On the Verge

Who Zooey Deschanel
What Actress
They say "I can see the future far and you're gonna be a big fine star" Windsor Bellephone, from the single 'Zooey Deschanel'
We say Young Hollywood's oddball princess

LA is full of them: second-generation industry kids with precision-engineered teeth and the supreme confidence that only comes with a sense of inviolable genetic entitlement. And Zooey Deschanel (daughter of cinematographer Caleb, and actress Mary Jo) grew up rubbing shoulders with plenty of them - she went to the same school as Kate Husdon and invited Jake Gyllenhaal to childhood parties. Any aspiring actress in this environment had better find a way to stand out from the perfectly toned and buffed crowd.
But for Deschanel, that came easily. It was simply a case of looking different. Not just from other starlets, although she does - her cartoonishly oversized eyes ensure that, as does her thrift-store wardrobe. But the 23-year-old also manages to look different from herself, melding physically into each new role. She explains, "I started out wanting to get enough movies down before any came out so I could avoid getting typecast, because that's one of the most annoying things about being an actress."
Despite her chameleon tendencies, audiences and industry alike have started to make the link between her disparate performances. And those who haven't should soon find her a lot easier to recognise as her career picks up speed. This summer, Deschanel takes on her first leading role in All the Real Girls, in which she plays Noel, an 18-year-old returning to her small town after five years at boarding school. It's perfect casting for Deschanel who gravitates towards roles that celebrate her otherness: the beguiling outsider, the wry observer. In The Good Girl she played a supermarket drone who hijacked that Tannoy system for her own amusement; and in Almost Famous she was the wise-beyond-her-years older sister of Cameron Crowe's alter ego.
Next up for Deschanel is a role in Jon Favreau's Elf, in which she plays a department store grotto elf. And her off-duty activities are just as off-beat. In addition to fronting a big band, one of her hobbies is clipping out pictures of Liza Minelli and faxing them to people anonymously. "I haven't done that in awhile," she says wistfully. "But I love Liza. Those pictures of the wedding are a little strange, but in a great way." It's a description that could equally be applied to Deschanel herself.