Biography for
Emily Deschanel More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

11 October 1976, Los Angeles, California, USA

Birth Name

Emily Erin Deschanel

Height

5' 9" (1.75 m)

Trivia

Daughter of Caleb Deschanel and Mary Jo Deschanel

Older sister of Zooey Deschanel.

Graduated from Boston University's Professional Actor's Training Program with a B.F.A. in Theater

Is good friends with Melanie Lynskey and Jorja Fox; both are supporters of PETA and the Humane Society.

Lives in both Los Angeles and New York

Interview magazine named her one of "6 Actors to Watch" in their annual "Young Hollywood" issue [October 2004]

Her paternal grandfather was French and the remainder of her ancestry is Irish American.

Is a vegan.

Was bridesmaid at wedding of best friend Melanie Lynskey to Jimmi Simpson (14 April 2007).

While attending Boston University, she lived on Hooker Street in Brighton, which she calls a "cool neighborhood.".

She attended Boston University with fellow actress Ginnifer Goodwin.

She studied theatre at Boston University's College of Fine Arts.

She is a member on the advisory board of the Adrienne Shelly Foundation, which supports female actors, writers, and directors in honor of the late filmmaker.

She owns a duplex and lives with her sister, Zooey.

She owned a dog, a female Wheaten terrier, who now lives with her ex-boyfriend.

She is real-life best friends with Michaela Conlin who plays "Angela Montenegro", her best friend on their show "Bones" (2005).

Personal Quotes

I was in school with Ginnifer [Goodwin]; she's a couple of years younger than I am. She's supersweet. She told me I gave her a pep talk once, even though I can't remember it. And [Michael] Chiklis - I love "The Shield" (2002) - he's so good. When I was in school, he came to speak to us about acting and told this story about how he had "As You Like It" on his resume; and a casting director asked if it were a soap opera. The casting guy said, "ABC? NBC?" and Chiklis said, "No, Shakespeare". I'll never forget it.

I'm a vegan, but you can be really unhealthy as a vegan, too. Vegan just means that you don't use animal products, so you don't wear leather, you don't wear wool, and you don't eat animal products. But you can eat french fries and stuff like that all day long.

(On similarities between her and her sister) We both tend not to pay much attention to what's socially acceptable, and we like to do crazy stuff. We both love to dance and will dance whenever, wherever, whether there's music playing or not. My whole family is very sarcastic and constantly making jokes.

Everything I know about makeup, I've learned from my sister.

(discussing her food as a child) No sugar cereal. Hot dogs with no nitrates. We weren't allowed to have McDonald's. When the babysitter came, we could have Kraft macaroni and cheese.

I'm definitely a people person. I love socializing and being around people and having a good conversation.

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