Emmys 2012: Zooey Deschanel Calls ‘Dream’ Nomination a ‘Huge Life Moment’

Zooey Deschanel‘s Emmy nomination was not a given, but it wasn’t exactly a surprise either.

The 32-year-old actress got a lot of attention when it was announced she’d headline Fox’s New Girl — and the show’s ensuing success with ratings and critics has continued to be a boon for her transition to television.

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“It doesn’t matter what the medium is,” Deschanel tells The Hollywood Reporter of her lead actress in a comedy nom. “When this opportunity came with such an amazing group of people, I felt like it was totally worth it to commit myself.”

With all the talk of a possible nomination — Deschanel was a part of THR‘s recent comedy actress roundtable — she still says that she tried to sleep through the announcements.

“I didn’t want to assume anything, but I got the phone call and woke up,” she says. “It’s this thing you dream about when you decided to become an actor. It’s a huge, incredible life moment.”

Soon after getting the call, Deschanel emailed nominated co-star Max Greenfield about what they’ll be wearing to the show — and his recognition is something she’s taking a great deal of satisfaction in.

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“When he tested for our pilot, he had tested for like ten pilots the year before and been second for everything,” she says. “It’s pretty exciting to see him succeeding and showing all of those people that they underestimated Max Greenfield.”

Deschanel heads back to the Fox lot in just two weeks to start production on the sophomore season of New Girl, something she seems more proud of.

“I have the best Job in the world,” she tells THR. “That’s validation enough, but it’s really nice to have this too.”