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Emily Erin Deschanel (born October 11, 1976) is an American actress, director and producer. She portrays Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan on Bones.

Biography[]

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). Her mother is Irish American and her grandfather was French. She has one younger sister: actress, songwriter and musician Zooey Deschanel.

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.

After starring in 2005's Boogeyman, Deschanel landed the role of Dr. Temperance Brennan on Fox's Bones, a series based on the heroine in the novels of real-life forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs. She has been playing this role in Bones for 11 seasons. For her performance she received a 2006 Satellite Award nomination, a 2007 Teen Choice Award nomination, a 2009 Ewwy Award win and has served as co-producer since the start of the show's third season.

Deschanel, with Alyson Hannigan, Jaime King, Minka Kelly, Taryn Southern, 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 January of 2018, Deschanel featured on the debut album 'Better... With Friends' of actor and singer Eric Millegan (aka Zack Addy). The song is called 'A Penny For Your Thoughts With Emily Deschanel'.

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 graduated from Boston University's Professional Actors Training Program with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater.

She married actor/writer David Hornsby on September 25th, 2010. On March 31st, 2011 it was announced the couple were expecting their first child during the fall. Her son Henry Hornsby was born on September 21st, 2011. On June 8, 2015, she gave birth to their second son. Both pregnancies were written into Bones.

Filmography[]

Year Film Role Notes
1994 It Could Happen to You Paint Throwing Fur-Activist
2000 It's a Shame About Ray Maggie
2001 The Heart Department Maude Allyn TV Movie
2002 Rose Red Pam Asbury aka Stephen King's Rose Red
2003 Cold Mountain Mrs. Morgan
Easy Laura
2004 Old Tricks Woman
Spider-Man 2 Receptionist
The Alamo Rosanna Travis
2005 Boogeyman Kate Houghton
Mute Claire
That Night Annie
2006 Glory Road Mary Haskins
2007 The Diagnosis Maggie
2009 My Sister's Keeper Dr. Farquad
2011 The Perfect Family Shannon Cleary
2015 Unity Narrator
TBA Continue Janet Tex
TBA The Rescuers Madame Medusa

Year Title Role Notes
2002 Providence Annie Frank Season 5, Episodes 3 and 11
Law & Order: SVU Cassie Germaine Season 3, Episode 17
2003 The Dan Show Sam
2004 Crossing Jordan Michelle Season 3, Episode 9
2005-2017 Bones Dr. Temperance Brennan Star; co-producer with David Boreanaz since season 3
2019 Animal Kingdom Angela Guest star; Season 4
2021 "The Rookie" Sarah Nolan Guest star; Season 3

References[]

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