Zoey Deutch Reveals Coronavirus Diagnosis

Zombieland: Double Tap star Zoey Deutch revealed she was diagnosed with the coronavirus early on in the pandemic. The former Suite Life on Deck actress told New York Magazine for a personal essay that she is fine now, but has continued to spend most of her time inside. Since she has friends who tested positive but did not show symptoms, she urged people to keep wearing face masks when outside because others can be asymptomatic while still having the virus.

In her essay, Deutch said the reason she chose to come forward with her diagnosis now was to talk about the importance of wearing masks. Deutch and her friends all showed different symptoms. She had a sore throat and “felt totally delirious like I was losing my mind.” One friend lost her sense of taste and smell, while another was hospitalized. Another friend showed no symptoms at all. “I stayed inside for almost two months, and I still very minimally go out, with a mask,” she wrote.

“I hate to sound like I’m trying to be preachy, but it’s so important to wear a mask when you go out, even if you think you’re okay and think you don’t have it or think it’s allergies,” she continued. “You just don’t know if you have it or not.” Deutch acknowledged that she is “incredibly privileged” and very lucky to be healthy right now. However, not everyone is as privileged, “so we need to be extra careful for those who don’t by wearing masks,” she wrote.

After opening with her serious message, Deutch provided an intimate look at how she is spending her self-quarantine. She is cooking more often than she did before and became addicted to Animal Crossing and is binging The Sopranos, while enjoying her favorite music. The 25-year-old, whose parents are actress Lea Thompson and director Howard Deutch, also learned how much she missed singing in her car. One day, she just sat in her cat for two hours to sing to herself.

“One of my therapeutic outlets I’ve been missing, which I didn’t realize was such a factor in my life, is loudly singing in my car,” Deutch wrote. “Like, I’ll sing in my house or in my shower or whatever, like other people, but I also spent two hours a day screaming pop music in my car. And I genuinely think it’s affected my happiness that I haven’t been able to do it. I think I’ve cracked the code for why, when I’m on-location, I also feel sad. So the other day, I just sat in my car for two hours and sang really loudly.”

Deutch’s new movie, Buffaloed, is now available to rent digitally. The film, directed by Tanya Wexler, sees Deutch as a hustler who gets into trouble while trying to escape Buffalo, New York. She also has a lead role in Ryan Murphy’s The Politician, co-starring Ben Platt and Gwyneth Paltrow. The series is now streaming on Netflix.