Zooey Deschanel
Emmy Award, Golden Globe Award, and Grammy Award nominee and Critics’ Choice Award Winner Zooey Deschanel is an entertainer in every sense of the word, bringing the classical leading lady back to the modern audience with her old-fashioned charm. Lauded as “timeless,” “vintage,” and “ethereal,” Deschanel’s starring roles in (500) Days of Summer, opposite Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Yes Man, opposite Jim Carrey, cemented her place as a mainstream presence with a handle for nuance.
Movie lovers have long known Deschanel for her breakout performance in Cameron Crowe’s ensemble film, Almost Famous, opposite Billy Crudup, Kate Hudson, and Frances McDormand; and All the Real Girls, for which she received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Female Lead. Indie film buffs often cite Deschanel’s depth in films such as The Good Girl, with Jennifer Aniston, and Eulogy, with Debra Winger and Ray Romano. Of course, kids of all ages fell in love with her memorable performance in the instant Christmas classic Elf, opposite Will Ferrell. Her side-gig as a musical artist has only added to her reputation. Her most recent album with collaborator M. Ward, Melt Away: A Tribute to Brian Wilson, was released in 2022.
For her lead role as “Jess” on New Girl, Deschanel was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. In 2012, she won the Critics’ Choice Television Award for Best Actress in a Comedy Series (tying with Amy Poehler). She was nominated for three Golden Globe Awards for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Comedy or Musical. Always creatively evolving, Deschanel added “Director” to her list of titles as she made her directorial debut with New Girl’s Season Six premiere episode, and her music video debut with “I Could’ve Been Your Girl” off of She & Him’s Volume 3. She currently co-hosts Welcome to Our Show, a New Girl rewatch podcast alongside her co-stars, Hannah Simone and Lamorne Morris, available on iHeartRadio and all major podcast platforms.
Deschanel made her feature film debut in 1999, in Lawrence Kasdan’s ensemble drama Mumford. In Failure to Launch, with Matthew McConaughey and Sarah Jessica Parker, she played the endearing sidekick “Kit.” She also starred in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, with Sam Rockwell, Mos Def, and John Malkovich, and was seen in Bridge to Terabithia, based on the Newberry Award-winning children’s novel. She provided the voice of a surfing penguin alongside Shia LaBeouf and Jeff Bridges in the animated hit movie Surf’s Up, and starred in the indie ensemble comedy Our Idiot Brother, with Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks, Emily Mortimer, and Rashida Jones. Deschanel was featured in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, opposite Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck, and Rock the Kasbah, alongside Bill Murray and Bruce Willis. She co-stars in the DreamWorks blockbuster animated film franchise Trolls, in which she voices a loveable and compassionate “Bridget,” opposite Justin Timberlake and Anna Kendrick. Most recently, she hosted the MAX original culinary series, What Am I Eating?, from ATTN Media and joins Zachary Levi and Lil Rel Howery in Sony Pictures’ 2024 live-action adaptation of Harold and the Purple Crayon, based on the beloved 1955 children’s book of the same name. Deschanel stars in Roadside Attraction’s feature, Dreamin’ Wild, with Casey Affleck and Walton Goggins, and made her highly anticipated return to TV in the third season of Apple TV+’s hit dramedy, Physical, opposite Rose Byrne.
Other feature credits include Live Free or Die, Gigantic, Flakes, The Go-Getter, The Good Life, Winter Passing, The Happening, Abandon, Big Trouble, Your Highness, and Driftless Area, as well as the Emmy Award-nominated cable miniseries Tin Man.
Deschanel’s work with She & Him has produced seven albums: Volume 1, Volume 2, A Very She & Him Christmas, Volume 3, Classics, Christmas Party, and Melt Away: A Tribute to Brian Wilson. The band has sold out tours in the U.S., U.K., and Europe. Additionally, Deschanel earned a Grammy Award nomination for her original song, “So Long,” written for the feature animated film Winnie the Pooh, for which she also sang the classic Sherman Brothers theme song.
Deschanel collaborated with Tommy Hilfiger on a line of dresses, bags, and accessories, titled “To Tommy, From Zooey.” The fashion line, sold at Macy’s and Tommy Hilfiger, landed to great success with multiple styles selling out on the first on-sale date. She has been the face of Pantene and Rimmel Cosmetics. She also starred in a commercial for iPhone’s Siri application, and she has two campaigns for Cotton to which she also lent original music. Deschanel also is co-creator and a frequent contributor to the website HelloGiggles.
Zooey co-founded The Farm Project with her business partner Jacob Pechenik, an endeavor to reconnect people with their food and where it comes from. Among other initiatives, they coproduced the show Your Food’s Roots along with ATTN: Media, reaching over 20 million views and growing, and launched Lettuce Grow, a hydroponic vertical growing system to give people more access to homegrown, affordable, fresh produce. In 2021, Deschanel was announced as co-founder and Chief Creative Officer of Merryfield, a new app that rewards users for purchasing better-for-you, socially, and environmentally responsible brands.
A Los Angeles native, Deschanel was named for the male character in J. D. Salinger’s Franny and Zooey. She spent much of her childhood on-location with her actress mother, Mary Jo, and her father, Caleb, an Academy Award-nominated cinematographer. She credits her father with instilling in her a keen visual sense and great style.