Zooey Deschanel reveals how Britney Spears-inspired role made her go blonde

Zooey Deschanel, known for her brunette hair in the film 500 Days of Summer, is revealing the story behind her surprise blonde hair transformation in 2003.

The actress revealed that she was cast as “a pop star that was like Britney Spears” for a film that never made it to screens; however, she went blonde for a screen test.

Later, she landed the role of Jovie as Will Ferrell’s love interest in the 2003 holiday classic Elf.

The New Girl star said, on Monday’s episode of The Zach Sang Show, “I did a screen test for a movie that never ended up going about like a pop star that was like Britney Spears.

“It didn’t ever happen, but yeah, it was a pop star that was like Britney Spears, who then — it’s like Roman Holiday, where she has a day where she’s not a pop star.”

Deschanel recalled, “They dyed my hair blonde, and they put these extensions in, and they gave me a tan and a whole thing. I did look as much like a pop star as I can. But then the movie never happened, but then here I was with this blonde hair.”

After starring in the Elf film, going back to brunette would be “hard" so she kept it as it for her role as Jovie.

She explained, "To go from really dark brown hair to light blonde is a long process... It was right after that screen test that I went in for Elf. Once I got cast, I was like, ‘Well, can I dye my hair back brown?’ And they were like, ‘No, you need to look how you looked in the audition.’”

“So that’s how I ended up blonde in Elf. Not because I was like, ‘I need to be blonde.’ It was really random," Deschanel concluded.