The ukulele-strumming ingenue is keeping it real...

With a name like hers, Zooey (pronounced 'Zoe') Deschanel was always destined for either the bright lights of Hollywood or the rough-hewn glamour of the big top. Sensibly, she chose the former, and has been carving out a niche as cynical scene-stealers since her big-sister turn in Almost Famous, although most will recognise her as The Good Girl's surly 'cirque du face' beautician. "But I'm not actually a particularly cynical person," she shrugs. "I just have a low voice. I'm a little half-empty perhaps, but the really full people are so annoying, aren't they?"
By her own admissions she was possibly a little "brimming over" herself as a child. "I was always putting on plays and singing for people. Any opportunity to perform was a good opportunity." She's calmed down since - "Because I get paid for it now" - and now the audiences are seeking her out instead. This month they'll find the wide-eyed naif playing a smalltown girl who comes between her brother and his best friend in the tender drama, All the Real Girls. Ironically, however, she now says she just wants "to remain anonymous".
A little of that precocious kid remains, however, as she performs regularly with her band, If All the Stars Were Pretty Babies, singing, dancing, and, er, playing the ukulele. "It's really not a big deal," she giggles, "When I mention it people are all like..." she adopts a silly voice "'...the ukulele!' but it's a very simple instrument. It's only got four strings!" In the meantime, Deschanel gets her most mainstream outing to date later in the year, playing Will Ferrell's love interest in the Christmas caper Elf. It was an experience she relished, but for some unusual reasons. "I got to have two elf costumes, so it's, like, the greatest thing for a girl ever. I mean, two elf outfits! Can you imagine?" Erm, no, actually.