Entertainment
Her fashion sense is big on TikTok.New Girlis thriving on Netflix.
She’s dating HGTV royalty.
For Deschanel, knowing who you are means never really going out of style.
Zooey Deschanel has always had bangs.
She grew them out once in ninth grade but like many ill-conceived teenage style experimentations, it didnt take.
I just feel more like myself when I have them; its a part of my identity.
My style doesnt really follow trends so much as it is a reflection of who I am.
Shes had her assistant, her stylist, and her publicist all do the same.
Im not really ever, in my life, trying to be someone else, Deschanel tells me.
Deschanel was often conflated with her characters because of the twee, girlish femininity they shared.
[The tagline] was our marketing department at Fox.
… Thats a word that describes the character that I play, not me.
I dont personally have identification with that word myself.
Today, the Deschanel brand is as strong as ever.
Its not like she hasnt been through the Hollywood wringer at times.
But Deschanel at least has the satisfaction of knowing she made it through without changing herself.
Sometimes it feels like you areobject.
Im like, No, I amsubject.
I am not object.
Deschanel didnt alwayspossess this confidence.
And when they were looking for a more awkward, oddball person [they thought of me].
But Deschanel struggled to square the way she was being perceived with her own sense of identity.
People would say I was unique orquirky, and I remember being like, Why?
It wasnt like I was trying to be that way.
I just wanted to be normal.
Somehow this other thing was what was coming across, and I felt like that was frustrating.
We got a standing ovation, she says.
I went to, like, 10 Sundances in a row.
I definitely went times where I had movies that didnt hit.
I saw the reaction [to500] I was like, Oh my gosh, we have something special.
Soon after, Deschanel was reportedlyin consideration for theThe Avengers.
But in reality, the phone wasnt ringing with any offers.
That was a really tough time, actually.
They kind of killed the indie movie around then for a while, she says.
And without these types of projects on the horizon, Hollywood didnt know what to do with Deschanel.
I was like, Maybe I wont act anymore.
Moving to data pipe television was not exactly what a studio exec would have advised.
A lot of people thought it could go very wrong, she recalls.
There wasnt any material like that in movies for me, she says.
Im not Reese Witherspoon, I dont have that kind of fame level.
So, in a way, I have to be very smart about what I choose.
Deschanel went all in, also signing on as a producer.
(In 2014, she was promoted to co-executive producer.)
Zooey was our boss.
Then Zooey did a very cool thing.
She really cared about tone.
We know this is here, we know we have great chemistry, whats our goal?
Johnson says most of the credit belongs to Deschanel.
Four years after going off the air, it remains as popular as ever.
On TikTok, the shows hashtag has more than 2.5 billion views.
Im like, concept has nothing to do with whether something is successful.New Girlhas the most generic concept.
Its in the writing and the chemistry of the actors.
I rememberModern Familywould wrap at lunch.
We would work 80-hour weeks.
It was harder to do a long-running show with those hours.
Id been working almost straight since I was 17 years old, she says.
It was time for me to have a break.
Taking such a breakafter anchoring a sitcom smash is, again, not what a Hollywood exec would advise.
They dont understand why you would want to spend time with your children or whatever.
She walked her kids to school and to the beach to look at boats.
She also fell in love with HGTVs most eligible bachelor.
I tell anyone who asks, Oh, dont worry.
I know Im dating up, Scott says.
The two met while appearing onCarpool Karaokein 2019 and immediately clicked.
I was flirting so bad that they had to edit it down, he says.
So when Deschanel didnt get a text back for four days, she thought he was ghosting her.
A bold move, but it worked.
She was like, Oh, this guy likes me.
And weve literally talked every single day since.
Its been the best three years of my life.
The admiration goes both ways.
Hes also glimpsed just how muchNew Girland Jess Day have meant to young women.
Celebrities hostingpodcasts about their sitcomsis a relatively new phenomenon.
Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey started hostingThe OfficepodcastOffice Ladiesin 2019.
Rob Lowe andParks and Recreationwriter-producer Alan Yang launchedParks and Recollectionlast year.
I ask Deschanel if she has a dream role in mind, and she laughs.
Ill have to, like, read it and then I could tell you.
Instead, she thinks about the actors she admires and asks herself:Would Allison Janney do that?
Would Laura Linney do that?People known and respected for great work, and thats it.
Its never been exactly my ambition to be a movie star, she says.
She shrugs her cropped balloon-sleeved shoulders.
I just like to do good things with good people.
Photographer: Erik Carter
This article was originally published onJune 29, 2022