Like other sitcom stars fans don't hear much about, Zooey Deschanel has largely disappeared from the spotlight in recent years despite how busy she has been. The impression that Deschanel made on fans after playing overly kind characters has still left quite an impression on pop culture.
Unfortunately for anyone who wants to assume that Deschanel is just like the extremely nice characters she has portrayed, a report once made her look awful. That fact has left some fans wondering what kind of person Deschanel really is.
Why Zooey Deschanel Might Be A Jerk In Real Life
Between 2011 and 2018, Zooey Deschanel starred as New Girl's Jessica "Jess" Day for seven very popular seasons. In movies like Elf, Yes Man, and more, Deschanel has also portrayed characters who come across as being very kind.
Considering the kinds of characters that Deschanel has spent her career playing, many fans instinctively want her to be that nice in real life. However, it is equally true that a lot of observers instinctively believe that Deschanel has to be a jerk behind the scenes.
The reason for that is over the last several years, there have been many stars who've suddenly been exposed in the media. After years of building up reputations as being genuinely kind people, the world has suddenly learned that they are anything but behind the scenes.
Since stars who've been exposed as jokes get a lot of coverage in the press and on social media, many people have come to believe all stars are jerks on some level. Even worse, stars like Deschanel who seem especially nice have to be the biggest jerks of all according to this mind frame.
At the end of the day, it should go without saying that Deschanel isn't as nice as her character from New Girl. After all, Deschanel is a real person who has emotions, so it would be ridiculous to think that she never loses her temper for real.
Unfortunately for Deschanel, however, it goes further than that. The reason for that is in 2013 a report surfaced which claimed that Deschanel actually was awful to work with when she was starring in New Girl.
According to that report that cites an unknown "production insider", Deschanel can be described as "moody" and "unhappy".
“Although the show has other bosses, including creator Liz Meriwether and producer Katherine Pope, Zooey rules the roost. And she gets moody and starts making rules on the set which is upsetting a lot of the cast and crew members."
The report continues, “The show’s schedule really drives Zooey up a wall, because they’re always running behind when the full cast is on set. So now, Zooey insists on days ending with scenes that just feature her and one other actor. When that can’t happen due to the production schedule, however, she’s unhappy and all hell breaks loose.”
In the past, there have been other reports that claimed that Deschanel isn't who she appears to be. According to reports that also cite "insiders", Drew Scott and Jake Johnson both have issues with Deschanel. It also should be noted that some people who used to work for Deschanel have called her out.
What Zooey Deschanel Is Really Like In Real Life
If fans want to know if Zooey Deschanel is an absolute sweetheart or a total jerk, the truth is she almost certainly isn't either of those things. Furthermore, fans have to accept that they will never know for sure if Deschanel is more of a jerk or more of a sweetheart. The only way to know that is to actually have Deschanel be an ongoing part of your real life.
While it is impossible for fans to truly know who Deschanel is, they can rest assured that a lot of the evidence makes her seem like a good human being. Right off the hop, the first thing to look at is the report that Deschanel was a jerk behind the scenes on New Girl.
Based on what is known about that report, fans have a lot of reasons to dismiss it including the fact that it was sourced to an anonymous insider. On top of that, even if everything that was claimed in that report was 100% true, it wouldn't inherently add up to Deschanel being a bad person.
If Deschanel lost her patience with New Girl's production habitually running behind schedule, she would simply be reacting the same way virtually any boss would. Making rules to try to make sure production didn't continue to fall behind like that only seems like a reasonable response.
When it comes to Deschanel being described as "moody" and "unhappy", everyone in the world has moments like that. Since actors spend extremely long hours on set when they film shows and movies, they would be inhuman if they never felt those emotions.
Finally, the claim that "all hell breaks loose" when Deschanel gets upset doesn't sound great at first glance. However, that is such a relative term that there is no real way to know what that means.
As for the fact that some people who worked for Deschanel in the past critiqued her, virtually every boss has employees that resent them.
Fortunately for fans who hope Deschanel is nice, there are reasons to think that is the case. One example of that is a fan once went out of their way to go on Reddit and praise Deschanel for how nice she was during a hotel stay.
In response, some people with a cynical view of Deschanel could argue briefly being nice to a hotel worker once doesn't say much. Since there is some truth to that, maybe observers should look at Deschanel's relationship with her former co-stars.
In January 2022, Deschanel, Hannah Simone, and Lamorne Morris launched a New Girl re-watch podcast titled "Welcome to Our Show". At the time, some fans wondered why Jake Johnson and Max Greenfield weren't involved. However, a podcast with five hosts sounds exhausting and Johnson has appeared on the show.
The important thing to note for this article is the show makes it seem like Deschanel, Morris, and Simone share a close friendship. If anyone suspects the hosts pretend to be friends for the podcast, Simone and Morris celebrated their relationship with Deschanel long before the podcast existed.
