early years
The actress was born in Los Angeles on January 17, 1980, her full name is Zooey Claire Deschanel. The parents, a Hollywood cameraman and actress, gave their youngest daughter the name from their favorite Jerome Salinger story “Frank and Zoe.”
Zooey Deschanel as a child with her father on set
Her 4-year-older sister Emily dreamed of being an actress from early childhood, but Zoe was not sure about her choice of profession - she was more attracted to music and studied vocals. After graduating from school, the girl entered Northwestern University, but did not study there for even a year, realizing that she also wanted to become an actress.
Main roles played by Zoe
Zooey Deschanel first landed a starring role in the 2002 comedy Tough Guy. The hero of this picture, Dizzy, dreams of becoming the first macho man in the new school. Deschanel played Nora, Dizzy's girlfriend.
In 2005, the actress was invited to play the role of Trillian in the adventure film The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. This project paid off well at the box office.
Zoe played a very colorful character in the comedy “Love and Other Troubles” with Sarah Jessica Parker. Deschanel played Paula's close friend, a professional seductress. The heroine Zoe was constantly irritated by everything, she whiled away the evenings hugging a bottle, and was generally unsociable.
In 2007, Deschanel played Poussey in the comedy by Michael Lehmann, and then appeared as Allison opposite Jim Carrey in the comedy "Hopeless."
Critics recognize her best work as her participation in the film “500 Days of Summer.” This romantic comedy was directed by Marc Webb and was about the relationship of two young people. Zoe's lover was played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
In 2006, the actress began starring in the series New Girl, which was extended until 2020. By the way, in the United States, Deschanel has recently been identified mainly with her character Jess from this serial film. This irritates Zoe a little, but she still doesn’t leave the project.
Actor career
Zoe began her creative career in 1998 with a small role in the serial project “Veronica’s Salon”, and the following year she played in the film “Doctor Mumford”.
Zooey Deschanel in her youth
In the musical comedy Almost Famous, the girl played the role of Anita, the sister of the main character, played by Patrick Fugit. In this film she had the chance to demonstrate her musical talent, which was noted by both critics and viewers. Despite warm reviews, the film did not become a breakthrough in Zoya’s career, and for several more years the girl agreed to minor roles, continuing to hone her acting skills.
In 2003, Zoe was cast in the role of the virgin Noelle in the film about love “All the Real Girls.” The role of her lover Paul, who exchanges his life for fleeting hobbies, was played by Paul Schneider. A beautiful and light story about the love of such different people became popular and brought Zoya the Independent Spirit film award.
Zooey Deschanel and Paul Schneider in the movie "All the Real Girls"
The following works of the actress from 2003 to 2006 were in comedy projects: “Crazy Funeral”, “Once Upon a Mattress”, “Living Through the Winter” and others. In many comedies, Zoe performed songs and took part in recording soundtracks. Also during this period, she starred in the TV series Datura and played in several episodes of the TV series Bones, the star of which is her sister Emily.
Movies
Zooey Deschanel's cinematic biography began with an episode in the TV series "Veronica's Salon", released in 1998. Soon the aspiring actress was offered a role in the full-length comedy film Doctor Mumford.
Zooey Deschanel in the movie "Elf"
In 2000, Zoe got a role in the musical drama Almost Famous. This is the kind of work – a mix of acting and vocal skills – that the girl dreamed of. In this film, the actress got the image of the main character's sister. Critics praised the film itself and Zoya's work, although the film did not bring the expected box office revenue.
In the early 2000s, Zooey Deschanel starred in several films, but all the roles turned out to be minor and did not bring much fame. The actress understood that for a real turning point and career leap she needed a key, star role. And she appeared in 2003. For the sake of this work, Deschanel refused several supporting roles. The drama “All the Real Girls,” in which Zoe played the role of 18-year-old Noelle, really brought fame to the artist and her first prestigious award - the Independent Spirit Award.
Zooey Deschanel in the movie Live Free or Die
This successful project was immediately followed by a second - the comedy "Elf", which received huge ratings from viewers. This was the first film that brought Zooey Deschanel fame and commercial success.
After the two mentioned projects, the artist regularly starred in top-rated films. Since 2004, the actress has appeared in the acclaimed films “Crazy Funeral,” “Living Through the Winter,” “Love and Other Troubles” and “Live Free or Die.” In all of these films, Zooey Deschanel played the main characters.
Of the film projects in the late 2000s in which the actress starred, the thriller “The Apparition” and the comedy “Always Say Yes” attracted the audience’s attention. In the second film, Zooey Deschanel became Jim Carrey's partner. In Marc Webb's comedy melodrama 500 Days of Summer, the actress played the frivolous girl Summer, the lover of Tom (Joseph Gordon Levitt). Over the course of the story, each character's ideas about love change: Summer begins to take feelings seriously, and Tom becomes disillusioned with relationships with girls. For her work in the latter, Zoe was nominated for a Golden Globe.
In recent years, the Hollywood star has pleased fans with the comedy “Brave and Pepper” and the youth series “New Girl.” For her leading role in the second film, Zoe received numerous nominations and television awards.
Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon Levitt in the film 500 Days of Summer
Fans of the actress have long noticed the amazing similarity between Zooey Deschanel and American singer Katy Perry. The girls look like twin sisters, and even Zoe’s height (168 cm) and weight (56 kg) are almost similar to Katie’s.
Zooey Deschanel's voice is often used for dubbing animation projects and children's films, such as “American Dad!”, “Catch the Wave!”, “The Simpsons.”
Confession
Since 2007, Zoya's career began to move steadily upward. In the family fantasy Bridge to Terabithia, the actress played the role of music teacher Miss Edmonds; Josh Hutcherson, Robert Patrick and Kate Butler also played in the film. The sad and not at all childish story did not become a successful project, but it earned the love of a thoughtful adult viewer and brought disappointment to fans of entertaining films.
Zooey Deschanel in the movie "Bridge to Terabithia"
In the following year's sci-fi drama The Happening, the actress starred with Mark Wahlberg, playing a married couple trying to survive a spreading suicide epidemic.
Zooey Deschanel in the movie "The Happening"
The comedy with a philosophical meaning “Always Say Yes” became another acting success for Zoe. In the film, she played in a duet with Jim Carrey, with whom she was born on the same day, and Bradley Cooper also appeared in the film. “Always Say Yes” - Trailer The touching love story “500 Days of Summer” has earned quite flattering reviews from critics. Film critic Peter Travers wrote in an article in Rolling Stone that the actors give real performances, with full understanding of subtleties and feelings, focusing not on comic scenes, but on relationships. In the film, the actress shone in a duet with Joseph Gordon-Levitt. “500 Days of Summer” - trailer A comedy drama with detective elements, “Rough Ground,” released in 2020, became one of the last works of Anton Yelchin, who played the role of Pierre in the film, who fell in love with the heroine Zoe. Also starring in the film were Frank Langella, John Hawkes and Ciarán Hinds.
In the musical comedy Rock in the East, the actress played with Bill Murray. The plot of the film is based on the life vicissitudes of a middle-aged and unlucky producer, whose only ward was Ronnie, played by Zooey Deschanel. In this film, as in many others, Zoe sang herself.
Zooey Deschanel and Bill Murray in the movie Rock in the East
In the multi-part project from director Alec Berg “New Girl,” the actress played the role of a teacher who was brought together by chance with three guys. Filming began in 2011 and, to the chagrin of fans, ended in 2020. The ratings of the series broke all records and earned many awards. The project featured Jake Johnson, Lamorne Morris and Max Greenfield. Zoe is the author and performer of all tracks in the series. "New Girl" - trailer
Emily and Zooey Deschanel
Emily and Zoe were born to Oscar-nominated cinematographer Kal Deschanel and actress Mary Jo Ware in Los Angeles, California. Both sisters spent their childhood on film sets, where they learned to dance well and behave in public. Zoe's career was somewhat more successful than her older sister. After graduating from an art school in suburban Los Angeles, she headed to Northern University. Zoe wanted to get a degree in theater, but immediately abandoned her dream in favor of cinema. Her debut was in 1999, when Zoe was offered the role of a client of a provincial psychologist in Dr. Mumford. The following year, she played flight attendant Anita Miller in Almost Famous, where her high school classmate Kate Hudson worked. In 2002, Deschanel was seen in the comedies Big Trouble, Tough Guy, as well as the much-criticized Good Girl starring Jennifer Aniston, and Abandoned with Katie Holmes. In 2003, Zoe began work on the hit Elf. During the release of Elf, she heard that there were auditions for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Apparently Zoe was one of the actors who read the book that the movie was based on. Deschanel was approved.
In the following years, Zoey gained popularity: she played the main role in "Having Winter" in 2005 and starred in "Love and Other Troubles" and "Live Free or Die" in 2006, and also voiced Leni in the animated film "Catch the Wave!" in 2007. In the period 2007-2008, she starred in such films as: Delirious, Flakes, Bridge to Terabithia, The Apparition, Always Say Yes. But in addition to famous films, Zoe very often starred in independent films (the last of which, 500 Days of Summer, received a resounding success at Sundance), where she began her career; she was nicknamed the indie queen for her devotion to the art house.
Zoe has a very good voice. She plays jazz with various cabaret teams and gives concerts. Recorded the indie album “Volume One” with M. Ward (duet She & Him).
A musical tour of America and the release of two new films with Zoe's participation are planned for 2011. If Zooey Deschanel became a famous actress after her first appearance on the screen in the film Mumford, then Emily, after her debut in the film Happy Chance (1994), took a break that lasted almost six years. Even now, her track record includes half as many films as her younger sister. For a long time, Emily remained in the shadow of her illustrious relatives. Journalists usually called her Kal's daughter, Mary Jo, or Zooey's sister. The long-awaited breakthrough for the actress was the comedy It's a Shame About Ray, and after the success of the series Red Rose, where Emily played one of the members of Professor Reardon's team investigating paranormal phenomena in the Red Rose mansion, it became clear that the young actress had finally came out of the shadow of famous relatives. Now Deschanel’s list of acting works includes roles in the political thriller “The Alamo” and the drama “Easy” (while recognizing her performance as brilliant, critics considered the film not very successful).
In 2005, Emily starred in the mystical thriller The Boogeyman. Since 2005, Emily has been starring in the TV series Bones as anthropologist Temperance Brennan (by the way, Zoe appeared in one of the episodes as Cousin Brennan). More recently, Emily joined veganism - people who reject the consumption of animal products and do not wear clothes made from animal skins. Recently, Deschanel has become an activist in the PETA movement, which advocates for the ethical treatment of animals. And now, together with her like-minded people, she fights against experiments on animals, fishing and keeping dogs on chains, as well as dog and cockfighting. "There's nothing more disgusting than dog fighting," the actress recently told CNN.
Personal life of Zooey Deschanel
The star's first husband was musician Ben Gibbard. Their marriage lasted no more than 2 years, the young people divorced, explaining the divorce by irreconcilable differences.
Zooey Deschanel and Ben Gibbard
The actress found female happiness in 2020 by marrying producer Jacob Pechenik, whom she met during the filming of “Rock in the East.” For the sake of her beloved, Zoe converted to Judaism, in 2015 they had a daughter, Elsie, and in 2020, a son, Charlie Wolf.
Zooey Deschanel and Jacob Pechenik
It is known that the couple leads a rather closed lifestyle. Zoe admits that she has never liked social events and prefers to spend time with loved ones. The actress does not use cosmetics in everyday life and is not obsessed with expensive clothing brands and jewelry.
Zooey Deschanel with children
In 2013, Zoe was named the most frugal Hollywood star: she does not have a personal fitness trainer or yoga instructor, she rarely visits beauty salons, and to stay in shape she rides a bicycle and goes swimming.
Zooey Deschanel was called the most thrifty Hollywood star
Bag of Bones
Perhaps every fan carefully studied the personal life and biography of Emily Deschanel (you can see a photo of the actress below), and could not help but notice that the series “Bones” became a real breakthrough in the career of our heroine. An American drama about crimes of varying degrees and Dr. Temperance Brennan, who with just one glance at the bones can recognize what happened to a person and solve the most difficult case.
The pilot episode aired on FOX on September 13, 2005. “Bones” itself lasted 12 seasons, with a total of 246 episodes. The last episode was released on March 28, 2020.
Deschanel played the role of the main character, intellectual anthropologist, forensic expert, kinesiologist Dr. Temperance Brennan. In each episode, the girl appeared together with the attractive actor David Boreanaz, who played the main character, FBI agent Seeley Booth.
The remarkable acting and success of the television series literally radically changed the biography of Emily Deschanel, making the girl one of the most recognizable personalities in the world. “Bones” brought our heroine a number of nominations, including Teen Choice Awards and People Choice Awards.
