Zooey Deschanel Discusses Kids, Childhood Bullying and Modest Fashion in InStyle

New Girl star also explains why she's reluctant to talk about boyfriend Jamie Linden

By Zach Johnson Jul 07, 2014 1:30 PMTags
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Zooey Deschanel might want kids one day—but for now, it's no one's business but her own.

The Emmy- and Golden Globe-nominated New Girl actress covers InStyle's August 2014 issue, and in the accompanying profile, Deschanel explains why she hates answering mommy questions. "When I was married, that was the first thing people wanted to know," says the TV star, who split with Death Cab for Cutie frontman Ben Gibbard in 2012. "Like every woman is dying to give birth! I don't think so. Nobody asks a guy that. And you go into a supermarket and every tabloid is like, 'Pregnant and Alone!' Stuck in this 1950s ideal of how a woman should live her life. That's not something that defines me at all.'"

Perhaps due of her divorce, she politely declines to discuss her screenwriter boyfriend Jamie Linden. "You have to be careful what you reveal," she explains. "You invite people in and can't kick them out."

Because she's often described as "adorkable," it might seem easy to dismiss Deschanel as wide-eyed. However, the 34-year-old developed a thick skin during her days as a student the famed Crossroads school in Santa Monica, Calif. (Former students include Jonah Hill, Kate Hudson and Gwyneth Paltrow).

"Seventh grade was the ultimate low rock bottom—someone spitting in your face while you are on your way to your locker. Having to fight your way through those years makes you ready for the future. I can snap back, I can make fun of myself before they do—I can do all of it. There's no way I can ever be as sensitive as I used to be, and it's sad to lose any sensitivity because it generally makes people very good at art," she says. Since then, she says, "I've seen a lot of people turn—sometimes it unlocks who they really are. They turn into celebrities are who are separate from themselves. That's OK, but I just don't want to be like that." She adds, "I have to be normal. My mother wouldn't let me be any other way."

One way in which Deschanel maintains a sense of normality is by dressing in flirty but felicitous clothing.

"There is an audience for more modest clothes," says Deschanel, who teamed up with Tommy Hilfiger for a capsule collection earlier this year. "I hate that fashion could be something that excludes people."

Unlike some stars, though, Deschanel isn't a label whore. "I remember I was wearing a cute jacket, and I saw this well-known actress—who will remain nameless—with her stylist. They said, 'Oh my god, that's so cute. Where did you get it?' I told them, and it was not a fancy brand, and they were like, 'Oh...'" the She & Him singer-songwriter recalls to InStyle. "I just thought, 'Do you not like it anymore because of the brand?' That's so dumb," Deschanel says. "And you have just made yourself into a cartoon villain."