Early life

Deschanel was born in Los Angeles, California, to cinematographer and director Caleb Deschanel and actress Mary Jo Deschanel (née Weir). Her younger sister is actress and singer-songwriter Zooey Deschanel. Her paternal grandfather was French, from Oullins, Rhône; her ancestry also includes Swiss, Dutch, English, Irish, and other French roots.

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

Career

In 1994, Deschanel made her feature film debut in It Could Happen to You. Her next notable role was in Stephen King's Rose Red in 2002. Then she 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, Deschanel won the role of Dr. Temperance Brennan with David Boreanaz as FBI agent Seeley Booth on the Fox crime procedural comedy-drama Bones, based on the novels and the career of forensic anthropologist and author Kathy Reichs that premiered on September 13, 2005. For her performance, she received a 2006 Satellite Award nomination and a 2007 Teen Choice Award nomination. Deschanel and Boreanaz served as co-producers at the start of the show's third season, before becoming producers in the middle of the show's fourth season.

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. 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. Deschanel ranked number 72 in The 2012 Hot 100 on AfterEllen.

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. She collaborated with PETA on a video encouraging mothers to raise their children as vegans. In September 2014, she joined the board of directors at Farm Sanctuary.

Deschanel was raised Roman Catholic, but is no longer practicing, and has expressed agnostic views, saying "I am more of a spiritual person, if anything, and I am of the belief that we don't know, and I'm not going to pretend that I do."

On September 25, 2010, Deschanel married It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia actor and writer David Hornsby in a small private ceremony in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles. On September 21, 2011, Deschanel gave birth to their son Henry Lamar Hornsby. On June 8, 2015, she gave birth to their second son, Calvin.

Deschanel is best friends with her Bones co-star Michaela Conlin, who plays her best friend Angela Montenegro on the show; she is also friends with her Bones co-star David Boreanaz with whom she has a strong working relationship.

Filmography

Film

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1994	It Could Happen to You	Animal rights activist
2000	It's a Shame About Ray	Maggie	Short film
2003	Easy	Laura Harris
2003	Cold Mountain	Mrs. Morgan
2004	Alamo, TheThe Alamo	Rosanna Travis
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
2006	Glory Road	Mary Haskins
2007	Diagnosis, TheThe Diagnosis	Maggie	Short film
2009	My Sister's Keeper	Dr. Farquad
2011	Perfect Family, TheThe Perfect Family	Shannon Cleary
2014	Unity	Narrator	Documentary

Television

Year	Series	Role	Notes
2001	Heart Department, TheThe Heart Department	Maude Allyn
2002	Rose Red	Pam Asbury	TV mini-series
2002	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Cassie Germaine	Episode: "Surveillance" Season 3 Episode 17
2002	Providence	Annie Franks	Episodes: "Cloak & Dagger" and "The Eleventh Hour"
2003	Dan Show, TheThe Dan Show	Sam
2004	Crossing Jordan	Michelle	Episode: "All the News Fit to Print"
2005-2017	Bones	Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan	Lead role, also producer, 225 episodes
2009	Tit for Tat	Emily
2010-11	Cleveland Show, TheThe Cleveland Show	Julia Roberts (voice), Herself (voice)	Ep. "Cleveland Live!"; Ep. "Hot Cocoa Bang Bang"
2012	American Dad!	Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan	Ep. "Less Money, Mo' Problems"
2014	Drunk History	Babe Didrikson Zaharias, pro golfer/LPGA founder	Episode: "Sports Heroes"
2015	Sleepy Hollow	Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan	Episode: "Dead Men Tell No Tales"

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
2012	People's Choice Awards	Favorite TV Drama Actress	Bones	Nominated
2013	People's Choice Awards	Favorite Dramatic TV Actress	Bones	Nominated
2015	People's Choice Awards	Favorite TV Duo: David Boreanaz & Emily Deschanel	Bones	Nominated
2015	People's Choice Awards	Favorite Crime Drama TV Actress	Bones	Nominated
2016	People's Choice Awards	Favorite Crime Drama TV Actress	Bones	Nominated

[ Source: Wikipedia ]