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Friday, Jul 10, 2009
"Scrubs" star Zach Braff discusses his visually memorable new "Garden State," 20-something angst and the joys of giving birth to trillions of Natalie Portman's babies.
Jul 27, 2004 | If it's easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is for a sitcom star to enter the kingdom of filmmaking, Zach Braff is defying the odds with "Garden State," which he wrote, directed and stars in. Earning lots of early praise, the $2.5 million film was picked up at Sundance by Fox Searchlight and Miramax. After playing the goofy lead character J.D. in NBC's popular sitcom "Scrubs" for the past three years, Braff has created a semi-autobiographical role that reveals a more somber side and reflects his struggles as actor before landing a steady gig. At 29, Braff demonstrates a knack for witty dialogue and visually memorable scenes that form a sweet, understated story about rediscovering the past in order to leave it behind.
I spoke with Braff at the end of what looked like an exhausting day of back-to-back interviews.
What inspired you to write the movie and when did you start writing it?
What inspired me to write it was just stories from growing up in Jersey, and my experience with my friends, and anecdotes from my childhood there. And when I went to film school at Northwestern, I started thinking about what my first feature would be, and I thought that I'd use some of those stories in some way -- I didn't know exactly how.
Did you come to L.A. intent on making movies?
No, I moved to New York to make movies and also act at the same time. I thought I'd climb both ladders at the same time, and I was working as a production assistant and auditioning. Then I started to get work as an actor. I got cast in a production of "Macbeth" at the Public Theater, and then I got some independent films, and that eventually brought me out here, and I was waiting tables here, and then I got "Scrubs."
Were you hesitant to do TV at first? Because it sounds like you were pretty focused on film.
I was but I needed a job. I was broke. I just wanted to work. I hadn't worked in a long time, and independent films don't pay for you to live.
Is the main character, Andrew, in "Garden State" based on you?
Yeah, a lot of the stuff that I've been going through in my 20s and dealing with. That's definitely the jumping-off point.
Did you go through a similar crisis period in your life?
Yeah, that's what the movie's about. It's about 20-somethings going through that period where you're just sort of lost and confused and depressed, and that was the inspiration for the character.
One of the things I like about the film is that the turning points are based on very small experiences, like when Andrew goes to the quarry and meets that odd couple. Even though nothing much happens, it's almost like he's experiencing his life for the first time.
Well, he gets the necklace, which is a tiny thing, but you don't really see its importance in the movie until later. But when you look back, you go, "Well, what happens is he retrieves the one thing that'll give him the one happy memory he has of his mother."
Was it difficult to rein yourself in and focus on small details?
I didn't really think about it like that. I just wrote. I just wrote and wrote. I didn't think about...
You didn't worry about the stakes not being high enough?
No, but that was the problem! That's why I couldn't get a studio to pay for it. Because I didn't have a three-act structure and I didn't have stakes and I introduced characters that didn't quote-unquote "pay off" -- that is, they don't come back.
