flix’s upcoming Most Dangerous
Game). But when I ask if she ever
gets recognized on the street, she
shakes her head: “I don’t think
anyone cares.”
That’s all about to change, and
for real this time: With major roles
in The Politician, Ryan Murphy’s
phenomenal first Netflix series,literally just a three-year span. She
had a memorable role in the
$105-million-grossing Dirty
Grandpa and played the lead in
Before I Fall and indies Flower and
Buffaloed. And like so many of
today’s rising stars, she made a
splash on Netflix, starring in last
summer’s Set It Up (she and costar
Glen Powell will reunite for Net-
and the decade-in-the-making
Zombieland: Double Tap, Zoey is
about to go from next big thing to
big thing. The dogs might still
ignore her, but the dog walkers
won’t.
“You know, I’ve worked with a
lot of great actresses even before
they became really well-known,”
her Double Tap costar Woody
Harrelson tells me over the phone.
“I knew with Brie Larson and with
Emma Stone and with Jen Law-
rence—I knew that these gals were
going places. And I can tell you
with the same surety that Zoey
Deutch will be a force to be reck-
oned with. No question.”
The first Zombieland came out
in 2009, around the same time
Zoey first started auditioning, and
nearly a decade later, she was
intimidated about being part of a
sequel built on the chemistry of a
close-knit, A-list cast: Woody, of
course, but also Emma Stone, Abi-
gail Breslin, and Jesse Eisenberg.
“She came into this thing and I felt
kind of sorry for her because I’m
like, ‘Jesus Christ, this poor girl
has been thrown in with these
people who all know each other
really well,’” Woody says. “Well, I
didn’t need to worry too much.
The very first day, the shit she was
trying, the funny shit she came up
with, I was so impressed. I was
like, ‘Man, this girl is ballsy!’”
Zoey’s Zombieland character,
Madison, is all pink velour, blonde
hair, and rainbow Louis Vuitton
bags, and dare I say it, she might
even be scene-stealing. At one
point, she’s thrown from her seat
to the dashboard of a car, lands
smack-dab in the middle of Oscar
nominees Woody and Jesse, says
“Whoopsie!” and wins the whole
s e q ue nc e t h a n k s t o G u mb y-l i ke
limbs and perfect comedic timing.
“She’s an interpretation of Paris
H i lt on i n 2 0 0 9,” Z o e y s ay s of Ma d i-
son, “so it’s confidence like you
can’t imagine, wearing boots-
with-the-fur in the apocalypse.”
Zoey has a tendency to be self-
deprecating—and she may be‘‘I JUST HAVE TO RIDETHE WAVE OF THE QUARTER-LIFE CRISIS. I’M LIKE,‘Zoey,
just stop.’”