True story: I loved New Girl’s first season and I hung in there about half-way through the third season. Then I gave up. The show went off the rails and at this point, I really don’t want to even deal with Zooey Deschanel or her adorkability. “Adorkable” was the branding word used for New Girl and Zooey during the first few years of New Girl. It was twee and grating and most people were over “adorkable” pretty quickly. Turns out, Zooey has been over it for a while too. Zooey’s promoting a new indie film, The Driftless Area, and she sat down with HuffPo to discuss the chains of adorkable.

Word to the wise: Stop referring to Zooey Deschanel as “adorkable.” The term has been used to describe the “New Girl” star ever since the show premiered in 2011, but Deschanel is over the expression. In an interview with The Huffington Post, the 35-year-old actress admits she’s sometimes misinterpreted by the public.

“I don’t always identify, perhaps, with the way that I’m portrayed in certain public contexts. I try to stay away from that sort of thing,” she explained, adding that the word “adorkable” was a successful “New Girl” marketing campaign. “That was something that was calculated, you know what I mean? That was our marketing department at Fox and they did a really good job with our first season, but that’s a word that describes the character that I play, not me. I don’t personally have identification with that word myself.”

“In addition, I don’t really care what people think of me,” she continued. “I know that sounds crazy because you’re supposed to care about what people think of you, I guess, as an actor, but I really don’t. Obviously I’m grateful for all of the opportunities that I’ve had thus far, including ‘New Girl,’ but I don’t think I’ve ever met a person who knows me use that word to describe me, so it’s not of any consequence to me.”

Deschanel tries to focus on what really matters in her career — nabbing roles she’s passionate about and interested in — rather than the characteristics she seemingly presents. “It’s dangerous to start worrying or pandering too much in either direction,” she said of identifying with a certain persona. “Some people get so caught up in one version of themselves and then, that blatant rejection of what people think of them — like the band who doesn’t want to play their No. 1 hit or something — isn’t healthy. It’s also not healthy to over-identify with it either,” Deschanel added. “I’m just kind of neutral — I’m an entertainer, and I do different types of things to entertain people, but ultimately when I make a choice, I’m making that choice to challenge myself and do something that seems like it would be interesting. That’s my philosophy.”

[From HuffPo]

That’s a lot of words to simply say “adorkable isn’t my jam, you guys.” So, do you believe her? Is “adorakable” a prison made by marketing teams? Sure, it totally was. But that was Zooey’s vibe for a while too and she played it up. I think what we’re seeing now is just a woman who has matured. Zooey isn’t so twee anymore – she’s happily knocked up and she’s with a more mature dude/partner. She’s even doing something different with those GD bangs. And yes, it does sound like Zooey cares a lot about what people think of her. Just my opinion. People who really don’t give a crap don’t give lengthy diatribes about how they’re not adorkable.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet, WENN.