Three Great Things is Talkhouse’s series in which artists tell us about three things they absolutely love. To mark the current release in theaters of the romantic comedy The Threesome, starring Zoey Deutch, Jonah Hauer-King, Ruby Cruz and Jaboukie Young-White, fan-favorite actress and producer Deutch shared some of the things she loves most in life. — N.D.
Dinner
Eating. Dinner is my hobby.
There's nothing that feeds my soul more than having a great meal with the people that I love, or with strangers, or people that I'm working with. It is my version of going to a party or a concert; it's how I connect. Obviously, in every culture, breaking bread is an ancient custom, but the older I get, the more I understand that it's the thing that works best for my brain and how I can truly connect with others. I just don't love the environment of a party; I can't really connect. But the act of eating, which I love more than anything, feeds the ADHD part of me. My hands are doing something, so I'm able to focus better when I talk to people.
And it’s specifically dinner that I love deep in my soul, not some other meal. With breakfast, I don’t like the food. And with lunch, there’s too much going on and I’m just thinking, “When is dinner?” But I love to cook dinner, I love to eat dinner, I love to talk to people at dinner.
For a great dinner, food is much more important than vibe or environment. So if it’s a choice between a hole-in-the-wall restaurant with amazing food and a fancy restaurant with an incredible view but only so-so food, I'll always go for the hole-in-the-wall. Because you can always find something interesting to learn about another human being, but the experience is just not going to be as fun when the food isn't great.
Just having the intention of sitting down for a couple hours and looking at each other and sharing some thing that we've never shared before, I love that. They say one of the most important things to sustain a romantic relationship is trying new things and going places you haven't been before, because your brain is building new memories together. I think that is also the case with food. When you're trying something new with somebody, you’re connecting. And when it's with people that I know really well, like my partner or my family, and we share something new together – that's awesome. That feels special.
My Dog Maybelle
I grew up with all different types of rescue animals, not just dogs, which have changed me and made me who I am, but the most important of them all is my dog, Maybelle, who I got when I was 19.
We know that it's nice to love another creature, but she has taught me so much about receiving love. She is the great teacher of love and I just want to be more like my dog. I want to greet my partner the way she greets me. I want to receive love the way she does and give love the way she does. I get teary-eyed just thinking about it. I feel like she's taught me so much and I've had her all of my 20s, so as I've grown up, she's been with me every step of the way.
My favorite thing to do with Maybelle is just being still, doing nothing and being together and not saying anything (because obviously… well… shocking, but she doesn't speak). That's very intimate. It's deep to be in stillness and quietness and just be together. I also love to feed her. The one thing I can really do to show her my love and appreciation is give her chicken. If she were to choose her Three Great Things, the list would be like: 1) Chicken. 2) Chicken. 3) Walk.
My Baby Blanket
I love my baby blanket. When I was born, my mother put a baby blanket into the crib, and I didn't want it. So she tried another one. And then yet another one, but I still didn't want it. She had a set of sheets and pillowcases that she got from a hotel, because she liked how soft it was. When she put the pillowcase in my crib, I loved it. It was white and had little blue and pink bows on it. I kept the pillowcase, and that became my baby blanket. As I got older, the baby blanket got more and more shredded, and once it was really on its last legs, my mom realized she still had the sheet from the bed set, so she made a bunch of baby blankets out of it. I still have the original one, but I don't sleep with it, as I now have a newer one she just gave me two Christmases ago that I'm breaking in.
I take it with me everywhere I go and I don't have the fear that I'm going to lose it, because I have another one. I love it so much because it grounds me and makes me feel like I'm home. I love my life and my job and the nomadic lifestyle that I’ve had since I was 14 or 15 doing this job, but having little things like my baby blanket or a candle that smells like my home is very comforting to me.
