Zooey as DG with her dog ToTo Credit: Sci-Fi Channel

Beautiful, big-eyed actress Zooey Deschanel [sister of Emily who stars in TV's "Bones"] might have first come to your attention as a groupie following the band in Almost Famous. She sang and acted in Will Ferrell's Elf and was the sympathetic, musical teacher in the recent Bridge to Terabithia. She was aboard a spaceship in the movie made from the sci-fi classic The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and, on December 2nd on the Sci-Fi Channel, she'll take on her most iconic role as the Dorothy equivalent D.G. in the TV mini-series "Tin Man" based upon "The Wizard of Oz".

DG is a very modern girl in a fantasy world where science, tech and magic mix in this reimagining of the classic story which carries the theme "it's the journey, not the destination" that matters in life. At the Beverly Hilton Hotel for our meeting, Zooey was looking retro-Dorothy with her long, dark hair in two loose pigtails and wearing a beige, chocolate and orange patterned dress, net hose and very high black patent leather heels. So how did Zooey land in the world of Oz or "The O.Z." as the characters in "Tin Man" call it?

TeenTelevision: How did you get cast in this?