Zooey Deschanel Biography

Zooey Deschanel (born January 17, 1980 in Los Angeles, California) is an American actress of French and Irish descent. She is the daughter of Academy Award-nominated cinematographer Caleb Deschanel and actress Mary Jo Deschanel. Her sister Emily Deschanel is also an actress.

Biography

Noted for her unconventional beauty and a chameleon-like ability to change personas to suit a given role, Zooey Deschanel has steadily expanded her Hollywood profile. After her film debut in Lawrence Kasdan’s (1999) comedy Mumford, Deschanel drew attention with eye-catching roles as Patrick Fugit’s hippie older sister in Cameron Crowe’s acclaimed Almost Famous (2000) and the gothy, disaffected drugstore make-up clerk in the Jennifer Aniston film The Good Girl (2002).

Zooey Deschanel won high praise for her sensitive, naturalistic portrayal of an innocent, self-assured, sexually curious 18-year-old virgin who has a life-changing romance with an aimless 22-year-old man (Paul Schneider) in David Gordon Green’s acclaimed cult film All the Real Girls (2003); Deschanel was voted Best Actress at the Mar del Plata Film Festival and nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. More recently, she played a department store elf opposite Will Ferrell in the popular Christmas comedy Elf (2003), and starred as Trillian in the movie adaptation of Douglas Adams's science fiction series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005).

Zooey Deschanel has appeared on the talk show circuit (including Jay Leno and Letterman) and presented film industry awards. Her TV portfolio also includes Frasier and various MTV clips including Offspring's video "She's Got Issues".

Zooey Deschanel appears with fellow actress Samantha Shelton in a cabaret act named If All the Stars Were Pretty Babies.

Zooey Deschanel Biography

The name "Zooey" was inspired by the male character of the same name in J. D. Salinger's novel Franny and Zooey.

Zooey Deschanel is a huge fan of singer Ella Fitzgerald and actress Parker Posey. One of her favorite songs is "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey (band).