Before ‘New Girl,’ Zooey Deschanel Played a Ditzy Wannabe Model on ‘Veronica’s Closet’

While she's still best known for her movie work, Zooey Deschanel joined the TV family last week when her show "New Girl" was a hit, and assuming nothing weird happens, she'll probably stick around the small screen for a little while. But it's not the first time Deschanel's done sitcom work—back when she was just 18, her first on-screen role was as Kathy Najimy's "little sister" on the Kirstie Alley vehicle "Veronica's Closet."

Najimy's character takes Deschanel's to work with her to show her how women can be in positions of power, but Deschanel only wants one thing: to be a model, because she's really good at standing, sitting, and not-blinking. You can definitely see a bit of Deschanel's charm coming through, even though there's absolutely no explanation for the way she pronounces the word "model."