Zooey Deschanel

Infobox actor


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birthname = Zooey Claire Deschanel
birthdate = birth date and age|1980|1|17
birthplace = Los Angeles, California, United States
occupation = Actress, singer
yearsactive = 1998–present
spouse =
website =

Zooey Claire Deschanel (born January 17, 1980) is an American actress, musician and singer. Deschanel made her film debut in 1999's "Mumford" and soon became known for memorable, deadpan supporting roles in films such as "Almost Famous" (2000), "The New Guy" (2002), "Big Trouble" (2002) and "The Good Girl" (2002). She then began playing lead roles, including "All the Real Girls" (2003), "Elf" (2003), "Winter Passing" (2005), "Failure to Launch" (2006), and "Bridge to Terabithia" (2007).

Since 2001, Deschanel has performed in the jazz cabaret act If All the Stars Were Pretty Babies with fellow actress Samantha Shelton. She has sung in several of her films, and her debut album "Volume One" (recorded with M. Ward under the moniker She & Him) was released on March 18, 2008.

Zooey Deschanel is the sister of Emily Deschanel who stars in the FOX TV series "Bones" as Dr. Temperance Brennan.

Biography

Early life

Zooey (pronEng|ˈzoʊiː) Deschanel was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Academy Award-nominated cinematographer and director Caleb Deschanel and actress Mary Jo Deschanel (née Weir). She is of 3/4 Irish descent and 1/4 French descent . [http://www.fedge.net/~zdeschanel/articles/latimes-2-16-03.html "A Scene Stealer Steps off the Sidelines: With a calculated move, actress Zooey Deschanel sheds the 'best friend' persona"] (reprint), Los Angeles Times, 2003-02-16. Retrieved on 2007-12-01.] She was named after Zooey Glass, the male protagonist of J. D. Salinger's 1961 novella "Franny and Zooey".De Vries, Hilary. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0CE7D91131F936A2575AC0A9649C8B63 "A NIGHT OUT WITH -- Zooey Deschanel; Now, Life Is a Cabaret"] , The New York Times, 2002-09-15. Retrieved on 2007-12-01.] Her older sister Emily is also an actress.

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." [http://www.fedge.net/~zdeschanel/articles/bostonglobe-2-23-03.html "From A to Zooey"] (reprint), Boston Globe, 2003-02-23. Retrieved on 2007-12-01.] She attended Crossroads, a private preparatory school in Santa Monica, California, where she befriended future co-stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Kate Hudson. She also attended the French Woods Festival of the Performing Arts summer camp and sang throughout high school, planning to pursue a career in musical theatre. She attended Northwestern University for seven months before dropping out to work as an actress.

Career

Deschanel appeared in a guest role 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 in the music video for The Offspring's single "She's Got Issues". In her second film, director Cameron Crowe's autobiographical "Almost Famous" (2000), Deschanel played Anita Miller, the protagonist's rebellious older sister. The film received critical praise, [ [http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/almost_famous/ Almost Famous - Movie Reviews, Trailers, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes ] ] but was not a box office success. Deschanel continued to sing, and in 2001 formed If All the Stars Were Pretty Babies, a jazz cabaret act with fellow actress Samantha Shelton. The pair performs around Los Angeles. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E05EEDA103EF936A15756C0A9659C8B63 "STYLE; The Standard-Bearers"] , The New York Times, 2003. Retrieved on 2007-12-01.]

Deschanel played supporting roles in a series of films that included "Manic" (2001), "Big Trouble" (2002), "Abandon" (2002), and "The Good Girl" (2002). 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."

Deschanel turned down several supporting roles and played her first lead role in "All the Real Girls" (2003). Deschanel's performance as Noel, a sexually curious 18-year-old virgin who has a life-changing romance with an aimless 22-year-old, received critical praise, and she received an Independent Spirit nomination for Best Actress. [cite web |url=http://filmindependent.org/spiritawards/nominees/filmbyyearalpha.php?c=1&year=2004 |title=Spirit Awards] Later in 2003, Deschanel played a deadpan department store elf opposite Will Ferrell in the comedy "Elf", which became a box office hit. [ [http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1225341,00.html 'Talledega Nights' is a return to the top for Will Ferrell1 | Will Ferrell | Movie News | Movies | Entertainment Weekly ] ]

In 2002, Deschanel appeared in "The New Guy" as Nora, the guitar player in the lead character's band, Suburban Funk. "The New Guy" was the first of Deschanel's films in which she sang onscreen; in "Elf" she duetted with Ferrell in the bathroom shower scene on "Baby, It's Cold Outside", and was also heard singing it on the soundtrack with Leon Redbone. Subsequently, Deschanel has sung in "Winter Passing" ("My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean"), the 2005 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" and the 2007 short film "Raving" ("Hello, Dolly!"). Her piano composition "Bittersuite" was used thematically in the dark, off-beat 2004 dramedy "Winter Passing", in which she starred alongside Ferrell and Ed Harris.

In 2004, Deschanel starred in "Eulogy", and in 2005 as Trillian in the film adaptation of Douglas Adams' science fiction novel "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy". Deschanel then played Sarah Jessica Parker's neurotic roommate in "Failure to Launch" (2006), and appeared on four episodes of the Showtime television series "Weeds" from 2006 to 2007, playing Andy Botwin's quirky ex-girlfriend, Kat. In September 2006, "Variety" announced that Deschanel would play 1960s singer Janis Joplin in the film "The Gospel According to Janis", to be co-written and directed by Penelope Spheeris.Fleming, Michael. [http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117950313.html?categoryid=10&cs=1&query=%22zooey+deschanel%22+AND+%22janis%22 "Wheels turning on Spheeris' Joplin bio: Deschanel takes 'Janis' role"] , Variety, 2006-09-18. Retrieved on 2007-12-01.] Deschanel planned to sing all of Joplin's songs, and took four months of singing lessons "to approximate Joplin's gritty vocals." The film, scheduled to begin shooting on November 13, 2006, was postponed indefinitely. [Adler, Shawn. [http://www.vh1.com/movies/news/articles/1554985/20070319/story.jhtml Zooey Deschanel Says Janis Joplin Biopic Is 'On Hold' — For Now] , MTV News, March 20, 2007.]

In 2007, Deschanel appeared in two children's films, "Bridge to Terabithia" and the animated film "Surf's Up", in which she voiced a penguin named Lani Aliikai. In December 2007, she played DG, the lead in the new Sci Fi Channel miniseries "Tin Man", a re-imagined future of L. Frank Baum's children's book "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz".

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 onstage, said that he was "just finishing work" on her debut album, [ [http://www.avclub.com/content/interview/m_ward Interview: M. Ward"] , The Onion A. V. Club. Retrieved on 2007-12-01.] which will feature songs written by Deschanel and produced by Ward. [ [http://music.aol.ca/article/she-him-who-are-they/317320/ AOL Music Interview, July 2008] ] , "Fox" reported that Deschanel and Ward were recording under the moniker She & Him, and that the album, titled "Volume One", would be released by Merge Records on March 18, 2008. [ [http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2008/01/08/eminem-was-hospitalized-with-pneumonia-britney-spears-possibly-schizophrenic-bun-b-and-black-keys-join-sxsw-lineup-and-more/ "Rock & Roll Daily: Eminem Was Hospitalized With Pneumonia, Britney Spears: Possibly Schizophrenic, Bun B and Black Keys Join SXSW Lineup and More"] , Rolling Stone, 2008-01-08. Retrieved on 2008-01-15.] [ [http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0012IWHQO Amazon.com listing] .]

On April 27, 2008, she appeared on "The Simpsons", playing the role of Mary, Cletus's daughter. [ [http://www.foxflash.com/div.php/main/page?aID=1z4&mo=4&d=27 Fox Flash ] ]

In June 2008, Deschanel starred opposite Mark Wahlberg in M. Night Shyamalan's environmental thriller "The Happening."

Filmography

Upcoming

ee also

* She & Him

References

External links

*imdb name|id=0221046|name=Zooey Deschanel