Zooey Deschanel gets ''depressed'' when she is sent scripts where she is a supporting character.

The New Girl actress admits she rarely gets sent any projects or characters she can get excited about as a "comedienne" because she is often only sent parts as the lead actor's girlfriend.

"I really do feel that for a long time women didn't have the place in comedy that they should. I mean, when you get sent scripts and you see you're always playing someone's girlfriend when you want to be the central role, it's so depressing. As a comedienne, it felt so frustrating to always be setting up someone else's comedic moment."

However, the 32-year-old beauty thinks things began to change with the success of female-driven comedy Bridesmaids - starring Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph - because studio bosses understood there was an audience who weren't being catered to: "Bridesmaids success meant that a lot of networks realised people were interested in that kind of comedy. We already had our show in production, but it made the networks pay more attention."