'Bones' star Emily Deschanel just wants to have fun
By William Keck, USA TODAY

LOS ANGELES — As she does most every weekend, Bones star Emily Deschanel is spending her Sunday morning shopping at a Hollywood farmers' market near her home.

A strict vegan, she has avoided all animal products for 15 years, ever since watching a documentary about the meat industry. Her lifestyle extends to avoiding leather clothing or consuming even honey because "sometimes," she says, "they kill the bees." As a result, she is forced to forgo many samples along the route.

But Deschanel's icy character, forensic anthropologist Temperance "Bones" Brennan, has no problem interacting with freshly butchered bodies on the Fox crime drama. With two episodes remaining in the third season (Mondays, 8 p.m. ET/PT), Deschanel hints that viewers will soon learn the shocking identity of cannibalistic serial killer Gormogon's apprentice.

She and her on-screen crime-solving partner, David Boreanaz (FBI Agent Booth), were named producers on the show this season, which has upped their creative input.

"David had it in his contract, and I think they wanted to do something to make me feel equal with him, which is nice," she explains. "We're definitely more involved in the show and where it goes … if there are story lines or plot points we feel aren't right for the characters."

But Deschanel insists she had nothing to do with Monday's episode, which finds her providing some comic relief. Former American Idol finalists Ace Young and Brandon Rogers guest-star in a story line that culminates with Deschanel singing a Cyndi Lauper standard. Though she can carry a tune, the actress, 31, hasn't performed much before an audience since grade-school productions of The Mikado and Into the Woods.

That playful side is more akin to her own personality, and the market experience does bring out her inner child.

Realizing she has left her environmentally friendly shopping bag in her car, she makes a mad dash back and returns. Out of breath, she apologizes for taking so long, having run into a few friends along the way.

"I love the atmosphere here," Deschanel says, filling her bag with avocados. "I make a good guacamole, if I do say so myself."

At the end of one street, she spots a friend selling some Play-Doh-like Eco-Dough and picks up a complete set for a friend's child.

Reaching her favorite vegan soul food stand, she orders a to-go plate of veggie pot roast, greens, cornbread and black-eyed peas that she will take home to the duplex she shares with her vegetarian kid sister, Zooey, 28, also an actress (Elf).

Later in the afternoon, she and her boyfriend are taking a Jewish food cooking class. She declines to name her beau, explaining: "The last time I talked about my (ex) boyfriend, we had broken up by the time the article came out."

She's far more comfortable discussing her unique relationship with Boreanaz. "We drive each other crazy," she says. "I'm such a nosy person that I need to get in there when he's having a conversation with the director. But we laugh about it."

He's "like a kid," she says. "He'll take down his pants and moon people." And, "He'll try to kiss me and stuff, and I'll be like, 'Uhhhh!' "

Having a co-worker try to kiss you? For Deschanel, that's worse than a bloody body any day.

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Mr. Rogers | Alicia Silverstone | Tobey Maguire | Natalie Portman | Russell Simmons | Joaquin Phoenix | Brendan Brazier | Carrie Underwood | Steve Vai | Prince Fielder | Chris Walla | Emily Deschanel | Jane Goodall