Zooey Deschanel

Actor

Zooey Deschanel is the bright-eyed brunette who played Trillian/Trish in the movie version of Douglas Adams's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005, with Mos Def). She grew up in a film family: her father is cinematographer Caleb Deschanel (The Natural, The Passion of the Christ), her mother is actor Mary Jo Deschanel (Eileen Hayward in Twin Peaks) and her sister is actor Emily Deschanel (TV's Bones). Zooey made her film debut in 1999's Mumford (co-starring Jason Lee) and was a stand-out as the older sister in Almost Famous (starring Billy Crudup). Since then she's been busy appearing in films and singing in a cabaret stage act. Her films include The Good Girl (2002, with Jake Gyllenhaal) Elf (2003, with Will Ferrell) and Failure to Launch (2006, starring Sarah Jessica Parker). In 2007 she seemed to be just about everywhere, appearing in more than half a dozen films, including Raving, the drama written and directed by actress Julie Stiles, the children's films Bridge to Terabithia and Surf's Up (Deschanel was the voice of Lani) and the Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck western The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. She also starred as DG (the Dorothy Gale character) in Tin Man, the 2007 cable TV miniseries inspired by the book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

Extra credit: In 2008 Deschanel and M. Ward released an album under the name of She & Him, titled Volume One.