ZACH BRAFF Rehearsals for All New People with Susannah Fielding and Eve Myles
but really it’s a guy coming off anti-depressants and fi nding himself again. Charlie in All New People has come to a point of despair too. I like looking at people who are living through something – but doing it with a smile on their face.’
When asked to explain the appeal of his work, whether in TV, fi lm or theatre, Braff points to two strands: his fans relate to what his characters are going through and also feel they somehow know him through his character in Scrubs. ‘I feel very reverential about Scrubs,’ says Braff of the series, which fi nally went off air in 2010 after nine years. ‘It came into people’s houses and JD was like a friend to them, someone they wished was a buddy.’ Despite such early mainstream success, when it comes to his career, Braff has largely ploughed his own furrow. Flying high on the international success of Scrubs and Garden State, some of Braff’s subsequent choices have raised a few eyebrows. In 2005, he was the voice of Chicken Little in the animated movie. A couple of appearances in sitcom Arrested Development followed, then two fairly forgettable fi lm offerings, Paul Haggis’ The Last Kiss and slacker comedy The Ex. More recently he starred in Canadian fl ick The High Cost of Living, about a woman who loses her child following a hit and run. Another of his fi lms, set for release this year, is Tar, ‘a poetic look at American poet CK Williams’ life over 40 years.’
While none of these projects is likely to smash box offi ce records, Braff seems genuinely uninterested in moving into the blockbuster league. Asked about his inspirations he remembers fondly watching his older brother Adam – a Sean Connery obsessive – make mini-Bond movies in his bedroom as a child, and being transfi xed by his world of make believe. His father, Hal, a lawyer by day and an amateur theatre actor by night, encouraged the young Braff to sit in on rehearsals at the community theatre he ran near his family’s suburban home. ‘I just remember thinking as
24 THE LIST 2 Feb–1 Mar 2012
All New People, King’s Theatre, Glasgow, Tue 14–Sat 18 Feb. (Compiled by Jen Bowden)
Zach Braff FACT ATTACK 10 things you might not know about the Scrubs star
1 He is the youngest of four children. He has two brothers, Adam and Joshua, and a sister, Shoshanna. His mother and father are divorced and have both remarried. He says he now spends Thanksgiving with his ‘four parents’.
2 He had an ‘American musicals’-themed Bar
Mitzvah.
3 He attended Columbia High School, Maplewood,
New Jersey at the same time as Ahmed Best (the voice of JarJar Binks) and graduated the same year as R&B singer Lauryn Hill.
4 He is the voice of the Cottonelle puppy (the
US equivalent of the Andrex puppy).
5 His fi rst movie role was in Woody Allen’s Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993) starring Allen, Diane Keaton and Angelica Huston. Braff played Allen’s son and appeared in one scene.
6 There’s an entire blog devoted to men who look like Zach Braff (menwholooklikezachbraff. blogspot.com). Among the lucky fellas who share his ‘Braffi an features’ are John Travolta, Shia LaBeouf and, erm, Telly from Sesame Street.
7 In 1998 he played a minor role as Malcolm alongside
Alec Baldwin, Angela Bassett and Liev Schreiber in a New York production of Macbeth.
8 He took fl ying lessons and obtained his pilot’s licence in time to fl y himself from New York to an interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
9 He wrote, directed, chose the music for and
appeared in every scene of the 2004 fi lm Garden State. He picked up a Grammy for Best Compilation Soundtrack.
10 His right leg is an eighth of an inch longer than
his left.
a kid, this is what I want to do, I want to create things. Thanks to the blessing of Scrubs and the fi nancial security that’s given me, I have the freedom to pursue some of the things I want to do. ‘If you want to do something you believe is good you sometimes have to give up other things; so I just try to go with things that interest me.’
For all his eschewing of stardom Braff retains an energetic cult following. He’s said to be less than impressed by an entire blog devoted to men who look like him (John Travolta and Shia LaBeouf are both believed to have ‘Braffi an’ features). In 2008, following internet rumours that he’d died, he was forced to make a YouTube video proving he was still alive and kicking. Only last year someone hacked his website, erroneously outing him as gay. He
seems the unfazed by fuss: ‘If you’re going to use the web you’ve got to be willing to go along with it. The web is really the same as the world: there are assholes out and there are Mother Teresas.’ there,
Garden State. Left: Braff as JD in Scrubs
Meanwhile, Braff’s moment in the mainstream spotlight might just be fast approaching. The actor appears in next year’s much hyped Oz: The Great and Powerful, Sam Raimi’s Hollywood re-imagining of the origins of L Frank Baum’s trickster wizard. ‘It was pretty crazy fi lming this huge blockbuster in Detroit,’ Braff admits, with a certain undisguised glee. ‘Sam’s an amazing director and just the sweetest guy.’ So, does the idea of all the attention that comes with appearing in such a huge production fi ll him with horror or excitement? ‘Sure, yeah I’m excited by the Oz thing . . . but you know there’s some talk of All New People being adapted into an indie fi lm, and I’m working on a remake of this great Danish fi lm and looking to do another original fi lm of my own . . . so, you know, I’m pretty happy where I am.’