Zooey Deschanel

Zooey Deschanel and her big sparkling eyes.



On left Zooey Deschanel wears a Lover dress, a Karen Walker coat, and Loeffler Randall shoes at Sundance. On right Zooey looks stunning in a silver sequined Elie Saab dress. The cute eccentric actress has played a groupie in Almost Famous, Jennifer Aniston's friend in The Good Girl, a department-store Santa's helper in the hit 2003 comedy Elf, Sarah Jessica Parker's sardonic/alcoholic roommate in Failure to Launch, musical teacher in Bridge to Terabithia, and Jim Carrey's quirky girlfriend in the comedy Yes Man.

Deschanel's new movie is the comedy 500 Days of Summer with Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Below right Zooey looks cute in a dress by Chloe, tank by Diesel, belt by Dolce & Gabbana, hat by Gucci, and bracelet by Stella McCartney:



"I like old movies, screwball comedies, vintage clothes, and basically I'm an old-fashioned gal," says Zooey Deschanel. While she appears on the red carpet in gorgeous gowns and dresses, Zooey's taste in clothes is varied: "I'm always looking for school uniforms, trying to squeeze into kids' clothing. It's sort of a party trick, the way I can get myself into tiny dresses." Deschanel also enjoys the shopping experience with a bunch of girlfriends: "I go shopping every week, literally. There's something about getting a new dress or shirt that makes you feel that extra 20 percent better."

"People think I'm really young with no makeup on," Zooey told People magazine. "The other day, somebody thought I was a child in a doctor's office. They were like, 'We weren't sure whether to give you a child's form or an adult's form.' I was like, 'What? I mean, Thanks!'"



Zooey Deschanel using the Zooey Doll lipstick from the Mally Beauty line; the lipstick was created specially for Zooey by Mally Roncal.



"When I had my black hair, people decided that I was some goth girl. Blond hair softens me a bit, and with my pale skin it is sort of angelic-looking I think. But when I was little, I always hated the idea that blondes were thought of as prettier than brunettes," Zooey told In Style magazine.

Deschanel describes her hair as thick and dry; her natural hair color is very dark brown and she keeps dyeing it for movie roles:





Zooey Deschanel, Selma Blair, and Amy Adams at the M.A.C Cosmetics 'Beauty Icon Catherine Deneuve' launch held at the Chateau Marmont on January 13, 2006 in Hollywood, California.

Zooey Deschanel is 5'6" and never thought of becoming a model. She was however interested in music: "I always thought I would be a singer before I would be an actor. I sort of became an actor by accident.....and then it became an all-consuming thing," she told Venus Zine magazine. Zooey played a band member and sang in the teen comedy The New Guy and in Yes Man; she has also sung in some of her other movies.

In 2001 Deschanel was in a singing/cabaret act with actress Samantha Shelton called If All The Stars Were Pretty Babies; where they mostly sang golden oldies and dressed in vintage clothing. In 2007 Zooey formed another group She & Him with indie singer M Ward. They released their debut album Volume One in March 2008. Zooey chose the unusual name because: "It's sort of anonymous to keep it about the music and have as few implications in the name as possible."

Even while filming Zooey travels with a guitar and mini-keyboard, writing music and mixing demos on her laptop. Deschanel has dated musicians like Mickey Madden of Maroon 5 and Jason Schwartzman of Coconut Records; she is currently engaged to be married with Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie.



Zooey Deschanel is an LA girl (born January 17, 1980) and has French and Irish ancestry, which gives her very pale skin and makes her careful about sun exposure. Deschanel told In Style: "I try to wear SPF 45 sunscreen always. I like Shade and Water Babies, both by Coppertone. Once, when I was 15, I went to the beach in Malibu and got second-degree burns on my back. It was terrible!"

This is part of the reason why Zooey has very few photos in a bikini. The other reason she told Jane magazine: "I'm scared for young women, because we're not necessarily progressing. People think it's good to use sex as power. They think that's new. Flaunting your body, going around half-naked and being sexy to get your way—it's so missing the point." Below Zooey wearing a bikini, indoors, for a Richard Phibbs photo shoot:



Even though Deschanel is slim today she says, "I was kind of a chubby kid, and it totally changes your outlook. There's an inner fat girl who says, 'Oh, no! You don't want to go there again'." Zooey in Cartier jewelry and a black Antoinette swimsuit by Ashley Paige, for Black Book magazine:



Zooey's actress-sister Emily Deschanel is vegan and Zooey is allergic to dairy, eggs, and gluten. "There’s a lot of stuff you can cook without them. My sister’s vegan, so we cook desserts together. We try not to use refined sugars or anything. There’s this place in New York called BabyCakes, and it’s all vegan cakes and cookies. I get there a lot. I love New York."




In 2004 Zooey told the LA Times, "There's a place on La Cienega called Real Food Daily that has vegan food. I started eating fish recently but I can't give up the vegetarian lifestyle."



Zooey still rides a Hello Kitty bike and likes to keep fit. "I love to run, but I have to watch my knees. I do Pilates and I also like the ellipictal trainer at the gym," she told In Style. Zooey does not have any vices: "Even now, you won't see paparazzi photos of me drunk on a Friday night." She also does not have a Twitter account: "I know a lot of people that have had fake Twitters ... actors and musicians that I know. It's sort of a problem. There are all these people that sign up thinking that they're getting somebody's real thoughts when it's just some guy."