New Girl's star actress is Zooey Deschanel.
New Girl . Developed by Elizabeth Meriwether under the working title Chicks & Dicks , the series revolves around a kooky teacher Jess ( Zooey Deschanel ) after she moves into a Los Angeles loft with three men , Nick ( Jake Johnson ) , Schmidt ( Max Greenfield ) , and Winston ( Lamorne Morris ) ; Jess ' best friend Cece ( Hannah Simone ) and on-again-off-again loft mate Coach ( Damon Wayans Jr. ) also appear regularly . Zooey Claire Deschanel ( [ ˈzoʊi_ˌdeɪʃəˈnɛl ] born January 17 , 1980 ) is an American actress and singer-songwriter . Since 2011 , she has played Jessica Day on the Fox sitcom New Girl , for which she has received an Emmy Award nomination and three Golden Globe Award nominations .