To some, she's an It Girl; to others, she's a manic pixie dream girl. Whatever you choose to call her, ZooeyDeschanel has garnered critical acclaim over her 10-plus years on the silver screen. Now, she's squeezing her eccentric persona into smaller screens.
Born into a showbiz family, Deschanel seemed destined to follow in her parents' footsteps by entering the business. She began acting onstage in school, playing mostly comedic roles, and followed up that experience at a summer theater camp.
"I always think of myself as a comedic actress. I guess later I found that I could do drama as well," Deschanel told the Daily.
She went on to pursue film, both dramatic and comedic, and was highly successful. Some of her better-known films include "Elf" (2003), "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" (2005) and "Bridge to Terabithia" (2007). She landed the role of Summer in "(500) Days of Summer" (2009), and her celebrated performance as an offbeat heartbreaker catapulted her to stardom.
This fall, Deschanel is starring in Fox's new series, "New Girl," which the Daily gave a 2.5 star review last Tuesday. She stars as Jess, the recently dumped protagonist who moves into an apartment with three guys she's never met before. Hilarity ensues.
Deschanel wasn't looking for a TV series to star in — "New Girl" found her instead. "I was thinking about maybe doing an arc on a TV show or something, just looking into it," she said. But after reading the script of "New Girl," she said, "I was so blown away by how perfect it was for me, and how funny it was, and sweet and smart."
A viewing of the pilot confirms her sentiment: It's truly hard to believe that the show was conceived without Deschanel in mind. "I know it wasn't written for me initially," she said, "but it was sort of a perfect fit, you know. You go to a store, and there's a dress that just looks like it was made for you, but it wasn't."
The role of Jess Day is similar to Deschanel's other roles, and even Deschanel herself — both the actress and her character made up theme songs for themselves. Perhaps that's why she sees Jess as such an admirable character. "She isn't afraid of being herself, whether it comes out as being a little bit naive … or just a really strong sense of self. She's totally herself. I think that's really nice to see in female characters," Deschanel said.
Deschanel also chatted about the comedic chemistry between her and her costars, Jake Johnson (Nick) and Max Greenfield (Schmidt). "We cast the people who were the best actors… [because with the best actors], the comedy comes out of the situation, rather than just the ability to deliver jokes," she said. "We just wanted the people that could really help tell these stories and were also hilarious and great actors as well. We really have a great rapport."
"New Girl's" place in the primetime line-up is indicative of an interesting trend on television: The series is one of several recent comedies featuring a leading lady. Typically, TV shows and movies are from the male perspective (hence the buzz around the funny, female-driven "Bridesmaids" this summer).
"It's nice to be on a show that was created by a woman, starring a woman, even though there's guy humor in it, too," Deschanel said.
The show aims to offer an atypical woman who challenges stereotypes and makes viewers laugh at the same time. Deschanel said, "I really feel like she's equal to all the guys. I really, really love that. She's a real, true modern woman."
