Bio
Zooey Deschanel is an American actress, musician and singer-songwriter best known for her breakout role as young protagonist William Miller's troubled older sister Anita in Cameron Crowe's 2000 semi-autobiographical film Almost Famous.
She currently stars as Jessica Day in the television sitcom New Girl, since 2011.
Her starring roles in (500) Days of Summer opposite Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Yes Man opposite Jim Carrey cemented her mainstream presence.
Deschanel co-stars in My Idiot Brother opposite Paul Rudd and Elizabeth Banks, and wrote and performed original music for Disney's Winnie the Pooh.
After making her feature film debut in 1999 in Lawrence Kasdan's Mumford, Deschanel's breakout performance was in Cameron Crowe's Almost Famous.
She earned an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Lead Actress for All the Real Girls and lent her voice talents to the animated feature Surf's Up. Deschanel played the lead in the hit Emmy Award-nominated mini-series Tin Man.
Her additional credits include The Good Girl, Eulogy, the holiday classic Elf, Failure To Launch, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Bridge to Terabithia, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Live Free or Die, Flakes, Gigantic, The Go-Getter, The Good Life, Winter Passing, The Happening, Abandon, Big Trouble and Your Highness.
In addition to her on-screen work, Deschanel has earned rave reviews and popular acclaim for She & Him, her musical collaboration with M. Ward. The duo's album, She & Him: Volume 2, debuted at No. 6 on the Billboard Top 200 and was one of the most critically acclaimed albums of 2010.
Music has always been a passion for Deschanel, and she has produced two albums: Volume 1 and Volume 2, boasting 21 original songs which she wrote herself and four covers of some of her personal favourites.
Additionally, the band has sold out tours in the U.S., U.K. and Europe.
Deschanel is the face of Rimmel Cosmetics and has starred in two campaigns for Cotton, for which she also lent original music. She is co-creator and a frequent contributor to the website HelloGiggles.com.
Named after the male character in J. D. Salinger's Franny and Zooey, Deschanel spent much of her childhood on-location with her actress mother, Mary Jo, and her Academy Award-nominated cinematographer father, Caleb. She credits her father with instilling in her a keen visual sense and great style.
Deschanel's older sister, Emily Deschanel, is also an actress, starring on the drama Bones.
Deschanel resides in Los Angeles with her husband, Death Cab for Cutie musician Ben Gibbard.