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When director Garth Jennings was casting the sci-fi adventure, Deschanel was on his short list for the role of brainy love interest Trillian. Her biggest project to that point had been Elf, in which she charmed Will Ferrell. Her turn in 2003's All The Real Girls garnered critical acclaim, as well as an Independent Spirit Award nomination, and she's also had standout performances in Mumford, Almost Famous and The Good Girl. "Zooey was just wonderful," says Jennings. "I'd seen her in loads of her other films, and she was one of our first choices. It's always lovely when you get your first choice."

The admiration was mutual. "I thought he was just brilliant," says Deschanel. "And I also loved the book."

What she liked best about it was that the Trillian character wasn't just another space bimbo. Deschanel, who counts Katharine Hepburn, Shirley MacLaine and Carole Lombard among her influences, notes, "Nowadays, a lot of women characters are kind of boring, not interesting, not smart. It was always exciting for me as a kid when you saw a character that you looked up to. It's very cool when you have a character that you want to be like who is also intelligent and inspiring. If it's like, 'I want to be like Barbie...'" She trails off with a groan.

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