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Deschanel stars in new sitcom 'New Girl'Sep 20, 2011 (Tulsa World - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Zooey Deschanel is the "it" girl. Again. The brilliantly blue-eyed brunette is the too-cool-for-school indie film actress, the singer-songwriter whose smooth tones are nearly hypnotic and the star of one of the most buzzed-about series of the fall season -- "New Girl," premiering Tuesday on Fox. It's old hat to her, just ask her. "I always think of myself, in my mind, as the underdog type," she said in a recent phone interview from New York. "But, I've been called 'it girl' so many times at different points in my career. So, I guess 'it girl' is sort of a flexible term. I just like working and having a job." The girl is Jess Day, a wonderfully dorky (in the nicest sense) young woman whose boyfriend dumps her, forcing her to find a new apartment. A loft on Craig's List looks like a good choice, and she goes to interview the three roommates who turn out to be men. These men will help her get over her breakup and have absolutely no idea how their lives will be changed by this pixie woman. It was not a role made for her, but she was made for it, she explained. "I know it wasn't written for me initially, but it was sort of a perfect fit, you know," said Deschanel, the daughter of an Oscar-nominated cinematographer and an actress. She has been married to Benjamin Gibbard, frontman for Death Cab for Cutie, for two years Monday and is the younger sister of Emily Deschanel. "You go to a store and there's a dress that just looks like it was made for you but it wasn't. That's sort of what it was like." It's such a good fit that, if you didn't know better, you would believe every line she says in the pilot episode. It's a kind of innocence not usually seen in a TV sitcom. That kind of wide-eyed naivety comes from the character starting a whole new life, the actress explained. "I think she's been in one mode for a really long time. She's sort of living out the stuff that should have happened in her late teens and early 20s in her late 20s. So I think, in a weird way, she bypassed all this stuff because she has been with the same guy for a long time. ... Three guys are helping her get over this experience but not just that. ... It's also finding her way in a new life being a single woman in her 20s." Jess is also a young woman who makes up theme songs for herself, something Deschanel admitted she did when she was 7 years old. "My parents still sing it to me," she said laughing. "It's still embarrassing." She said she hadn't considered doing a TV show when the "New Girl" script came along. Known mostly for her film roles, she spent last year touring with her band, She & Him, and had a show in development at HBO. "I had really taken a lot of time off working as an actress," she said. "I just happened to read this script. I was so blown away by how perfect it was for me and how funny it was and sweet and smart. "I just fell in love with this project." NEW GIRL When: 8 p.m. Tuesday Where: Fox, channel 23, cable 5 Rita Sherrow 918-581-8360 [email protected] ___ (c)2011 Tulsa World (Tulsa, Okla.) Visit Tulsa World (Tulsa, Okla.) at www.tulsaworld.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |