alison brie: Zooey Deschanel troubled older sister Anita in

Zooey Claire Deschanel (pronounced /ˈzoʊ.iː ˌdeɪʃəˈnɛl/ ZOE-ee day-shə-NEL; born January 17, 1980) is an American actress, musician, and singer-songwriter. In 1999, Deschanel made her film debut in Mumford, followed by her breakout role as young protagonist William Miller's troubled older sister Anita in Cameron Crowe's 2000 semi-autobiographical film Almost Famous. Deschanel soon became known for her deadpan or "Manic Pixie Dream Girl" supporting roles in films such as Elf (2003), The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005) and Failure to Launch (2006). She then began playing lead roles in films, including Yes Man (2008) and (500) Days of Summer (2009)

For a few years starting in 2001, Deschanel performed in the jazz cabaret act If All the Stars Were Pretty Babies with fellow actress Samantha Shelton She plays keyboards, percussion, banjo and ukulele, and has sung in several of her films. Deschanel teamed up with M. Ward to release their debut album Volume One (recorded with M. Ward under the moniker She & Him) which was released in March 2008. The follow-up album Volume Two was released in the U.S. in March 2010. She is married to Death Cab for Cutie frontman Ben Gibbard.
1 Early life
2 Career
2.1 Acting
2.2 Film-related music
2.3 Non-film music
2.4 Other work
3 Personal life
4 Filmography
5 Discography
5.1 Solo & duets
5.2 Munchausen By Proxy
5.3 She & Him
5.4 Tired Pony
6 References
7 External links

Zooey Deschanel, born in Los Angeles, California, is the daughter of cinematographer/director Caleb Deschanel and actress Mary Jo Deschanel (née Weir). She is of French (from her paternal grandfather) and Irish descent and is the great granddaughter of Paul Deschanel, the 11th President of France She was named after Zooey Glass, the male protagonist of J. D. Salinger's 1961 novella Franny and Zooey Her older sister, Emily Deschanel, is also an actress and stars in the TV series Bones.

Deschanel lived in lower Los Angeles, but spent much of her childhood traveling because her father shot films on location; she later said that she "hated all the traveling I'm really happy now that I had the experience, but at the time I was just so miserable to have to leave my friends in Los Angeles and go to places where they didn't have any food I liked or things I was used to.She grew up in Canada, Yugoslavia, England and South Africa. She attended Crossroads, a private preparatory school in Santa Monica, California, where she befriended future co-stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Kate HudsonShe sang throughout high school, planning to pursue a career in musical theatreShe attended Northwestern University for seven months before dropping out to work as an actress

Zooey Deschanel

Saturday, April 30, 2011

Zooey Deschanel troubled older sister Anita in