Zooey Deschanel in "The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy."

Zooey Deschanel is a real Hollywood brat, except for the brat part. The daughter of actor Mary Jo Deschanel and Oscar-nominated cinematographer Caleb Deschanel, the 25-year-old Zooey is a singer/actor/ukulele (seriously) artist and cabaret performer.

A really smart singer/actor/ ukulele artist/cabaret performer.

Deschanel began acting in childhood. Her new movie is the sci-fi comedy The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, a big-screen version of Douglas Adams' inspired creation about life, the universe and everything -- and the film she's here to promote.

In the movie, which opens here Friday, ordinary guy Arthur Dent (The Office's Martin Freeman) has just discovered that his best friend is an alien, the world has ended, the president of the galaxy has two heads and the pretty girl he just met on Earth is also out and about in outer space. Deschanel plays Trillian, that pretty girl Arthur Dent fancies; their co-stars are Sam Rockwell, Mos Def, John Malkovich and Bill Nighy, while Stephen Fry, Helen Mirren and Alan Rickman offer vocal performances. So don't panic!

And let the Python-esque philosophical carries-on commence.

Known for her retro approach to both music and fashion, Deschanel comes to be interviewed clad in a chic Nina Ricci jacket that she describes as "Trillian-y."

And it is. Deschanel appears to be the only person among the filmmakers and the cast who had some prior experience with The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy. She read the book.

"I think I was 10 or 11 when I first read it," she says. "I thought it was the coolest, most sophisticated thing ever."

She adds, smiling, "But I sort of had no idea of what I was reading. I thought it was fantastic. I went back to it when I found out I was doing a screen test."

She found out about the screen test at about the time Elf had been released. Deschanel says she'd had no idea that Elf would be such a big movie. "I mean, I love it, but I had no idea. I just never knew. I'm not good at predicting."

Maybe not, but the actress rarely puts a foot wrong when she's choosing projects. Theatre-trained, she made her film debut in 1999 in Mumford and then co-starred the next year in Almost Famous with her old high school buddy Kate Hudson.

Her other films include Abandon, Eulogy, Big Trouble, The Good Girl, Manic, All The Real Girls and House Hunting. She is set to star this year in Winter Passing and Failure To Launch and Live Free Or Die in 2006. She is also part of the animated feature Surf's Up.

Deschanel says she was barely two and could hardly talk when she first announced her decision to become an "actwess," she babytalks. She started working professionally when she was in high school.

Her father's work meant that, as a child, Deschanel spent a lot of time travelling the world, which could explain why she's so much more sophisticated than her peers. The actress attended Northwestern University, intending to pursue a degree in theatre, but dropped out in her first year once her film career took on a life of its own.

Deschanel says she'd love to work with her dad one day, if there's a role that makes sense for her. Her father Caleb, whose fifth Academy Award nomination for best achievement in cinematography was for The Passion Of The Christ, is also a director and has recently done three episodes of Law And Order: Trial By Jury for television.

Has he offered career guidance? "He's always like, 'Just do your best.' It's pretty practical, normal parent advice."

On the career front, Deschanel says she picks her movies for the character. "You can't always put it into words, but the main thing is to make sure you're not miscast or typecast. You want to keep your range open."

Asked if she'd do a horror film, she says she's not a huge fan of the genre. "But if it was something great like Rosemary's Baby, then yeah! Within any genre, you want to do the best movie."

Whether or not The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy is the best movie of its genre -- is there any one genre that mixes humour, science fiction, slapstick, philosophy and social commentary? -- remains to be seen, but there's already buzz about sequels.

Deschanel says that will depend upon how well the first movie does, but admits she and most of the others are signed on if more Hitchhiker movies are made.

Say -- isn't Trillian an alien?

"I was told not to reveal that," says Deschanel with mock gravity. "I did point out that anyone could pick up the book and find out. And they were like, 'No! You can't tell anybody about the alien part!' So --okay." Dropping her voice to a conspiratorial whisper, she adds, "She's half-alien."

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