Zooey Deschanel

Background

Zooey Claire Deschanel was born on January 17, 1980, in Los Angeles, California, to Caleb and Mary Jo Deschanel. Her older sister, Emily Deschanel, is also an actress. Deschanel went to Crossroads High School in Santa Monica, California. She studied for nine months at Northwestern University before dropping out to pursue acting and attended the French Woods Festival of the Performing Arts after deciding to pursue a career in musical theater. Deschanel began her acting career as a guest star on the television show “Veronica’s Closet” and starred in the film “Mumford” in 1999. She was also cast in The Offspring’s ‘She’s Got Issues’ music video the same year and played various supporting roles in various films over the next two years, including “Manic” and “The Good Girl.”

Deschanel appeared in an episode of the 10th season of “Frasier” in 2002, starred in the box office success “Elf” in 2003, and sang the song ‘Baby, It’s Cold Outside’ for the film. She worked in the movie “Winter Passing,” which used her piano song ‘Bittersuite’ as the music. In 2005, Deschanel starred as Trillian in the film adaptation of Douglas Adams’ science fiction novel “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.” A year later, she collaborated with M. Ward on his debut album, “She & Him.” The following year, they released their debut album, “Volume One.” Deschanel was cast in one of her most successful films to date, “(500) Days of Summer,” in 2009 and contributed to the film’s soundtrack. Deschanel hosted an episode of “Saturday Night Live” in February 2012.

In December 2008, Deschanel became engaged to musician Ben Gibbard. On September 19, 2009, they got married. Two years later, on November 1, they announced their separation, and Deschanel filed for divorce on December 27, 2011, which was finalized on December 12, 2012. She confirmed her engagement to film producer Jacob Pechenik in January 2015, and they married in June 2015. They have two children: Elsie Otter and Charlie Wolf. The couple announced their separation in September 2019, and their divorce was finalized on June 1, 2020. Not long after, Deschanel started dating Jonathan Scott, whom she met while filming an episode of “Carpool Karaoke: The Series” in August 2019.