Zooey Deschanel

Zooey Deschanel plays Noel in David Gordon Green's All the Real Girls. Writing in the archive, Xan Brooks counts the performance a revelation and builds his comparison two ways: the male lead comes off worst from the film, while she recalls a young Debra Winger, with the same range and the same richness. He finds her character in turn lively and brittle, blunt and coy. He also makes a threshold claim: she had previously had to settle for vibrant supporting slots in films like Almost Famous, while this one anoints her as one of the brightest talents of her generation. Independent Spirit's 2004 list of female lead nominees carries her name for that performance.