Zooey Deschanel vehemently denies benefitting from nepotism
New Girl star Zoeey Deschanel has strongly denied benefitting from nepotism despite her parents both working in the film and television industry.
While her parents aren’t household names, unlike traditional beneficiaries of nepotism, Deschanel has still been accused online of using their contacts to the advantage of her career. Her father, Caleb, is a six-time Academy Award-nominated director of photography, who worked on classic films such as The Godfather, Titanic and The Lion King. Meanwhile, her mother, Mary Jo, is an actor that most notable appeared in 11 episodes of Twin Peaks.
Although Deschanel acknowledges that having parents in the industry was useful as they helped her hone her craft, she maintains securing roles was beyond their capabilities.
The one-time Saturday Night Live guest host said during an appearance on The School of Greatness podcast with Lewis Howes: “It’s funny because people be like, ‘Oh, nepotism’, I’m like no. My dad’s a DP. No one’s getting jobs because their dad’s a DP. It’s definitely not.”
She also addressed the “creative” assistance they provided: “My mum is an actor and my dad is a cinematographer and a director. I can’t possibly emphasise enough how much creative help I had from my family unit.”
Deschanel continued: “My dad is a great creative mind and such a talented person. My mum is a great actor and is so nurturing. My mum would coach me when I didn’t have an acting coach, she would help me, read lines with me. She’d be so supportive.”
Elaborating on her relationship with her father, Deschanel added: “I would have so many great discussions about film and filmmaking with my dad. They both would help me. My dad would also read lines with me and give direction. Then having a sister whose an actor.”
Deschanel concluded by powerfully stating: “It just makes you automatically have a community, and how much our communities help us, whether its our families or our found communities.”
While growing up in Los Angeles with parents in the film industry is likely going to make a person gravitate towards a career in Hollywood, it doesn’t necessarily translate to enjoying success on the scale of Deschanel.
Meanwhile, last year, Maya Hawke, whose parents are Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke, revealed she was “totally comfortable” with being labelled a product of nepotism. However, she does have an issue with the popular term ‘nepo baby’.
The Stranger Things star explained: “I mean, I don’t like that particular phrase, nepo baby. But if you were to call me a child of nepotism, then I would be totally comfortable with it. There’s something about the hashtagginess of the term nepo baby that makes me itch. When we talk about our experiences in the film industry, we have different journeys”.
Listen to Deschanel on The School of Greatness podcast below.
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