Actress Zooey Deschanel, the daughter of a Quaker and a Roman Catholic, converted to Judaism this summer shortly before marrying producer Jacob Pechenik, Us Weekly reported last week. The denomination of the rabbi who supervised her conversion was not reported.
The two married in June, a month before the birth of their daughter, Elsie Otter.
“Zooey converted to Judaism for Jacob,” an unidentified “insider” told the celebrity magazine.
According to the publication, Deschanel had not previously considered herself a member of any religious tradition. “I don’t attach myself to any one religion,” she has said in the past, according to the magazine. “My family is liberal. I was raised in the ‘you can be whatever you want’ kind of way.”
Deschanel, 35, stars in the Fox sitcom “New Girl” and has appeared in numerous films, including “Almost Famous” and, most recently, “Rock the Kasbah.” — j. wire services