Emily Deschanel

Birthday: 11 October 1976, Los Angeles, California, USA

Height: 5' 9" (1.75 m)

Biography

Emily Deschanel was born in California, the older daughter of legendary cinematographer Caleb Deschanel and actress Mary Jo Deschanel. Her younger sister is Zooey Deschanel. Due to her parents' work, she traveled extensively as a child. She was educated in Los Angeles at Harvard-Westlake and Crossroads Schools. Deschanel went on to study at Boston University, graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater.

Her movie debut was as "paint-throwing fur activist" in It Could Happen to You (1994), and her first big television role was as a psychic in the Stephen King mini-series "Rose Red" (2002). More TV and film parts followed including Cold Mountain (2003) and Spider-Man 2 (2004). Her defining role came in 2005, when she began playing Dr. Temperance 'Bones' Brennan in the popular series "Bones". Since the third season of the show, Deschanel has also served as a producer.

A committed animal rights supporter, Deschanel is a vegan. She is married to David Hornsby and they have a son, Henry

Deschanel was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Academy Award–nominated cinematographer and director Caleb Deschanel and actress Mary Jo Deschanel (née Weir). She is the older sister of actress, model, songwriter, and musician Zooey Deschanel.^[3] She is of French, Swiss, Dutch, English, and Irish descent. Her grandfather was from Oullins, Rhône.^[4][5]

Deschanel attended Harvard-Westlake and Crossroads School in Los Angeles^[6] before graduating from Boston University's Professional Actors Training Program with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater.^[7]

Career

Deschanel made her feature film debut in 1994's It Could Happen to You. Her next notable role was in Stephen King's Rose Red in 2002. She then appeared in Cold Mountain, The Alamo, and Glory Road and was named one of "six actresses to watch" by Interview Magazine in 2004.

In 2005 Emily Deschanel was chosen for the role of Dr. Temperance Brennan on Fox's Bones, a series based on the fictional novels of real-life forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs. She has been playing this role in Bones for 8 years. For her performance she received a 2006 Satellite Award nomination and a 2007 Teen Choice Award nomination. Deschanel has served as co-producer since the start of the show's third season, and as producer since the middle of the show's fourth season along with co-star David Boreanaz.

 

Emily Deschanel at 23rd Genesis Awards, March 2009

Deschanel, with Alyson Hannigan, Jaime King, Minka Kelly, and Katharine McPhee made a video slumber party featured on FunnyorDie.com to promote regular breast cancer screenings for the organization Stand Up 2 Cancer.^[8] In recent years, her passion for animal welfare has led her to providing the narration for My Child Is a Monkey and serving as an associate producer on the documentary film How I Became an Elephant.^[9] Deschanel ranked number 72 in The 2012 Hot 100 on AfterEllen.^[10]

Personal life

Deschanel is a vegan and a committed supporter of animal rights causes. She can be seen in an Access Hollywood video at the book launch event of Karen Dawn's Thanking the Monkey: Rethinking the Way We Treat Animals, discussing how vegetarian and vegan diets help the environment, and a video on the homepage of the book's website talking about the importance of animal rights.^[11] She collaborated with PETA on a video encouraging mothers to raise their children as vegans.^[12]

Deschanel was raised Roman Catholic, but is no longer a Catholic, and has stated that she is now "more of a spiritual person, if anything" and an agnostic.^[13]

Deschanel married actor and writer David Hornsby on September 25, 2010 during a small private ceremony in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles.^[14] Their son Henry Lamar Hornsby was born on September 21, 2011.^[15][16]

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1994	It Could Happen to You	Animal rights activist
2000	It's a Shame About Ray	Maggie	Short film
2001	The Heart Department	Maude Allyn
2002	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Cassie Germaine	Episode: "Surveillance" Season 3 Episode 17
2002	Rose Red	Pam Asbury
2002	Hamtaro	Goldie Houston	Episode: "The Reconciliation!" (voice only, uncredited)
2002	Providence	Annie Franks	Episodes: "Cloak & Dagger" and "The Eleventh Hour"
2003	The Dan Show	Sam
2003	Easy	Laura Harris
2003	Cold Mountain	Mrs. Morgan
2004	The Alamo	Rosanna Travis
2004	Crossing Jordan	Michelle	Episode: "All the News Fit to Print"
2004	Spider-Man 2	Receptionist
2004	Old Tricks	Woman	Short film
2005	Boogeyman	Kate Houghton
2005	Mute	Claire	Short film
2005	That Night	Annie	Short film
2005–present	Bones	Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan	166 episodes
2006	Glory Road	Mary Haskins
2007	The Diagnosis	Maggie	Short film
2009	My Sister's Keeper	Dr. Farquad
2009	Tit for Tat	Emily
2010	The Cleveland Show	Julia Roberts (voice)[17]	Episode: "Cleveland Live!"
2011	The Perfect Family	Shannon Cleary[18]
2011	The Cleveland Show	Herself (voice)	Episode: "Hot Cocoa Bang Bang"

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Nominated work	Result
2006	Satellite Awards	Best Actress – Television Series Drama	Bones	Nominated
2007	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Actress: Drama	Bones	Nominated
2011	People's Choice Awards	Favorite TV Crime Fighter	Bones	Nominated
2011	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Actress: Drama	Bones	Nominated
2012	People's Choice Awards	Favorite TV Drama Actress	Bones	Nominated