Zooey Deschanel: Baby's gender will be fun surprise

Zooey Deschanel is "paranoid" about accidentally finding out the gender of her baby during a scan.

The 35-year-old actress-and-singer is currently expecting her first child with fiancé Jacob Pechenik but the couple have no plans to find out whether the tot will be a boy or a girl. This means they have to be careful when they go in for check-ups in case any clues slip out which give it away.

"We are gonna be surprised. It's more fun, you know? Make it into a game! I mean... I go back and forth [with my inclinations]," Zooey smiled on Jimmy Kimmel Live!

"But the last time [we went for a scan] the technician was like, 'Just so you know, I always use the pronoun he, because that's my habit so you know beforehand.' She like set it up because we were paranoid about... we didn't want to find out! Apparently not that many people are that sort of... most people want to find out."

Zooey's older sister Emily is also currently pregnant with her second child. She and husband David Hornsby are already parents to son Henry, three.

Both sisters were known for their strict diets, but Zooey admits she's no longer a vegan as she gets too hungry now she's pregnant. While she isn't having massive cravings, the brunette beauty does miss wine, cream cheese and coffee, which she's now reduced from four cups a day to just half a cup.

The star is still keeping busy in the lead up to her new arrival and recently worked with The Beach Boys co-founder Brian Wilson.

"He is the absolute best, I'm like the biggest Brian Wilson fan. I got to work with him which was amazing. He is an unusual character but he is... he knows exactly what he wants," she gushed.

"If he likes it, he loves it, if he doesn't like it, he doesn't like it. It's very... so it's actually really clear. You get stuff done really fast."