Date of Birth : Oct 11th 1976
American actress. She was born in Los Angeles, California to father Caleb Deschanel, an Academy Award-nominated cinematographer, and mother Mary Jo Weir, an actress. She has one sister, Zooey Deschanel, who is also an actress. Her paternal grandfather was French hence her typical French last name (meaning “from the channels” or “from the little jugs” depending of the patronymists; it is from the Ain region) and the remainder of her ancestry is Irish. She said in a recent interview that when they were little, she and her sister spent lots of summers near Lyon, France where they still have family.
Deschanel is a vegan and graduated from Boston University’s Professional Actors Training Program with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater.
She made her feature film debut in the 1994 film It Could Happen to You. She has been gaining recognition as an actress and in October of 2004 she was named one of six actresses to watch by Interview Magazine. In addition to starring in feature films, Deschanel has had several guest starring roles in television shows such as Crossing Jordan and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
Deschanel is currently starring in the role of forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance Brennan in the television series, Bones, based on the real life of forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs. She was nominated for a 2007 Teen Choice Award for that role.
CAREER
My Sister’s Keeper ( 2009 )
Boogeyman ( 2005 )
Cold Mountain ( 2003 )
It Could Happen to You ( 1994 )