Posted on March 7, 2012
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For years Zooey Deschanel has skirted round the edges of mass fame, the doe-eyed indie pin-up, repeatedly cast as a wise-cracking companion or whimsical dream girl (and sometimes both). Now, at 32, suddenly Deschanel finds herself centre stage. Her comedy New Girl – which was the most watched show on Channel 4's on-demand service in January – is, she says, reviving a grand American heritage of sitcom centred on a female character. It revolves around a group of male flatmates who find their merry existence disrupted by the arrival of a female room-mate (Deschanel's character, Jess), a schoolteacher, given to occasional bouts of singing and who gets entangled in complicated situations. Two weeks into the first series, a further 11 episodes were commissioned (bringing the total to 24) and are currently airing in the US. Golden Globe nominations have swiftly followed — including a Best Actress nod for Deschanel.
"I get sent a lot of scripts, but this one stood out," she says down the line from LA. "The writing was quirky and I loved the character – I liked that there was a lot of physical stuff, that she was completely herself always, and that they hung a lot of the comedy on her. We do have that tradition of female-driven sitcoms like Roseanne and I Love Lucy and the Mary Tyler Moore Show."
It is to this last example that she feels New Girl most easily compares. "Most sitcoms are joke-driven and less emotional. But ultimately this show isn't about one-liners, it's about situations. I think the show's a little bit like a movie in that way."
New Girl was written by playwright and screenwriter Elizabeth Meriwether, who was inspired by her own turbulent experiences of Craigslist flat-shares. "She's amazing," Deschanel says. "She's the head writer on the show, and ultimately it's her creation, but it's a very collaborative environment, rather than the power-flip thing you get sometimes on a project. I think maybe it's because we're around the same age, and we're sort of peers. We have a lot of friends in common – we first met randomly at a Superbowl party last year." The two women work together well, she says, because "it's more like a discussion, a lot of back-and-forth, and you have a lot of the same cultural reference points, so you have a kind of shorthand."
Meriwether is often grouped with female screenwriters including Diablo Cody (Juno), Dana Fox (What Happens in Vegas) and Lorene Scafaria (Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist) as "the Fempire". The term was coined light-heartedly, but seems to reflect a gender shift in the largely male-dominated world of US film and television, with an increasing number of projects written, produced and directed by women, and many of the characters and storylines being female-focused.
"Yes!" bawls Deschanel. "I really do feel that for a long time women didn't have the place in comedy that they should. I mean, I've had some amazing roles, but when you get sent scripts and you see you're always playing someone's girlfriend when you want to be the central role, it's so depressing. As a comedienne, it felt so frustrating to always be setting up someone else's comedic moments."
The change, she believes, began with the success of Bridesmaids, the 2011 film written by Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo, and starring Wiig as a somewhat troubled maid of honour. The scenario was not revolutionary, but the comedy, and portrayal of female friendship, was honest and fresh and strikingly funny.
"Bridesmaids' success meant that a lot of the networks realised people were interested in that kind of comedy," Deschanel explains. "We already had our show in production, but it made the networks pay more attention. You know the 2010-2011 pilot season was diametrically opposed to the 2012 pilot season; it was all these male-dominated shows. But in 2012, what got picked up were all these female-driven shows."
"The Fempire" now seems to extend to the stars of these new series. "I am friends with all the women on these shows," she says proudly. "It's this great atmosphere – we all support each other. When there aren't enough roles for women then of course it gets competitive. But right now, it's wonderful."
The ring of satisfaction is all the greater for Deschanel, as she had been pushing for this shift; last spring, she and two friends – producer Sophia Rossi and writer Molly McAleer – launched an entertainment website, HelloGiggles, aimed principally at women. "There were no websites for my comedic tastes," she says. "Sites like Funny or Die and College Humor are great, but I'd say it's appealing to 80% men and 20% women. On HelloGiggles we make stuff for guys too, of course, but it's more weighted towards the female, maybe it's even just to females of a certain generation, but it's to our sensibility." She pauses and recasts: "But I'm not trying to say there is male humour or female humour, I want to step back from saying that."
HelloGiggles is one of Deschanel's many off-screen enterprises. She also developed a (now-suspended) show for HBO based on Pamela Des Barres' groupie autobiography I'm With the Band. She hopes one day to write and produce and direct, and to continue her music career – at one time part of an LA-based jazz cabaret act, Deschanel joined up with musician M Ward in 2008 to release an album as the duo She Him. Since then, there has been a second record and a Christmas album, and while her schedule is constraining, the pair have further plans to work together. "Obviously I won't be able to tour in the same way," she says, "but we'll still be able to record … hopefully."
There is suddenly a vague wistfulness to Deschanel's tone, as if she recognises the changes that New Girl's success is bringing to her life – surrendering the delights of indie obscurity for crazy schedules and mainstream fame. There are definite drawbacks to her new-found recognition: in February, gossip columns reported that the newly single Russell Brand was in hot pursuit (she is separated from her husband, Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie). Brand, the tittle-tattlers claimed, had been bombarding her with calls and flirty texts.
"That's complete fabrication!" she cries with exasperation. "I don't even know him! I maybe met him once, in passing, four years ago. And he definitely doesn't have my phone number! That was a story made up by a single website. It's crazy how that got picked up — I mean how does that even happen?"
Deschanel huffs with frustration. She is composed, still, and bright-voiced, but perhaps just a little dazzled by all the new craziness unfolding.
New Girl is on Channel 4 on Fridays at 8.30pm
Article source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2012/mar/06/zooey-deschanel-funny-girl?newsfeed=true
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