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 |