New Girl Star’s Nepotism Excuses Shot Down by Fans

Summary:

• Zooey Deschanel, the star of Fox’s New girl and 500 Days of Summer, was long accused of being a nepo baby of her Oscar-nominated father.
• The actress strongly denied these accusations, saying she had been morally helped by the family, but not in the way nepotism implies.

Holding the status of one of the main Hollywood’s manic pixie dream girls, Zooey Deschanel was initially known as the actress coming from the family, related to the cinematic industry. In this connection, she was often accused of being a nepo baby, which means gaining access to rare opportunities due to your family connections.

It was massively claimed that the 500 Days of Summer actress gained the roles in the potentially and eventually successful movies of the early 2000s, which resulted in her popularity, due to her father’s underestimated impact and the daughter’s promotion.

Caleb Deschanel, known as cinematographer and director, is a well-recognized industry’s giant, who filmed such movies as The Lion King and The Passion of Christ. He also has in his portfolio additional photography credits on The Godfather and Titanic and, moreover, six nominations for best cinematography at the Oscars. Besides, Mary Jo Deschanel, Zooey’s mother, is an actress, famous for her Twin Peaks performance.

Despite all these facts, the New Girls’ leading star denies that her parents paved her way to the movies. In a recent interview with Lewis Howes on The School of Greatness podcast, Deschanel called out the nepotism accusations, stating their unreasonability.

“It’s funny because people be like, ‘Oh, nepotism’, I’m like no. My dad’s a DP [director of photography]. No one’s getting jobs because their dad’s a DP,” assured the actress.

However, she admitted that she received “much creative help” from both talented parents, who were constantly helping her by giving advice, reading lines, coaching and supporting her emotionally all the way towards the success of her acting career.

The Internet mostly burst out with anger towards Deschanel, considering it annoying that the actress didn’t admit that there was obviously a head start in the face of her family.

“Maybe nobody gave her a job but knowing the business, where to go, the names, the process, that inside information is a huge leg up,” points Redditor @totallycalledla-a.

Besides, it’s also claimed that the filmmakers could be obsessed with her dad and his artful cinematography, so the only last name Deschanel could promote not only Zooey’s career, but also the movie and TV titles with her too, benefiting their greater hype.

It’s also quite curious that the actress’s sister, Emily Deschanel, is also an actress, known mostly for the Fox crime procedural series Bones. We can’t really guess whether it’s connected with nepotism, natural talent or if it's just a coincidence.

Anyway, Zooey Deschanel is definitely an outstanding actress, whose performance in New Girl, which is available on Prime and Hulu , will forever remain in fans’ hearts.

Source: Lewis Howes