Zooey Deschanel And Ben Gibbard Divorce - Where Did It All Go Wrong?

On the surface, Zooey Deschanel seems to have it all; a successful acting career, coupled with a credible reputation as a musician and songwriter and most recently, a Golden Globe nomination, for Best Actress, for her recent TV comedy series New Girl. Of late, she has been gracing the newsreels with a snowballing success story. Film and music fans alike have fallen for her charm and talent and she was recently able to draw them all together by recording her own version of the Winnie the Pooh theme for the 2011 film version of the children's cartoon.

In November 2011, however, Zooey announced that she and her husband of two years (Ben Gibbard, lead singer of The Postal Service and Death Cab For Cutie) were separating. On December 27th 2011, she filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences. If Deschanel was hoping that she would be able to proceed quietly with the divorce, away from the glare of the media, she may have preferred that TMZ.com hadn't obtained a copy of her court documents. The papers in question revealed that the Elf star has a fortune that may well form the starting point of any future speculation about the couple's divorce.

What sets Zooey apart from other actresses of her ilk is that in addition to an increasingly successful career on the screen, she has - seemingly incidentally - also built a fan base for her reputable musical talent. Along with her (500) Days of Summer co-star Joseph Gordon-Levitt, she recorded a duet of 'What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?' which became a viral hit on YouTube at the end of last year.

She also releases music under the moniker SHE & HIM, the duo she formed with the Portland musician M Ward. The pair have released their own albums as well as both appearing on Snow Patrol's hit record The Place We Ran. At the end of 2011, they even released a Christmas album A Very She & Him Christmas, though the less than favourable reviews threatened to unsettle their position as darlings of the indie scene.

Deschanel has a swift riposte up her sleeve for anyone considering dethroning her from the height of her cutesy-coolness, though, as she can also claim to be the brainchild behind a number of songs on Disney's Winnie the Pooh soundtrack. The film's producers were apparently so happy with her re-recording of the honey-loving bear's theme tune that they asked her to compose further original tracks as well as recording vocals for other existing tracks. Lesser characters may have crumbled under the weight of pressure when it comes to recording a Disney theme tune - Deschanel seemingly took the task in her stride and excelled herself in the process.

TMZ.com may be in possession of her financial statements, which reveal that she spends $22,500 on clothes, but it is, as yet, unclear whether or not the pair signed a pre-nuptial agreement before they tied the knot back in 2009.

Gibbard and Deschanel have so far done a good job of keeping their private lives under wraps, leaving fans guessing when it comes to the reasons behind the split. Deschanel's publicist has described the separation as 'amicable' but with a considerable fortune at stake, it remains to be seen whether or not that will continue to be the case. With the Golden Globes on the horizon and New Girl soon to hit screens in the UK, it seems unlikely that Zooey Deschanel's personal troubles will interrupt the progress of her career in 2012.