Zooey Deschanel breaks silence on 'nepotism' allegations

Zooey Deschanel doesn’t want to be labelled as “a nepo baby.”

The New Girl star recently appeared on the The School of Greatness podcast, hosted by Lewis Howes, and denied that her family paved the way for her in Hollywood.

Zooey, whose father Caleb Deschanel is a six-time Oscar-nominated cinematographer, said, “It’s funny because people be like, ‘Oh, nepotism’, I’m like no. My dad’s a DP [another term for cinematographer]. No one’s getting jobs because their dad’s a DP. It’s definitely not.”

Cale has been nominated for his work on movies like The Right Stuff, The Natural, Fly Away Home, The Patriot, The Passion of the Christ, and Never Look Away.

Besides him, Zooey’s mom is actor Mary Jo Deschanel, known for her role in Twin Peaks, whereas her sister is Bones and Spider-Man 2 star Emily Deschanel.

While the 500 Days of Summer actress dismissed the allegations of nepotism, she did acknowledge the “creative help” she gets from her folks every now and then.

“My mum is an actor and my dad is a cinematographer and a director. I can’t possibly emphasise enough how much creative help I had from my family unit,” she shared.