Zooey Deschanel might shine in every movie she makes, but she’s got no interest in acting like a star.

Story by Jack Erwin; Photography by Kenneth Cappello; Styling by Jewels

MORE CREDITS »

(STYLIST) JEWELS FOR MAGNET LA; (HAIR) MARA ROZACK FOR PANTENE AT THE MAGNETAGENCY.COM; (MAKEUP) SPENCER BARNES FOR SOLOARTISTS.COM/LANCOME; (MANICURe) KIMMIE KYEES. PREVIOUS PAGE (PHOTOS) MOUNTAIN: ISOCK; KATTAN: AP PHOTO; FAILURE TO LAUNCH: KOBAL; HILTON: JAIME REINA/GETTY IMAGES

But as much as you want to be beyond the hype machine, there’s a different set of expectations between something like The Go-Getter and The Happening, right?

Zooey Deschanel: I don’t know. I mean, a movie is a movie is a movie. Some you’re on for longer, some experiences are better than others, but they’re all the same structure. Even when you’re working on a small movie, it’s still a lot of money. You either have a smaller or bigger trailer or no trailer, but you’re still gonna sit somewhere and wait and the AD is going to call you to set and you have a director that tells you what to do. It looks different from the outside, but it’s just…

Different catering budgets.

Zooey Deschanel: [Laughs.] Exactly.

Looking back, which projects mean the most to you, either your role or the film in general?

Zooey Deschanel: You know, I really like a lot of things for different reasons. There was this movie, All the Real Girls, which was a great experience for me, and it was a time in my life where it was a fun collaborative experience, and I really loved working with the director—

David Gordon Green. With Pineapple Express, he became the It Director! And Danny McBride [who made his film debut in All the Real Girls] became the It Comedian! For a film made in 2003, All the Real Girls seems like this year’s It Movie.

Zooey Deschanel: It’s so cool. Danny McBride wasn’t an actor. There were like three people supposed to play that part—actors from L.A.—and they all fell out. And I remember we were in rehearsals two weeks before we were supposed to start shooting and David was all mad and was like, “I’m just gonna call my friend Danny—he’s funny as shit.” [Laughs.] After that movie, I was like, “I don’t know why he isn’t the most famous person in the world, he’s so hilarious.” And now I’m like, “Oh, it takes seven years.” But here he is, this amazing comedy star.

> Speaking of comedy, what’s your approach to it? You have this great deadpan style, whereas with Jim Carrey…well, nobody’s accusing that guy of being subtle.

Zooey Deschanel: Jim is so electrically funny and such a huge talent. He can pull off very, very broad humor and still have it rooted in reality. I try to keep things rooted in reality and have the comedy come out of the situation. One thing I like about working with Jim is that he goes back [and looks at the playback after each take]. It’s so much of a timing thing, and you can really see it when you watch from the outside. It can be very technical in a way that’s fun and interesting to play with.

Another huge part of your year has been spent touring and promoting She & Him. You seem to be enjoying the musician’s life quite a bit.

Zooey Deschanel: It’s been wonderful.

How did the experience of making an album and going on tour change your outlook on things?

Zooey Deschanel: It’s actually been really nice because I’ve been able to see how much more control I can have over my creative output. As an actor, you don’t really have much control over what is actually put out into the world.

Other people get to take your thing and put their own twist on it.

Zooey Deschanel: Yeah, and there’s a lot of manipulation that goes on. It can be for better or for worse, but it’s just nice to put something out into the world and be like, “OK!” I was a very small part of making these movies, because there are like a hundred people involved in making the movies. With the record, I wrote all the songs and Matt [a.k.a. M. Ward] would produce them, and most of the time it was no more than three people in the studio at once. I got to have a lot of control over what was put out there, and I was able to see something through from genesis to fruition and see people’s reactions to it. That’s really satisfying.

So let’s do some musical free association. What comes to your mind when I say the following things: “This Will Be Our Year.”

Zooey Deschanel: Zombies. That’s one of my favorite songs.

Dolly Parton.

Zooey Deschanel: The Trio.

I’d probably go with “The Duo,” but fair enough. Spirit in the Dark.

Zooey Deschanel: I don’t know…

That’s the name of Lindsey Lohan’s new album. No actress-singer beef?

Zooey Deschanel: I don’t know her!

“My Drink and My Two-Step.”

Zooey Deschanel: That sounds like a country-western song.

Excellent. Last one: Goonie Goo-Goos.

Zooey Deschanel: What?

Goonie Goo-Goos.

Zooey Deschanel: I have no idea what that is.

Yeah, to be perfectly honest, I’m not sure anybody does.

Home // GIRLS // COVER GIRLS // ZOOEY DESCHANEL