A NIGHT OUT WITH -- Zooey Deschanel; Now, Life Is a Cabaret

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September 15, 2002, Section 9, Page 11Buy Reprints
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WHY was Zooey Deschanel spending most of last Sunday evening in the Vermont Bar looking like one of the Andrews Sisters and crooning mossy ballads like ''Sentimental Journey'' in a rehearsal for her cabaret act, ''Pretty Baby''?

Ms. Deschanel, one of Hollywood's most sought-after young stars, is a serious retro freak. ''I like old movies, screwball comedies, vintage clothes, and basically I'm an old-fashioned gal,'' said Ms. Deschanel, tucking a strand of her palomino-colored bob behind her ear as she sipped a tonic water with lime. ''My whole idea for the band was to bring back old-fashioned music I love.''

Brought up in Los Angeles, where her father, Caleb Deschanel, is a cinematographer and her mother, Mary Jo, is an actress, Zooey Deschanel (named after Zooey Glass, the male protagonist in J. D. Salinger's ''Franny and Zooey'') can date her interest in old pop culture to her Hollywood childhood.

She spent her early years on the sets of her father's films, like ''The Right Stuff'' and ''Being There.'' She attended Crossroads, a private Los Angeles prep school.

Her high school pals included Hollywood progeny like Jake Gyllenhaal, a co-star of Ms. Deschanel in the ''The Good Girl,'' in which she plays a foul-mouthed cashier, and Kate Hudson, with whom she starred in ''Almost Famous.''

Now, with favorable reviews for her half-dozen film roles, including the thriller ''Abandon,'' opening next month, Ms. Deschanel, 22, is trying to nurture her budding cabaret act.

''I like singing as much as I like acting, and all through high school I thought I might be a Broadway singer,'' said Ms. Deschanel, dressed primly in a denim skirt, a puff-sleeved shirt and sparkly barrettes -- an outfit that made her appear far younger and less world-weary than her screen roles would suggest.

She started the act last year after meeting her singing partner, Samantha Shelton, at a jazz party given by Sofia Coppola. ''But I made a decision to do them separately -- act and sing -- because I don't like most new musicals, and this way I can sing the music I want to sing.''

She jumped to the bar's tiny stage, where she and Ms. Shelton, accompanied by their five-member band, belted out the rest of their 18-song set before Ms. Deschanel's parents and a bored-looking bartender.

Although it was not their first rehearsal before their performance at the bar two nights later, not everything went smoothly. Ms. Deschanel was quick to praise her bandmates, most of them former schoolmates.

''That was awesome, you guys,'' she said after a shaky run-through of ''Stormy Weather.'' ''But we,'' she added, nodding at Ms. Shelton, ''need to work on it.''

Ms. Deschanel's father, who has the intense focus of a college professor, said, ''I think somehow it just comes together.'' He glanced at his wife. Mrs. Deschanel, a tiny woman in owlish eyeglasses, added: ''Zooey always wanted to be a singer. She was always doing musicals.''

After the rehearsal, Ms. Deschanel and Ms. Shelton decamped to Vida, a restaurant, where they critiqued their act. ''We definitely have personal-challenge songs where we can't hit every note,'' said Ms. Shelton, who appears in ''White Oleander,'' a new film.

''I get really insecure because even though I can speak in musician's terms, I don't know as much as real musicians,'' Ms. Deschanel said with a worried smile.

''This is our last summer show, so we're ending with 'Summertime,' '' said Ms. Deschanel, who is considering various film offers. ''There's a bunch of roles I might do, and Sam and I want to do a Noël Coward play, but in the meantime I just like to do fun projects like the band.''

''Yeah, our next show will be all fall songs like 'Autumn Leaves,' '' said Ms. Shelton.

Ms. Deschanel piped up: ''Yeah, and then we'll do winter songs, like 'Baby, It's Cold Outside.' We're very seasonal.''