New Girl star Zooey Deschanel and husband Jacob Pechenik have called it quits after four years of marriage. The couple share two young children together, Elsie, 4, and Charlie, 2. This was Deschanel’s second marriage.
“After much discussion and a long period of contemplation we have decided we are better off as friends, business partners and co-parents rather than life partners,” the couple said in a statement to JustJared, released by their representative. “We remain committed to our business, our values, and most of all, our children. Thank you for respecting our privacy at this time.”
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Deschanel, 39, and Pechenik got engaged in January 2015 and married in June 2015.
Deschanel is best known for her roles in the movies Elf, The Hitchhiker’s Guide ot the Galaxy, (500) Days of Summer and Our Idiot Brother. She also starred in Fox’s New Girl, which earned her three Golden Globe nominations.
Pechenik is a film producer whose credits include The Immigrant, The Skeleton Twins, Before Midnight, Solace and Jobs. Outside their work in Hollywood, Deschanel and Pechenik established The Farm Project, which aims to “reconnect people with their food,” according to the company’s site.
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“We want to make it easy for everyone to grow food themselves and connect directly with farmers in their communities,” the site reads. “We aim to empower people to ask the right questions – because when we ask the right questions, we can make informed choices and vote with our dollars for a better food system.”
According to Food Tank, the now-former couple started Lettuce Grow, a subscription-based company that helps people grow food on their own using modern technology. Seedlings are sent to subscribers bi-weekly, including seedlings from the farm Deschanel and Pechenik share in Austin, Texas.
“Behind the scenes, we’re really changing how food is grown and delivered. By growing seedlings for just two to three weeks, we can grow 100 times more plants per square foot in the same amount of time,” Pechenik told Food Tank of the project this week. “By doing that, we’re taking real estate and transportation out of the equation. So we’re taking 95 percent of the transportation emissions out of the equation as well… it’s also virtually erasing [food chain related] waste.”
In August, Deschanel and her sister, Bones star Emily Deschanel, joined forces for a special Carpool Karaoke episode. The sisters were joined by Property Brothers stars Drew and Jonathan Scott.
Deschanel was previously married to Death Cab for Cutie musician Ben Gibbard from 2009 to 2012.
Photo credit: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images
