New Girl cast: Where are they now?

Zooey Deschanel roles, music, dating, and more

There’s a fair chance you already knew and loved Zooey Deschanel long before she brought the wonderfully weird Jess Day to life on New Girl. Prior to starring in the Fox sitcom in 2011, Deschanel starred in a string of successful films such as Almost Famous, Elf, Failure to Launch, Yes Man, (500) Days of Summer, among others. Although she’s known for her deadpan comedy style, Deschanel has also proven her talents in more dramatic roles. Still, she’s best known for her Emmy and three-time Golden Globe-nominated role on New Girl.

For seven seasons, Deschanel took center stage as a character that would most likely be the “best friend” in any other movie or show. It’s not often that Jess Day-types have the chance to tell their own story, but Deschanel, as star and producer, helped usher in a new era of who the leading character could be on the small screen. While appearing on the sitcom, Deschanel appeared in the films Rock the Kasbah, The Driftless Area, and Trolls, as well as its holiday special.

Deschanel’s also one-half of the Grammy-nominated indie folk band She & Him with M. Ward. Since 2008, they’ve released three studio albums, two Christmas albums, and a standards cover album. She & Him scored their Grammy nomination for the song “So Long” from the Winnie the Pooh soundtrack in 2012. They last released the gender-swapped dual single “She/He Gives Her/His Love To Me” in 2018.

After the end of New Girl, Deschanel has seemingly taken time for her two children, Elsie and Charlie, in lieu of diving back into another acting role. For her first post-Jess performance, Deschanel starred as Belle in a live production of Beauty and the Beast at the Hollywood Bowl in May 2018. She also appeared as the host of Attn:’s Facebook series Your Food’s Roots, in which she explored the origins of food.

Following her divorce from second husband Jacob Pechenik (she was previously married to Death Cab For Cutie frontman Ben Gibbard), Deschanel started dating Property Brothers star Jonathan Scott. She’s even appeared on his show Celebrity IOU.

In December 2020, Deschanel starred in Katy Perry’s music video for her song “Not the End of the World,” and the following year, she co-hosted The Celebrity Dating Game on ABC. In 2022, Deschanel started the New Girl rewatch podcast Welcome to Our Show along with Hannah Simone and Lamorne Morris. Fans should definitely check out the podcast!