2016 has kept Zoey Deutch busy. In January, she graced theaters alongside Zac Efron and Robert De Niro in Dirty Grandpa. She teamed up with her mother, who directed both her and her sister Madelyn in The Year of Spectacular Men, and her IMDB page lists six other projects that are actively in the works. Currently, Deutch is in production on Why Him?, a film in which she stars opposite James Franco and portrays a girl who brings her boyfriend home for a “Meet The Parents” type battle with her father (Bryan Cranston). Chatting about the project causes her to reflect back nostalgically on the first time that her longtime love, Avan Jogia, was introduced to her own parental units. “My mom and dad love my boyfriend,” she explains. “I was lucky on that front for sure!”

Deutch is also in the middle of promoting her role of Beverly in Richard Linklater’s comedy Everybody Wants Some!! The film, which hit theaters in limited release on April 1 and is rolling out nationwide throughout the month, sees the actress facing off against an ensemble male cast. The 21-year-old jokes that she loved the part so much that it didn’t really dawn on her that she was the only female on screen. That was of course until the gang got together off set and she assumed the role of instant wingman. “What happens in Austin stays in Austin,” she says of her co-stars’ bar escapades in between filming on location. Deutch admits, however, that she was definitely influential in helping several of her male counterparts talk to the ladies.

When she’s not on screen, Deutch spends her time spoiling her canine child, Maybelle, spending low key nights with her boyfriend, and knitting “mediocre hats” as presents for her family and friends. Her schedule is hectic, often causing her to rush from set to the airport for a film premiere, but she tries to sneak in some R and R whenever she can. “The last day off I had, I watched the most recent season of House of Cards,” she admits. “I didn’t get up to eat or breathe or do any normal human things!” It’s that kind of revelation about the star that makes her so down-to-earth and relatable. Deutch laughs off her celebrity status and insists that she’s just like us. She prefers to cuddle with her pets versus hit the streets of Hollywood, has a terrible time trying to decide what to wear in the morning, and even fangirls out over seeing random celebs out and about in her neighborhood. Soon enough though, Tinseltown will be proclaiming, Everybody Wants Some Zoey Deutch.

Zoey Deutch: He’s there for the collaboration. He’s there to make something really special. He recently said to us all, “we had a lot of fun and, most importantly, fully realized the potential of these characters and this movie as a whole,” and that's a really cool feeling, to be a part of something like that. Working with him has definitely been the most professionally influential experience of my life.

ZD: She’s smart and sweet and has a strong point of view. She’s determined to be a working actor and argue her political beliefs along the way. Beverly and Jake (Blake Jenner) have nothing and everything in common but they connect on the front that they both love what they do, and they’re passionate about what they do.

ZD: We talked a bit about whether or not it was a one weekend romance with Jake and Beverly, or if it lasted the course of the year, or 4 years, or even their lives. I’m partial to thinking it was a fling. Blake thinks it lasted a while. The wives of the baseball players who the movie was loosely based off of definitely thought it was a forever relationship. It’s really sweet, a lot of them actually met during that time, and stayed together. At the end of the day, that doesn’t really matter, it’s meaningful to Beverly and Jake, and they connect, and that’s beautiful.

ZD: To be honest I'm not the girliest girl there is. I can hang with the dirty jokes and wisecracks.

ZD: Rick likes to joke to me, how does it feel to have the weight of representing all women in the 80’s, Zoey? Look, people will say what they say, but again, the movie isn’t trying to fit into any mold, or make everyone love it. It’s not trying to do anything other than show human behavior, and relationships, show a slice of life.

ZD: I can't say because I love all of those boys so much! A few of them ended up getting places together after filming and becoming roommates. We’re all figuring out when and where our post press/movie coming out reunion will be. Who’s throwing the party.

ZD: We were in Austin [in March 2016] for Austin Film Society screenings. In between Q&A’s, Rick told us originally EWS was an 180 page script that spanned the course of the entire freshman year for Jake, not just the first weekend. And that version still exists somewhere. Then we all started pitching how we definitely need to make a sequel, another person was like "TV could be a good idea!" Anything to get to all work together again.

ZD: The after party felt like a Bat Mitzvah. We literally all did the hora and I got on the chair… it got real.

ZD: It takes place in 1980, so it's not full '80s garb yet. It’s got a lot of '70s influence, obviously. My favorite thing I wore in the film is the dress that I wear for the first day of school; the one I’m wearing in the poster. The costume designer, Kari Perkins, who is amazing, had purchased this huge dress, it had short sleeves I think, and came down to almost my ankles. They tailored the bananas out of that piece and I think it ended up looking really unique. I wore a leotard underneath, so Beverly was prepped and ready for her movement and dance classes--with dance shoes in hand.

ZD: I have a slightly unreasonable fear of revolving doors. Look. I couldn't tell you why. I don't have a single clue.

ZD: It’s premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival this April. It's with Emile Hirsch, Zoe Kravitz, Emory Cohen, Beau Knapp… QuestLove scored it. We lovingly call my character Kate, not quite trailer trash, but a trailer flower.

JJ: I’ve read all of Salinger’s work, and am going to re-read, of course. I’m also reading a lot of Eugene O’Neill. I’m playing his daughter, Oona, in the film. So I’m reading some of his plays, like The Iceman Cometh, Long Day's Journey Into Night, and Desire Under the Elms.

ZD: “Our lives can only be lived forward and understood backwards. Living a life and understanding it occupy different dimensions.” - Hanif Kureishi

ZD: Definitely. She is so professional, it's ridiculous. She's so good at her job, comes in, slays, and goes home to be with her family.

ZD: I wanted to communicate that Planned Parenthood is an amazing healthcare clinic for millions of Americans that wouldn’t have had it otherwise. There is some sort of preconceived idea that all PP does is perform abortions, which is not the case. They offer pap smears and mammograms and provide education to so many people and it’s something worth fighting for.

ZD: Most commonly I'd say people ask me what it was like to grow up in a "Hollywood family." It's not irritating, it's just funny to me because everyone's normal is their normal. That's my family. That's what I know. So it doesn't seem like an unusual experience for me. It's just my life.

ZD: I've always straddled the line between buttoned up classy designer pieces, and more off kilter vintage. I like to combine the two. I used to be way cooler. I’d go to the dollar sale at Jet Rag, or the Fairfax flea market and spend hours putting together looks.

ZD: I care so much that I don’t care. I’m like anybody else – if I have an important place to go and I want to look good, I try on a thousand outfits and they all end up on my floor and I come out wearing jeans and Adidas.

ZD: I sarcastically said in a Vanity Fair piece that I’ve seen one of my parents’ movies, which of course isn’t true, and definitely makes me sound like a dick. I am so proud of my parents and how hard they’ve worked. Back to the Future is an incredible film, and for my mom to be a part of something that 30 years later people are still so touched by is a remarkable feat.

ZD: The food. There’s a taco truck called Torchy’s. Torchy’s is fantastic. They have these pickled red onions on the tacos and have a special secret menu. And… it’s just like the best food ever. Everyone else’s response would be music, but food trumps music... Food trumps love, trumps everything.

ZD: I’m very lucky that my job keeps taking me other places, so I am getting to live other places, but if I had to move somewhere right now or you told me right now you have to leave immediately, I would say Austin which is where we shot Everybody Wants Some.

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