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Despite possessing an aura of hipster chic, ZOOEY DESCHANEL has managed to defy categorization within a generation of actors content with just striking the right media pose. She remains one of the leading figures in independent film without having to apologize for engaging in the mainstream. By evolving into a unique hyphenate as an actor-singer-songwriter-musician; Deschanel represents an aesthetic entirely of her own creation. With today's release of “500 Days of Summer,” she just may reach a new peak as the embodiment of what it is to be that rare object of post-modern affection.
For most of us living in this age of coupling as a billion-dollar industry, it goes without question that will we find someone to love and love us back. It is the great equalizer. Like economics, for each success, someone else is experiencing a failure. At any given time, people are either running to join the world anew or shutting it out in a self-imposed exile. But we can all agree that when it is here, when you are in the midst of that extraordinary feeling of emotion for someone, you never forget what it is that makes a heart feel joy or pain when it skips a beat.
It is ironic that this age of self-confession via so many social networks and hand-held devices, the concept of romance is at risk at being diminished by a younger generation’s dependency on their keyboards as a means of expression. Perhaps it is their rebellion against the art of romance stagnating within popular culture as overreaching ballads, morning show book club selections or the saccharine ensemble “chick flick.” That is what makes “500 Days of Summer” such a welcome respite in a season of high concept fare that lets their special effects to the talking.
Imagine, a love story that is really an engaging story about love. Before modern cynicism swallowed up the concept, too many filmmakers watered down the ability to balance the laughter and tears in relationship comedies that made men like Woody Allen their own genre. Pretenders have come and gone, widening the gender cap with men still unable to reveal their feelings with women opting to maintain their worship at the altar of Carrie Bradshaw. Not so with “Summer.”
The big screen debut of music video director Marc Webb, “500 Days of Summer” may be the first film romance to accurately represent this generation in time. In tune with the strongest aspects of audio and visual arts, Webb uses several mediums to reinvent the story of what happens when boy meets girl. As a comic valentine lurking within the sun-soaked fantasy of Los Angeles, Webb and screenwriters Scott Neustadter & Michael Weber have neatly avoided the clichés by reinventing the genre to allow a distinctly male perspective lead the audience. The result not only offers an often spirited upside to falling in love, it also reveals its precarious downside when one’s perspective has been shaped by too much fantasy and not enough reality.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars in the film as Tom, a greeting card writer who is certain he has found the love of his life with a charming co-worker named Summer, portrayed by Zooey Deschanel. With a romantic view shaped by years of listening to certain music and watching films like “The Graduate,” Tom is initially elated by their relationship, only to be absolutely deflated when Summer decides to move on. Hilariously channeling every angst ridden male through the ages, Tom spends most of the film playing out the 500 days of his life with Summer on shuffle. In the end, he is faced with the sobering reality that his rose-colored view may need a change of color and perspective.
At once experimental and familiar, “500 Days of Summer” mines considerable emotional depth from the performances of Gordon-Levitt and Deschanel. With both actors already favorites amongst the geek chic scene captured by the film, they handily provide the narrative with a strong emotional resonance. Instead of coming across as tired archetypes, audiences will be able to ask themselves the question if they are a “Tom” or a “Summer” when it comes to love. It is exactly that possibility that enticed Deschanel to be part of “500 Days of Summer.”
“I think everybody is Tom or Summer at different points in their life,” Deschanel said. “Most people vacillate between them. I think I’m probably both.”
Despite being part of an artistic generation that thinks lending their name to a bottle of perfume or a clothing line is a career peak, Deschanel has opted instead to keep her own creative voice as diversified as possible. In the decade since making her 1999 film debut in Lawrence Kasdan’s “Mumford,” Deschanel has been carrying the mantle of “It Girl” with roles in such favored films as Cameron Crowe’s “Almost Famous” and Miguel Arteta’s “The Good Girl.” Always the brainy brunette with a dry wit, she went from supporting player to leading lady by matching laughs with Will Ferrell in “Elf” and Jim Carrey in “Yes Man.”
Film critics and audiences continue to respect Deschanel for representing a classic sense of personal and artistic style. Now, the 29 year-old L.A. native is a true entertainment hyphenate, making good on the singing promise displayed in several of her films by releasing “Volume One, “ her first album of original music with alt rocker/actor M. Ward as the duo She & Him. In fact, watching the actress during production in the spring of 2008, it was interesting to note that her musical personal had much in common with her role in “500 Days of Summer.”
“She is the alt ingénue,” director Webb said about working with Deschanel. “She’s got the most beautiful eyes you’ve ever seen. She can sing. She’s got credibility. She’s got this sort of mercurial energy.”
While watching production throughout section of Los Angeles even a native did realize existed, the on-screen coupling between Gordon-Levitt reflected the benefit of having a long-standing friendship. Sitting on a grassy hill near Angel’s Flight in the center of L.A. while screaming out “The Penis Game” on a quiet Saturday morning could prove awkward for anybody else, but not this team.
“I love Zooey so much,” Gordon-Levitt said. “She’s one of my favorite people in the world. We’ve known each other for over 8 years now. I am such a sucker for any girl that’s got music in her. There’s nothing more attractive.”
With a Brill Building meets Nashville pop sound, Deschanel’s own musical narrative is both sweet and honest, providing a striking contrast to her voice as Summer. Her look in the film could have been lifted from the period sound of her music. She comes across as soft and romantically feminine, taking great advantage of her classic looks and wide blue eyes. Yet, to hear Summer is to hear a certain truth that collides with the fantasy Summer in Tom’s mind. While her perspective is never the focus of the film, her agenda of never having a boyfriend remains a sobering constant.
“Tom’s got a lot of great qualities,” Deschanel added. “They’re just waiting to be unlocked and this is the experience that unlocks them. That’s why it’s a very hopeful movie.”
With “500 Days of Summer” enjoying a building media buzz since its acclaimed debut at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, Deschanel has had journalists come up to her to offer their own “Tom” or “Summer” story. A year after our first conversations during production, sitting down anew with Deschanel found her with much more to say about how modern love and relationships were represented by the film.
”Love can mean a lot of different things,” Deschanel said. “You can love your friend, you can fall in love with somebody. The fear of losing it is the dark side. But, the wonderful side is the feeling that you get when you fall in love.
Six months after completing her work on the film, Deschanel took that “wonderful feeling” to the next level. She was engaged last December to marry Ben Gibbard of the band Death Cab for Cutie.
Here’s more with Zooey Deschanel on living out “500 Days of Summer":
JORGE CARREON: The film made a great impact at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and it continues to build up its own positive buzz. Have you encountered people willing to tell you their own “Summer” stories?
ZOOEY DESCHANEL: You know I haven’t actually have had a lot of people come up to me. Wait, I take that back. I haven’t experienced it with an audience so much, but a lot of journalists said they could really relate to it. I find more Tom’s than Summer’s, but definitely.
CARREON: Do you think love is losing its power in this age of accelerated technology?
DESCHANEL: I’m not that interested in social networking so I couldn’t really say. It seems like in an abbreviated way they get to know somebody and it seems like things like music and movies and descriptive words have more power than they should because people can describe themselves. But it’s difficult. You can’t encapsulate somebody’s spirit. I wouldn’t want to get to know somebody that way.
CARREON: In terms of spirit, “500 Days of Summer” definitely puts it on display with nuance and charm. What was it about this project that piqued your interest?
DESCHANEL: I loved the script. It was really funny and it was completely different from other romantic comedies. As a genre, it can get very stuck in its ways. I was so excited to read a script for a romantic comedy that was really fresh and different. I really loved the characters and I loved the way this story was told. In Tom’s mind (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt), she’s the ideal woman. But she’s just a smart, independent um, interesting girl. I liked the fact that Tom’s perspective added a style to the film. (Director) Marc Webb is such an artist. I knew that he was somebody that could turn this into something really amazing.
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CARREON: The film has a decidedly retro look and feel. What did you like most about watching the film?
DESCHANEL: I was taken away with it just as much as anybody else in the audience, which is unusual because I usually feel very separated from films that I do. But I was just entertained by this one. The idea was to make a film that would look timeless so there was a lot of mixing of different eras and references. It wasn’t the type of thing where it was so 2009 that you could look back at it in 2019 feel it looked so dated. It was designed as something that you could look back on and not necessarily know what era it was made in.
CARREON: Do you think the perception of Summer is complex is because her representation of love is also complex?
DESCHANEL: It’s not because love is complex. She’s up front with Tom from the beginning. Because of the way the story unfolds it’s always sad when people’s agendas don’t necessarily align. Part of the reason why it’s confusing is because it’s a completely subjective film. Although she’s completely honest from the beginning, Tom’s romantic notions about their relationship are expressed completely from his point of view. She’s a great character. She helps him grow because he’s kind of stuck in a little fantasy world. He’s really a real man yet and he needs to be. Summer helps Tom become a man.
CARREON: I wonder what Summer would add to the narrative if her perspective could be included in the film?
DESCHANEL: I don’t know. I think that part of the fun of making a movie out of these themes is that I would not tell you what that perspective was. I would let you take that away as your present as the viewer.
CARREON: Do you think the device of having “500 Days” structured is too precious? Or does it mirror a certainly reality that we never look at relationships in a linear fashion? We’re always going to isolate a single moment at a time, right?
DESCHANEL: That’s how you remember things! It was actually a really brilliant way of telling the story. That was one of the things I thought was so exciting and fresh about it when I read it.
CARREON: Are you romantic? Do you think romance alive and well today?
DESCHANEL: I can’t say for all of society but I’m a romantic myself. I like to believe that it is very alive and very well. And I know many romantic people!
CARREON: How did the energy of having Los Angeles as the central location of “500 Days of Summer” influence the making of the film?
DESCHANEL: Both Joe and I are from Los Angeles so it is a very familiar place and it is a place that I love. I love living here. It’s a beautiful city and I was really happy somebody came along to romanticize it a little bit. I can’t even describe what a joyful filmmaking experience it was. Joe and I have been friends for like nine years and Marc is just an amazing director and a great actor’s director. Everybody on the set was really wonderful. I am so sincere when I say that I don’t know how I got so lucky to work on this film. It was just a good combination of people.
CARREON: You’ve had a long-standing friendship with your co-star, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who reveals a much lighter side as Tom. How did you enjoy being the object of his affection?
DESCHANEL: It really helps because I feel very comfortable with him. Our styles work very well together. I feel completely at ease working with him. He’s fun to watch as an actor. He does have this side to him. He’s really sweet and adorable. He’s able to communicate that sense of being charming, even in the character’s naiveté. I think he’s a perfect Joe, I mean perfect Tom. He’s a perfect Joe, too. (Smiles.)
CARREON: How dangerous do you think is popular culture in its ability to shape our image of love and relationships?
DESCHANEL: I hesitate to even say that this is a romantic comedy because I don’t think it is. It’s more of a coming of age story or a romance, but it walks a lot of genre lines. ”Romantic comedy” at this point is used to describe a very, very narrow genre that isn’t really usually something I connect with. Movies are entertaining, that’s why we go to them. Any impact they may have on one’s psyche, who knows? I think all movies have done much more positive things for me than anything negative. It’s hard to say. We’re definitely defined to the outside world by the things that we like to watch and listen to. We’re attracted to certain things for certain reasons.
CARREON: Speaking of attraction, do you find today’s’ men are better at expressing their emotions, hence why “500 Days of Summer” is here?
DESCHANEL: I hope so! You’d hope that along with the progress of women’s liberation there has been a progression for men as well. I think that our time is definitely raising some more sensitive men, which is fantastic. I feel like this is the movie that can be the touchstone for every sensitive young man out there. It’s just as relevant to have a film about a guy and his first real heartbreak as is it to have a film about a woman’s and I think it’s about time.
CARREON: What do you turn to in such a moment as being heartbroken? You’re a musician, but do you have a heartbreak song?
DESCHANEL: Everyone has the heartbreak that shapes them in a way that they could never go back to the innocence that they had before. It’s beautiful and poignant and bittersweet to explore. That’s why it is a universally appealing theme because if you haven’t been through this then you probably will go through it at some point. I write music so I’m always channeling feelings. Not necessarily my stories but I’m always channeling feelings, whether they are mine or somebody else’s into music as well as listening to music. Music is very important to me. It changes every time. I couldn’t name one thing that always gets me through hard times. I usually like to listen to optimistic music personally. I would say that like my taste is 70 percent optimistic and 30 percent not pessimistic but sullen. It’s hard to say one, but music is one of the most important things in my life.
CARREON: Let’s project a little into the future of Tom and Summer. What sort of would this post-modern couple have beyond their 500 days?
DESCHANEL: The nice thing about the movie is that it’s open ended. There’s no saying that they didn’t get together sometime later. It’s more about the beauty of the moment and it’s fleeting. It’s more about focusing on something and not necessarily knowing what the next one will be. I like that it isn’t packaged up so neatly.
For more on the making of the movie and exclusive content, click on "500 Days of Summer," now playing nationwide.
Click on Fandango for theater and ticket information.
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