger daughter of cinematographer and director Caleb Deschanel and actress Mary Jo Deschanel (née Weir). Her paternal grandfather was French, from Oullins, Rhône; her roots also include Swiss, Dutch, English, Irish, and other French ancestry. She was named after Zooey Glass, the male protagonist of J. D. Salinger's 1961 novella Franny and Zooey. Her older sister is actress Emily Deschanel, who stars in the Fox crime comedy-drama series Bones.

Deschanel lived in Los Angeles, but spent much of her childhood traveling because her father shot films on location; she later said that she "hated all the traveling ... I'm really happy now that I had the experience, but at the time I was just so miserable to have to leave my friends in Los Angeles and go to places where they didn't have any food I liked or things I was used to." She attended Crossroads, a private preparatory school in Santa Monica, where she befriended future co-stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Kate Hudson. She sang throughout high school, planning to pursue a career in musical theatre and attending French Woods Festival of the Performing Arts. She attended Northwestern University for nine months before dropping out to pursue acting.

Acting
Deschanel had a guest appearance on the television series Veronica's Closet before making her film debut in Lawrence Kasdan's 1999 comedy Mumford, and later in the year she appeared (non-singing) in the music video for The Offspring's single "She's Got Issues". Deschanel co-starred in Cameron Crowe's semi-autobiographical Almost Famous (2000) where she played Anita Miller, the protagonist's rebellious older sister. The film received critical praise, but was not a box office success. She also appeared as Jimmy Fallon's girlfriend in the music video for his single, "Idiot Boyfriend".

Deschanel's subsequent film credits include Manic (2001), with Don Cheadle and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Big Trouble (2002), with Tim Allen and Rene Russo, Abandon (2002) alongside Katie Holmes, Benjamin Bratt and Melanie Lynskey, and The Good Girl (2002) alongside Jennifer Aniston and Jake Gyllenhaal. In late 2002, The New York Times reported that Deschanel was "one of Hollywood's most sought-after young stars," and the Los Angeles Times wrote in early 2003 that Deschanel had become a recognizable type, due to "her deadpan, sardonic and scene-stealing [film] performances" as the protagonist's best friend. Deschanel objected to her typecasting, arguing, "A lot of these roles are just a formula idea of somebody's best friend, and it's like, I don't even have that many friends. In high school, I stayed home all the time, so I don't know how I'm everybody's best friend now."

In 2002, Deschanel appeared in Frasier, in the season ten episode titled "Kissing Cousin" as Roz Doyle's out-of-control cousin, Jen. That year, she also appeared in the film The New Guy as Nora, the guitar player in the lead character's band Suburban Funk.

After turning down several supporting roles, Deschanel made her leading debut in All the Real Girls (2003) as Noel, a sexually curious 18-year-old virgin who has a life-changing romance with an aimless 22-year-old. Her performance received critical praise, and she was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Actress. Later in 2003, Deschanel co-starred opposite Will Ferrell in the comedy Elf as a deadpan department store worker, which became a box office hit.

In 2004, Deschanel starred in Eulogy. In 2005, she played Trillian in the film adaptation of Douglas Adams' science fiction novel The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and starred as Reese Holden in Winter Passing, with supporting role from Will Ferrell. Then Deschanel played Sarah Jessica Parker's neurotic roommate in Failure to Launch (2006) and had a recurring role in four episodes of the Showtime television series Weeds from 2006 to 2007 where she played Kat, Andy Botwin's quirky ex-girlfriend. In September 2006, it was announced that Deschanel had signed on to play 1960s singer Janis Joplin in the film The Gospel According to Janis, to be co-written and directed by Penelope Spheeris. The film was scheduled to begin shooting in 2006, but was then postponed indefinitely; it was then resurrected again, with a planned release date of 2012, before being cancelled altogether in 2011. Deschanel expressed frustration with the cancellation, saying she had spent three years working on imitating Joplin's scratchy singing voice.

In 2007, Deschanel appeared in two children's films that were Bridge to Terabithia, in which she played Jesse's quirky music teacher, and the animated film Surf's Up where she voiced Lani Aliikai, a penguin. She starred as DG in the Sci Fi Channel miniseries Tin Man, a re-imagined science fiction version of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, which aired in December 2007. Deschanel also narrated the children's book Players in Pigtails. On April 27, 2008, she appeared on The Simpsons where she voiced Mary, Cletus's daughter, and in June she co-starred opposite Mark Wahlberg in M. Night Shyamalan's horror film The Happening. Also in 2008, Deschanel co-starred in Gigantic, and later that year in the comedy film Yes Man, opposite Jim Carrey. In 2009, Deschanel co-starred in the title role in the romantic comedy-drama (500) Days of Summer, opposite her Manic co-star Joseph Gordon-Levitt which was about the development and demise of a relationship. The film received widespread praise. The film received a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Motion Picture (Comedy or Musical), losing to The Hangover.

In December 2009, Deschanel guest-starred in a Christmas episode of the Fox crime procedural comedy-drama Bones. In the first-ever on-screen pairing of the Deschanel sisters, Zooey played Margaret Whitesell, a distant cousin of Emily's Dr. Temperance Brennan. Brennan's father, Max Keenan (guest star Ryan O'Neal), invites Margaret to spend Christmas with him and his daughter.

In 2010, she was in a television pilot for HBO titled I'm with the Band: Confessions of a Groupie, where she played the role of Pamela Des Barres, but it was passed by the network. In 2011, Deschanel co-starred in the fantasy-comedy film Your Highness with Danny McBride and James Franco, where she played Belladonna.

In September 2011, Deschanel began starring as Jess Day on the Fox sitcom New Girl, created by Elizabeth Meriwether. She has received one Emmy and three Golden Globe nominations for her role on the show.

Deschanel hosted Saturday Night Live on February 11, 2012.

Film-related music
Deschanel made her on-screen singing debut in The New Guy (2002). In Elf, she sings with Will Ferrell in the bathroom shower scene on "Baby, It's Cold Outside", and was also heard singing it on the soundtrack with Leon Redbone. Her piano composition "Bittersuite" was used thematically in the dark, off-beat 2004 dramedy Winter Passing, in which she co-starred with Will Ferrell and Ed Harris. Subsequently, Deschanel also sings "My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean" in Winter Passing.

Others include: the television musical Once Upon a Mattress ("An Opening for a Princess", "In a Little While", "Normandy", and "Yesterday I Loved You"); an old cabaret song in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford ("A Bird in a Gilded Cage"); and the 2007 short film Raving ("Hello, Dolly!"). Deschanel and the cast of school children sing the Steve Earle song "Someday" and War's "Why Can't We Be Friends?" in the 2007 film Bridge to Terabithia.

In the film Yes Man, Deschanel sings several songs featured in the film and on the film soundtrack, and is shown singing "Uh-Huh" and "Sweet Ballad" with San Franciscan all-girl electro soul-punk group Von Iva in a fictional band called "Munchausen by Proxy". In (500) Days of Summer Deschanel sings a cover of The Smiths' "Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want" and it appears on the soundtrack of the film, as performed by She & Him. She also sings a cover of "Sugar Town" by Nancy Sinatra. Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt did a music video, called Bank Dance, directed by (500) Days of Summer director Marc Webb, to accompany the film. It uses the She & Him song "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?", and some complicated choreography, choreographed by Michael Rooney. Mason Novick, the film's producer said, "We made the short because Zooey came in and said, 'I have this idea ... because I didn't get to dance in the movie'" (as Gordon-Levitt did).

Deschanel sings "The Greatest Most Beautiful Love Song in All the Land" with James Franco in the film Your Highness. She also appears with M. Ward in a number of songs on the soundtrack album for Disney's 2011 animated version of Winnie the Pooh. Deschanel wrote and performed the theme song to New Girl. Also, in season three's episode "Prince", the song "Fallinlove2nite" is sung by Deschanel and Prince.

Music
In 2001, Deschanel formed If All the Stars Were Pretty Babies, a jazz cabaret act with fellow actress Samantha Shelton. The pair performed around Los Angeles.

In March 2007, Deschanel contributed vocals to two songs "Slowly" and "Ask Her to Dance" on the album Nighttiming by Jason Schwartzman's band Coconut Records. In May 2007, singer-songwriter M. Ward, who had previously performed with Deschanel on-stage, said that he was "just finishing work" on her debut album, which featured songs written by Deschanel and produced by Ward. Fox reported that Deschanel and Ward were recording under the moniker She & Him. Their first album, titled Volume One, was released by Merge Records on March 18, 2008.

On March 23, 2010, the second She & Him album, Volume Two, was released. In the spring of 2010, She & Him went on tour in the USA and Europe to promote the album. Deschanel and M. Ward both featured on The Place We Ran From, the 2010 album by Snow Patrol member Gary Lightbody's side project, Tired Pony. Deschanel contributed vocals to the tracks "Get on the Road" and "Point Me at Lost Islands", while M. Ward contributed vocals and guitar to the track "Held in the Arms of Your Words" and guitar to the track "That Silver Necklace".

Deschanel recorded "The Fabric of My Life" for a 2009 advertising campaign for Cotton Incorporated. Deschanel performed "God Bless America" during the seventh-inning stretch in game three of the National League Championship Series between the Philadelphia Phillies and San Francisco Giants on October 19, 2010 at AT&T Park in San Francisco. On October 23, 2011, Deschanel performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" before game four of the World Series between the Texas Rangers and the St. Louis Cardinals at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Texas. Deschanel contributed a cover of Buddy Holly's "It's So Easy" for the tribute album Listen to Me: Buddy Holly, released on September 6, 2011. She had previously appeared on Rave On Buddy Holly with She & Him performing "Oh, Boy!", released in June 2011.

A Very She & Him Christmas was announced on Pitchfork.com in September 2011. The 12-track Christmas album was released October 25, 2011, under Merge Records. On December 28, 2011, she and Joseph Gordon-Levitt recorded an informal version of "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?" for her HelloGiggles YouTube channel. It was immensely popular and within four days had over 6 million views.

Deschanel is also featured on She & Him bandmate M. Ward's sixth solo album, A Wasteland Companion.

Deschanel appeared as a guest vocalist on Brian Wilson's album No Pier Pressure.

Businesswoman
In May 2011, after the success of her HelloGiggles YouTube channel, Deschanel, along with producer Sophia Rossi and writer Molly McAleer, founded the website HelloGiggles.com, an entertainment website geared towards women. HelloGiggles.com was acquired by Time, Inc. in 2015.

Other work
On September 27, 1999, Deschanel starred as herself in the music video "She's Got Issues" for The Offspring. Deschanel was a judge for the ninth Independent Music Awards.

In 2005, she modeled for Chanel and Clements Ribeiro. She has signed on to represent Rimmel. In 2012, she was featured in a commercial for the iPhone 4S (Siri).

During a May 2012 performance at the Ryman Auditorium, country music singer Loretta Lynn announced that she was in the development stages of creating a Broadway musical from her autobiography and Deschanel would play the title role. Lynn said, "...there's a little girl back stage that's going to do the play of 'Coal Miner's Daughter' on Broadway." She then brought Deschanel onstage and the two sang a duet of the title song.

On September 21, 2012, it was announced that Deschanel was producing the comedy Must Be Nice, written by New Girl consulting producer J. J. Philbin.

Personal life
Deschanel is allergic to eggs, dairy, and wheat gluten. She used to be a vegan which, according to a March 2010 interview with Health magazine, she had to give up because her food sensitivities made it too difficult for her to stay healthy on a vegan diet. A year prior to giving up her vegan diet, she was featured on episode eight of season one of Bravo's Top Chef Masters, in which the chefs participating in the competition were challenged to cater a vegan lunch party for her family and friends using no eggs, dairy, soy or gluten.

Deschanel has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

In December 2008, Deschanel became engaged to musician Ben Gibbard, lead vocalist for Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service. They married on September 19, 2009, near Seattle, Washington. On November 1, 2011, they announced their separation. Deschanel subsequently filed for divorce on December 27, 2011, citing "irreconcilable differences." The divorce was finalized on December 12, 2012.

In 2014, Deschanel began dating producer Jacob Pechenik. In January 2015, she confirmed their engagement. On June 21, 2015, they were secretly married in Texas, as court records later revealed. In July that same year, she gave birth to their daughter Elsie Otter, a name the actress says derived from her love of otters.

In January 2017, it was confirmed the couple is expecting their second child together.

She & Him

 * Studio albums
 * Volume One (2008)
 * Volume Two (2010)
 * A Very She & Him Christmas (2011)
 * Volume 3 (2013)
 * Classics (2014)
 * Christmas Party (2016)

Soundtracks
 * 2009: Sweetheart "I Put A Spell On You" (Starbucks' CD)
 * 2007: The Go-Getter "When I Get To The Border"
 * 2009: (500) Days of Summer "Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want"