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Zoey Deutch,24, has been appearing on Up-and-Coming Hollywood It Girl lists for nearly a decade.
Nobody can seem to agree on when, exactly, shes going to be the Next Big Thing.
She plays the love interest in Richard LinklatersEverybody Wants Some!!!
Like, really funny.
High-octane, screwball, Lucille Ball funny.
Her more recent films have started to reflect that sense of humor.
The role is decidedly, purposefully unglamorous.
Do you mind if we sit awkwardly close to each other on this couch?
Its just so loud in here Im worried my phone wont pick you up.
[Laughs]Theres nothing awkward about this at all.
Are you kidding me?
And I fell in love with Peg.
I fell in love with her drive and her ambition and her will.
Its only strange to me that she hasnt already directed 12 huge blockbuster franchise movies.
Shes so overqualified and capable and talented and prepared and calm under pressure.
From the time [I got the script] until release, it only took two years.
I think its a huge testament to Brian Saccas writing.
Hes pretty smart and gifted.
Im a really shitty writer.
Really, really bad.
When anyone creates something that good out of nothing, Im always in awe.
What do you mean, youre a shitty writer?
Have you tried to write?Im bad.
I have 14,000 fluff words.
Words that dont need to be there.
Even when I text or write my captions.
I dont even have captions on Instagram because Im stupid.
I actually think you have really good captionson Instagram.
Theyre very pithy.I probably paid my sister off to write one of them.
Or begged my friend, like, Just come up with anything, kindly.
Ill give you this dress in exchange for a caption.
A barter system of sorts.
Speaking of which, you now have a short history of playing hustlers.
What do you think thats about?I like anti-heroes.
Theyre a little bit more unexpected.
As a kid, or a teenager, did you ever scam or hustle in any way?Nope.
God, I dont know.
Everyones a walking contradiction of themselves.
But no, I wasnt a hustler or a scammer.
Unless Im hustling or scamming you right now.
That would be intense.
Its such a bizarre, cool accent.
And theres actually a reason for that.
Its also slightlyFargo-y.Actually, my dialect coach didFargo.
The director described this movie as a love letter to strong, inconvenient women.
Youve been playing these sorts of women recently.
Would you describe yourself that way?
Do you see yourself that way?Do I see myself as a strong, inconvenient woman?
I dont think I identify with that.
But I do identify with drive and having this real force and motivation that is kind of inexplicable.
Its totally self-inflicted, and Im responsible, 100 percent, for being this way.
Youre probably referencingFlower, too, right?
Right.Yeah, but my first couple jobs I did two movies where I was the love interest.
Because at the end of the day, as an actor, youre just a piece of the puzzle.
Youre not the whole thing.
So it was exhausting and difficult.
I learned my lesson that its just too hard to [play a love interest].
It drives you crazy.
Youre trying so hard to make something happen that isnt going to happen.
Thats probably why I have gravitated towards these strong, inconvenient women.
Are you referring toEverybody Wants Some!!!
?No, Im not speaking about that, actually.
Im not going to name names.
It doesnt matter, but I did two [roles like that].
And then I was done.
I dont need to do it ever again.
And it isnt that they werent strong female characters.
I think they actually were really strong female characters.
Being present and loving and full of kindness is very strong to me.
And thats all well say aboutThe Suite Life of Zack and Cody.[Laughs]Exactly.
What did you mean by that, exactly?Yes!
Thats the way that we would connect if I made him laugh.
Hes the funniest person Ive ever met.
My dad [film director Howard Deutsch] and I went to every doctor in L.A. together.
I started recording them, and I have a whole series of the most ridiculous conversations.
He would literally walk in and be like, Okay, I have a question.
Can I make an appointment on this day?
And he would go to different floors and talk to different doctors.
This was last week.
Its similar with me and my Jewish dad.
We just sort of fuck with each other constantly.Yeah.
We just ruthlessly make fun of him, and he loves it.
How would you characterize the Jewish humor in your family or Jewish humor generally?
How does it feel different to you?I wasjusttalking about that.
And I dont know if its self-deprecating.
It doesnt feel sarcastic to me.
But its not witty British humor.
Im not sure how would you describe it?
I think its morbid.Maybe it is morbid.
To me, its very death-centric.
I dont know how youd describe it, but it is such a cool part of the culture.
It obviously was meant to help us survive and to deal with all the craziness.
You had to laugh.
Your mom is not Jewish, right?No, no.
I would say shes more Jewish than my dad.
But no, she was raised Catholic.
But I did get my 23andMe, or whatever the ancestry thing.
It said I was 51 percent Jewish.
So I guess its really tipping that way.
Have you done that?
Someone said that to me and I was like, Fuck.
But also, whats crazy is that you get email.
I just got an email this morning that was like, We have new information about you.
Your third cousin is …
The more people that do it, the more information they have.
So they have this file on you and who youre related to?
Seems really cool.Super-safe and harmless.
Doesnt freak me out at all.
But I got a DNA test for my dog.
I was like, Wait a minute.
I just bought you a $200 collar.
I havent bought myself anything for $200 in a long time.
And then I didnt.
But I did get my DNA test.
I wouldnt worry.I dont know, you just really scared me.
Lets blame my boyfriend.Hes in trouble with me.
Hes in big trouble with me.
What was your bat-mitzvah theme?Winter Wonderland.
And the photo-booth person spelled my name wrong in the photo booth.
And thats just totally not relevant to anything, but I just remembered it.
I wore the ugliest silver BCBG dress that I found at a Goodwill.
Its the ugliest dress Ive ever seen.
I mean, its almost impressive how ugly it is.
I was like, Mom, can I get my eyebrows waxed?
And she was like, Okay, fine, do it.
And so I got really thin eyebrows.
Then I had to wearthis muchmakeup.
So I looked like a wax figure in a really ugly silver BCBG dress.
And I made everyone watch my entrance.
The dance routine.I did a full-blown, really embarrassing dance number.
What was your theme?
Every table was a different diva.Wow.
No, I was going to, but I chickened out.Do you regret it to this day?
Thats a good thing to remember in life.
The times that Ive chickened out, Im like, I fucking should have done it.
Theres this one water slide that I never went on in Montana.
I swear to God, to this day, Im like, I should have done that.
And also, the germs in the water.
That was really what was freaking me out.
When did you first realize Im funny?
When did you first feel funny?I dont feel funny.
I dont ever feel funny.
I certainly cant put the pressure on myself.
And I hadnoidea that it was a comedy.
I swear to God.
I swear to God.
With this, too.
Everyones like, Its funny.
And Im like, Okay!
Maybe thats why youre funny.
Because you dont know youre being funny.I guess Im just maybe taking it all a little too seriously.
How does that feel to you?Its so funny.
Im always like, You guys, Im not.
Because its not happening.
So dont worry about it.
Do you even want to be the next Rising Star of Hollywood?
Its just that these are the parts that Ive responded to and the parts that Ive gotten.
Im in no rush.
Im here for as long as I get to be here.
It is funny, though.
Because yeah, Im always like, Really?
Ive been doing this for ten years now.
Youre sure that Im up-and-coming?
Youre like, Im here.Instead of up-and-coming, could there be a staying list?
The Hanging Around list.
And then literally the next week, I went to the It-girl luncheon.
I was like, Oh, sorry.
I didnt mean to literally just specifically bash this one thing.
