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Hometown: Los Angeles
Current gig: Playing Sarah Jessica Parker's roommate in Failure to Launch
1. She could live with the 'rents
In Failure, Deschanel's character falls for a guy who still lives at home. And Deschanel can sympathize – she's tempted "every day" to move back in with actress mom Mary Jo and dad Caleb, a cinematographer. Her favorite thing to do when she visits? "Eat – they cook all the time. I like the chicken breasts with mustard and vegetables."
She's also close to sister Emily, 28, star of the FOX drama Bones. And there's no sibling rivalry: "We're so different, so I never felt competitive toward her at all. And she's older, so I always looked up to her. I'd love to work with her."
2. She fell hard for The Big Easy
Deschanel filmed both Failure and the upcoming indie Flakes in New Orleans. "It was hot, but it was cool," she says. "I liked going to Cafe du Monde, where they have cafe au lait and beignets. The spirit of New Orleans – it's such an incredible place."
So watching the devastation of Hurricane Katrina was particularly painful. "A lot of people we worked with were totally uprooted, so I just felt awful about it," she says. "I would love to go back. It's great to see how much people love New Orleans and worked together to try to bring it back to its former glory."
3. She's a fashionista to rival Carrie Bradshaw
Her Failure character has a fabulous wardrobe ("A lot of it was Marnie," she says, "so I was pretty lucky") and Deschanel herself is an unabashed clotheshorse: "I go shopping every week, literally," she says. "There's something about getting a new dress or shirt that makes you feel that extra 20 percent better."
Her signature look? "I wear a lot of vintage clothes," she says. "And then, I like new clothes too. I like it all! Right now I'm liking Missoni and Luella Bartley. I'm into short dresses and boots right now."
4. Music is her life
A talented singer, Deschanel performs with pal Samantha Shelton in the cabaret act If All the Stars Were Pretty Babies – and she's a big karaoke fan (her song: the Carpenters' "Superstar"). "I started out doing musical theater," she says. "I've had 15 years of voice training." She's already sung onscreen: Her sweet rendition of "Baby, It's Cold Outside" drew Will Ferrell to her in 2003's Elf.
She listens to an eclectic mix of bands ("I've always been really into '60s British Invasion stuff – the Zombies, the Kinks, the Beatles – and I like classic rock and old country music"), and would love to record an album of her own music, which she calls "singer-songwriter stuff."
5. She can fly under the radar – for now
Deschanel doesn't get recognized much, especially when she's de-glammed. "People think I'm really young with no makeup on," she says. "The other day, somebody thought I was a child in a doctor's office. They were like, 'We weren't sure whether to give you a child's form or an adult's form.' I was like, 'What? I mean, Thanks!' "
But that could change soon: She's got four more movies due this year, including The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. "I didn't work with Brad Pitt," she says. "I play Robert Ford's girlfriend at the end of the film, (so) his character's dead!" And Deschanel, who's dated Jason Schwartzman but is now single, wouldn't mind a bit more recognition. Asked if she's a sex symbol to indie boys, she laughs, "I don't know, but I like the idea of that! It's very appealing to me. I'll take it!"
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