VEGAN STAR
Emily Deschanel
Makes No Bones About Her Health
by Rhonda Price
When Emily Deschanel casually tosses around words such as phalanges, manubrium and scapula,
it’s because she’s learned a thing or two while playing Dr. Temperance Brennan on FOX Television’s
longest-running comedy-drama, Bones. Entering its 11 th season in October, the show is based on the career
of forensic anthropologist and author Kathy Reichs, and premiered on September 13, 2005. After filming
more than 200 episodes in a decade, her character, nicknamed “Bones,” has scrutinized enough skeletons
to name nearly all of the 206 bones in the body. When we spoke with her recently, she was happily
multitasking at home while feeding her two-month-old son in between interviews.
I’ve
“I’ve looked at a lot of gross, dead bodies on the show over the
years,” Deschanel laughed. “I’m definitely more aware of the fact
that there are a lot of things which are not good for your bones.
For instance, if your body doesn’t get proper nutrition, it will
actually leach what it needs from the bones and cause problems.
Once, when I was filming a scene, my character was supposed
to offer someone a soda to drink. I said we couldn’t do that because
soda is not good for your bones!”
In real life, Deschanel’s ancestral bones trace back to French,
Swiss, Dutch, English and Irish descent. Born in Los Angeles,
the 39-year-old actress and producer is the daughter of Academy
Award nominated cinematographer Caleb Deschanel and actress
Mary Jo Deschanel, and bears a striking resemblance to her
younger sister Zooey, the star of the comedy sitcom New Girl. After
graduating from Boston University’s Professional Actors Training
Program with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater, she made her
feature film debut in 1994 in It Could Happen to You. Following
notable appearances in Cold Mountain, The Alamo and Glory Road,
she was named one of “six actresses to watch” in 2004 by Interview
Magazine. She won the lead role on Bones in 2005 and has been
a hit with millions of fans ever since.
On the show, Deschanel has a great relationship with co-star
David Boreanaz, who plays her husband, FBI A gent Seeley Booth.
The duo solve murders and unexplained deaths from clues gleaned
from the victims’ skeletal remains, but it’s the dark comedy and
affection between the two stars that set the show apart from similar
crime shows. Off the set, life is much less dramatic for Deschanel,
who is married to actor and writer David Hornsby and lives
in Los Angeles with their two young sons. While raising a family
and working can be daunting, she is committed to several
causes and is an outspoken supporter of how vegetarian and vegan
diets can help the environment. With the season premiere of Bones
coming up in October, we talked to her about why she thinks
the show has been successful for so long and how life has
changed at home with a new baby.