I’m about to admit something I never thought I’d write: I kind of like Zooey Deschanel as an actress. I’ve been watching The New Girl, and… it’s not a bad show, AT ALL. It’s actually really cute, bordering on “pretty awesome, actually.” After years spent as a supporting player in big-budget films and a sometimes-lead in independent films, Zooey has finally found herself helming what could be a solid television show with a long future. Now, even though my general warmth for Zooey as an actress has increased, she also pisses me off as a person. She always strikes me as a too-cutesy hipster chick trying too hard to be “different” and “wacky”. Maybe her personality is genuinely wacky and quirky. Or maybe she’s just a pretty normal girl who puts on airs to stand out.
All I know is that she’s 31 years old, and it wouldn’t hurt her to start dressing and acting her age in public. BUT – I do enjoy how The New Girl is built around Zooey’s quirks and weirdness, however feigned – the character Zooey plays seems fleshed-out and authentic, like you would actually run into that girl and be annoyed with her in real life. Anyway, Zooey took part in Us Weekly’s “25 Things You Don’t Know About…” feature, and I can’t hate on her too hard:
1. I accidentally entered a beauty pageant.
2. I hate camping, but I love summer camp.
3. I took three years off from acting and toured with my band, She & Him.
4. I used to dress up like a princess to do my homework.
5. I have had brown hair and bangs since I was 2. One year I dyed it blonde, which felt so weird.
6. I drove my mom’s old Volvo until just a few years ago.
7. I had a party at the American Girl store — recently.
8. I love coffee. I mean, I really love coffee.
9. I am always early to work but sometimes late to other things.
10. I started a comedy website for females, with my friends Sophia and Molly, called HelloGiggles.
11. I know This is Spinal Tap by heart.
12. I am really competitive at board games.
13. I talk to my mom every day.
14. I love work more than vacations.
15. I love pictures of people’s dogs.
16. I am pretty crafty. I like to bake.
17. I hate papaya.
18. I use scrunchies. Don’t judge.
19. I love pajamas.
20. I am a true blue music nerd.
21. I love cereal.
22. Pastoralia by George Saunders is one of my favorite novels.
23. I have bows painted on my toenails.
24. I took six years of tap-dancing lessons.
25. My first acting job was as Little Red Riding Hood.
[From Us Weekly]
Sigh…well, that explains the bangs at least. She’s always had bangs? I’m trying to remember if I’ve ever seen her bangs-less? If she ever grew them out, I would imagine that she would look even more like her older sister, Emily Deschanel.
Oh, and I kind of loved “I used to dress up like a princess to do my homework.” Who didn’t?
Photos courtesy of WENN.
love her. hate the show. i just don’t find her as that character plausible. She’s too inept. Zooey is too cool.
I think she shtick works because she’s still pretty, young and thin. But can you see her Aw-shucks-in-Mary-Janes-and-ankle-socks crap working when she’s 45?
I used to love her so much until a friend of mine who worked with her told me she was really whiney and a big p in the a.
I was crushed!
she bugs me
I like that show too Kaiser! You are reminding me to catch up with it. I don’t think this list is that bad. There’s a preciousness to it, but it’s not braggy. She seems like she’s really like this.
I love wacky, quirky women. I want to believe she is genuine because I have a crush on her, and Tina Fey, and Kristen Wiig. =)
Eh. No.
Genuinely annoying.
She seemed pretty normal, adorable..then I read @normades comment. Oh well.
Weird she said that about the brown hair – she had blonde hair in Frasier.
I think she is sweet. and I also think her show is very cute.
Dressing like a princess to do homework (or any chore) sounds like a brilliant idea, actually. Imagine how much more fun everyday boring chores would be if you bribed yourself with dressing up in wildly inappropriate, glam clothing…
*runs off to put on six-inch heels in order to do accounts*
Love Zooey. Also: definitely understand why other people can’t stand her.
Also, RE: Normades’ comment – sometimes people can be lovely, sometimes people can be arseholes. Not everybody is a peach all the time, you know? Even if they ARE on TV.
Strangely not annoying. After reading this, she reminds me of some of my friends… before, she mostly reminded me of that annoying try-hard girl who posts too many mirror headshots on her myspace (yes, myspace.)
So annoying. Not cute when you are in your 30’s. JMO.
@Lenore: Actually it was a general impression she had after working with her for a week. But who cares, I’ll never have to deal with her personally and can just admire her hipsterness from afar.
(I can tots identify with the whole 30 going on 13 thing. I can also understand why others find that really annoying.)
I’m with jc126. There is not much about this chick that is not annoying.
I like her new show, it’s cute and has had a couple of really funny lines/moments.
I do think a bit of her schtick is a put on, or at least a slight exaggeration, but it does work for that show.
Can’t say I like her voice though – she can sing, but there’s an odd tone to it that bothers me.
Ugh. Annoying. Pretty, but annoying.
she makes me curl my lip up. the whole “my little pony, puppy poster, adorable me ” routine is weird.
and on a side note zooey (i hate that spelling, too) “Pastoralia” by george saunders is a collection of short stories, not a novel. so put that in your hello kitty pipe and smoke it.
I will occasionally do the housework wearing a tiara, so I understand the whole princess thing.
I generally like her and her quirkiness, whether or not its a put-on, but it seems more suited to a woman in her twenties. I imagine her apartment being decorated entirely with Anthropologie. Like, COVERED in whimsy. Enough already.
I love Zooey Deschanel, the indie singer/indie actress, but she is starting to remind me of Katie Perry.
I don’t know….if she’s genuinely quirky, I can like her. If however, she’s hipster too cool quirky, I don’t like her. I do find her a bit annoying, but only because she’s hard to figure out.
I can’t stand Zooey. She tries very hard to be “precious” but she seems like a huge pain in the ass. I felt that way about that chick on Dharma and Greg as well.
I like her. I think she’s cute. Wish I woulda tuned in to the show because I’ve heard some good things about it.
She’s adorable. Why does everyone who writes for this site have a bangs fixation? Are they really that offensive? Its a hairstyle, not a political statement. I just don’t understand.
love her. she has the most beautiful eyes and i love her style. also love her husband/his bands.
LOVE Lovelove her! I’d give anything for that gorgeous thick hair & light blue eye mix. I loved her in ‘Yes Man’
pretty eyes. she looks kinda like Alexis Blendal (don’t know how to spell it) from Gilmore Girls
Blonde once? She was blonde on Frasier and in Elf…
i like her. at least she has some (even if maybe made up or exaggerated, who knows) personality and style going on. if it’s genuine-or at least convincingly done- i don’t really care how old she is. also, i don’t feel the age-comments. as long as she is mostly covered up, why don’t let her just be. better quirky than generic, she’s hurting nobody.
haven’t made up my mind about her new show yet – so far i find it not too bad but not too great either. and i’d say her list is fine. i love pictures of people’s dogs, too!
She annoys me – she seems phony, like she’s being cute and precious for attention. I thought she did a really good job in 500 Days of Summer, though – I hated her character! I always felt like she was kind of playing herself in that role.
She really does not have a brain, does she?
We need more pictures of her with her mouth hanging open.
I think the article is hilarious, especially in light of this: http://www.cracked.com/article_19493_4-reasons-zooey-deschanel-can-stop-pretending-shes-dork.html
Love her, even though I hate all things hipster, anthropologie, and etsy. Heard her give an interview on NPR about her music and she was funny and very genuine and humble.
I like her because she doesn’t put on airs, she just seems happy with who she really is. Seems to be a decent, hard working person. She can look cute but can also look beautiful at times.
I like her even though sometimes it seems like she’s trying too hard.
I like her, and think she is genuinely a bit of a wackadoodle. And I like that-I’m a wackadoodle too! Haha. I dont think she’s a try-hard, I think she’s just.a bit of a cool quirky girl.. I get told all of the time I look like her. And yes I have bangs-I like bangs too haha. Thats not the reason I like her-I like her because she isnt too skinny, she isnt sporting a spray tan, she seems sweet, smart, and funny. I’ve never thought of her as a try-hard hipster, shes too geeky-another thing that makes me warm to her because I’m a total geek too! My love letter to zooey is done now…. Haha
Where are her pupils?
To me, Zooey has crossed the line from cute to cutesy.
I do think the girl can act, and have generally positive feelings towards her. I just can’t listen to her too much these days.
Kaiser, although I agree that her “wacky hipster chick” schtick can get kinda of old, every time she annoys me I still end up thinking — “This is still WAY better than another under-dressed starlet with her goods hanging out all over the place.”
And I totally agree with your take on “New Girl” — I didn’t think I’d like it as much as I do, and now I find myself recommending it to people!
I thought she was younger because of her quirky ways. I like her new show but she is rather exhausting to watch at times.
Woe never made the connection that Bones is her sister. When is Bones coming back? I miss it.
I really agree with No. 4. I know where that comes from. She comes across as an authentic girl with good quirky taste not as poseur trying to be what she really is. There are SO many of those especially in Japan.
No problems with this.
I’ve tried very hard to like her new show. She’s just so whiny and grating and the show just seems so thin. I don’t see it lasting. I hope that she goes back to what she does best, quirky indie films.
All these girls who are vegan (like her and Alicia Silvertone) are thin but their bodies are so soft looking. The need protein badly.
@cleveland girl: There is protein in a vegan diet.
I have a friend who worked with her twice and likes her a lot.
My best friend loves ZD, but i find everything about her to be so annoying. I wish she would just stop.
I have never understood the hate she get’s on this site! She’s nice and very well mannered, Many people who have worked with her always have great things to say about her, she’s not pretentious and she’s quirky:-) WTF is the problem you people have with her. Yes I am a huge fan and I totally have a girl boner for this chick, but I have to admit, I don’t like the show:-(
I love her. She is gorgeous, funny, quirky and I kinda love her more for 25 things. Thank God we aren’t all cookie cutter, how boring! I love many of her movies as well. Don’t get the hate, and I love her bangs on her.
PS-just got a long side bang and love the extra layers! Not brave enough at my age to try her style. Too long to grow out.
I think she is refreshingly adorable and sweet. Completely harmless. Hollywood needs more of these sweet-girl types.
The show is irritating but I still like Zooey. To me she’s cute because she looks 25. But since she’s actually 31, some of this cutesy schtick is starting to bug me a little. I give her around 3 years before it starts to get insufferable. But it seems she’s a talented girl so hopefully by then she’ll have moved on to a more mature image and different roles.
ok these are very hipstery and annoying, but what i hate more than a hipster is an aged hipster with a giant Peter Pan complex. What’s with acting like a little girl? I am her age and I feel like an old fart, actually ever since my early twenties. Fact is she is an adult who talks about her “besties” on her website. if i were her husband i would feel like a pedophile lmao. i’ve know some girls like her irl, they would do childish things all the time and collect childish items. but none of them were trying to be as quirky as her… add to that the hipsterness, the horrid acting (youtube it to see examples) and an aloof, higher-than-thou air to her attitude, you can see why this plain looking valley girl is disliked. oh and when she talks, even when she sings, she always sounds like she is yawning. i mean it everytime i hear her voice i almost yawn. is that supposed to be hip too? because she sounds as emotionless and void as she acts.
She tries so hard to be the ultimate manic pixi dream girl, I also heard that she is a bitch. Cant stand her.
She is adorable.
I may have to replace my affections for Reese Witherspoon with Zooey who I have always thought seemed lovely.
She irritates the hell out of me. She reminds me of all those girls I meet at comic book stores and cons who are blindly infatuated with their own quirkiness. Girls like this can only talk about how weird they are — they want to be on a pedestal for their uniqueness. It might be legit her personality but she tries too hard to be charming. It seems incredibly juvenile.
@AZ: Is this about her mocking her fans behind their backs and being rude at signings because that is what I read about on imdb
I find her mostly cute, mostly harmless, and mostly annoying. That level of pep and cutesyness is nauseating in anyone under seven. It just is I’m sorry. Like, how has life not crushed that shit by now, even a little bit? Has she had no bad experiences? Ever? Still, if it is genuinely who is she I don’t think she needs to change. Be who you are. Her 25 things was rather boring and predictable though …
She used to annoy me, mostly because I really didn’t like her characters in 500 Days of Summer and Elf- but then I started watching New Girl. She’s absolutely hilarious. She goes beyond quirky and is just outright weird! You have to admire an actress that will put herself out there like that. So now I’m a Zooey fan again.
She annoys me. Her fanbase probably annoys me more though.
she annoys me. a lot. she’s very stand-offish and catty in person and can be very demeaning to interviewers. I tried to find an interview on youtube where she didn’t come off as haughty and purposefully awkward toward her interviewer (in a bitchy, mocking way) and simply couldn’t. Except for when she’s with a co-star (aka another celebrity — a person of her ‘calibre’) of course. She thinks she is really something special, lemme tell you. I do not dislike many celebrities, but this one, I just can’t with her. She is definitely feeling herself, drinking her own kool aid, etc. Her fanbase is also annoying as crap. & I do believe it’s all airs.
ANNOYING!
the mere sound of her voice is grating!
Tin Man…ever seen it? I love it. She rocked “dorothy” in it.
@Cleveland Girl – seriously?That’s a broad and ignorant statement. Tell that to the myriad of hardbody vegans who are professional athletes. Also, Zooey isn’t vegan anymore. She hasn’t been for a couple years.
Saunder’s “Pastoralia” is a collection of short stories, not a novel. Arghh. Either she hasn’t read it or she’s one of those people who use “novel” for “book” or even “fictional novel” as if it is a real term. Double-argh.
genuinely annoying.
She is seriously very pretty. One of my few celebrity straight-girl crushes.
I thought I was the only one who didn’t like her! But this actually makes me want to give her show a chance. Good for her.
“I used to dress up like a princess to do my homework.” was my favorite too! and looks like everyone else’s as well.. I think she deserve’s a 2nd chance.
she isn’t really skinny, she has a little meat on her like the women of the past so i guess that is why a lot of women seem to like her.
I used to like her, and then I saw “500 Days of Summer”, which I absolutely loathed to the depths of my soul. (“Ooh, she likes the Smiths! She’s so cool!” UGH). I haven’t seen her show, but she seems to play the exact same character all the time, and it bores me. Worse than that, it seems like she’s just like her go-to character in real life. So A. she’s really an annoying hipster, which is just…ugh… and B. THE BITCH GETS TO PLAY HERSELF AND GET PAID FOR IT. Yeah, I don’t like her at all.
I met her sometime in 2002-2003 when I took a film class at USC. I thought she was annoying then and I still do now. Poor girl!
I love her – love her everyday talking voice. Please don’t let her be a bitch!!!!
why is being crafty and cute not allowed at 31?i didn’t realize you had to become a prude at a certain age.i’m so sick of people bad mouthing her.she’s adorable and seems like a fun person to be around.
The show sucks. I used to like her until I met her in real life and realized she’s a complete high-maintenance bitch. Not shocking. It has nothing to do with her acting or what she looks like, etc, etc. I just found that she isn’t a very good person from personal experience. Its the truth, sorry.
@Jamie: No, no, no, you got it all wrong. It’s wrong to be cute and modest at 31 but if you’re like, say, Coco and at least the same age as Zooey Deschanel with your nasty fake ass hanging out you should be admired because you “own it”. People possess some kind of subconscious skank fixation.
I want to like her but the New Girl character? Wow, what an attention-seeking woman, wrapped up in a ball of “wacky and likeable”. Sorry, don’t like it at all. Kirsten Wiig made this sort of social awkwardness believable and amazing and I feel like this show is trying to harness that – but they’ve harnessed all the wrong things. Where’s her depth?
In real life no guy would want to live with Jess, even if her friends WERE all models. She’s “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days” wackjob wrapped up in a “everyone wants to be like me!” cutsiness. Really?
Phoebe in Friends was quirky, but still a gutsy, realistic, stand-on-her-own-feet character – there was more to her than her quirks. And I won’t buy that about New Girl’s Jess until perhaps she finds herself having to explain to her potential in-laws that a pimp once spit in her mouth.
I love spazy, quirky people. I love people that love to have fun and make fun in life. My only problem with her is that it seems contrived… like she is not sincere. As if she is trying to do it to be cool on the show, not like she is a genuine good person on the show. It is hard to believe that character would be able to get by on no substance other than “quirk.”
The thing that is disturbing is that she seems to be making fun of quirky people. She seems unbelievable and sarcastic, like she is too cool to actually be sincerely cute and nice- in “New Girl.”
I used to love Zooey, but after working with her (I work in the costume/makeup dept.) and seeing her being an annoying narcissist, I hate everything about her. She treated me like a second class citizen because I was a crew member. I admit, she is a talented singer and is quite pretty, but manners are free, and if they weren’t, she could still afford them. She is immature, has an annoying voice, plays herself in films and on television, is in love with herself and dates men who resemble her father, which is just odd.
She’s annoying. It’s really not cute when your 32. She needs to grow up.
For the people commenting on her blonde hair, she said she died it blonde once for about a year. Her Frasier episode and Elf were done in around a years time from each other.