Zooey Goodness

This week's cover story on Zooey Deschanel is now up, and it's one of my favorites. Not just because I think she's the most beautiful, exciting actress working today, not just because I loved her new film, (500) Days of Summer, not just because I compulsive sing along to her album (She & Him: Volume One) in the car...but because she's just so damn cool. I mean, she does stuff like the above video for Mean Magazine--where she and her (500) co-star Joseph Gordon-Levitt re-enact a scene from Sid & Nancy...with Deschanel as Sid!

I first got a chance to talk to her two years back when she was doing roundtable interviews for the Surf's Up junket. Roundtables can be a depressing thing; you're seated with a bunch of other journalists, many of whom like to waste time with inane questions (my favorite being: "How do you spell your name?"). One journalist asked Deschanel if she was up for playing Janis Joplin in a planned biopic. She said she was and the reporter then said, "Why don't you give us a demonstration of your singing?" She paused a moment, then laughed and said, with that wonderful, dry delivery: "Hey, I don't gotta prove myself to you..."

Deschanel was a total delight one-on-one, despite the fact it was one of the most distracting interviews ever, through no fault of her own. We were in a suite at the Casa Del Mar, a beautiful hotel that overlooks the ocean. About 10 minutes into talking, a housekeeper walked into the room and said, "I'm going to vacuum here, okay?" We politely said no, she left, and we resumed the interview. Then, the room phone began to ring persistently. "I don't know who that could be for," Deschanel wondered aloud, before it finally stopped. A few minutes later, there was an insistent pounding on the door and a voice saying, "Room service!" Deschanel explained she hadn't ordered anything, and he went away...for about five minutes. At which point the knocking began again and the person was insisting we sign for the room service we didn't order. We finally got rid of him, only to have the housekeeper come back and ask if she could vacuum now.

Anyway, go see (500) Days of Summer. It's funny, offbeat, and absolutely charming. Deschanel and Gordon-Levitt are truly two of the best actors of their generation and seem to just keep getting better.

--Jenelle Riley

Comments

[Karen]

500 Days of Summer was great! And this video only adds to the charm.