Every Disney Hero Has a Voice
Chicken Little
Zachary I. “Zach” Braff
April 6th, 1975
Zachary I. "Zach" Braff
(born April 6, 1975) is an American actor, screenwriter, producer, comedian,
and director. Braff first became known in 2001 for his role as Dr. John Dorian
on the television series Scrubs, for which he was nominated for an Emmy
Award and three Golden Globe Awards.
In 2004, Braff made his directorial debut with Garden
State. Braff returned to his home state New Jersey to shoot the film, which
was produced for $2.5 million. The film made over $35 million at the box office
and was praised by critics. Braff wrote the film, starred in it, and compiled
the soundtrack record. He won numerous awards for his directing work, and also
won the Grammy Award for Best Soundtrack Album in 2005.
Early life
Braff was born in South Orange, New Jersey. His father,
Harold Irwin "Hal" Braff, is a trial attorney and sociology
professor, and his mother, Anne Brodzinsky (born Anne Hutchinson Maynard), is a
clinical psychologist. His parents divorced and re-married others during
Braff's childhood. One of his siblings, Joshua, is an author. Braff's father
was born into a Jewish family, and Braff's mother, originally a Protestant, converted
to Judaism before marrying his father. Braff was raised in Conservative Judaism,
and has said that he is "not a huge organized religion guy". Through
his mother's New England ancestors, Braff is a distant cousin of politician Mitt
Romney.
He has wanted to be a filmmaker since his early childhood,
and has described it as his "life dream".
Braff was diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder at
age ten. He graduated from Columbia High School, in Maplewood, New Jersey,
where he worked in the school's television station along with classmate and
singer/actress Lauryn Hill.
As a child, Zach Braff also attended Stagedoor Manor, a
performing arts "training center" for youth actors and Triple Threats
ages 10–18. He fondly remembers his time there, as it was where he won an
acting award and had his first kiss. Stagedoor is also where Braff met Josh
Charles, with whom he is still friends, and he knows many other SDM alums,
including Natalie Portman, Mandy Moore, and Joshua Radin.
Career
Braff began his career doing Shakespeare's Twelfth
Night and Macbeth (as Malcolm) at New York City's Public Theater,
and also appeared in Woody Allen's 1993 film Manhattan Murder Mystery.
Braff was briefly on the Disney program The Baby-sitters Club in an
episode, "Dawn Saves the Trees".
Breakthrough role
Braff played John "J.D." Dorian on the medical
comedy TV series Scrubs which debuted in 2001. The role was Braff's
first major role in a television show. Braff was nominated for three Golden
Globes and an Emmy for his work on the show. Braff directed several episodes of
Scrubs, including its one-hundredth, "My Way Home". For the show's
ninth season, Braff was a cast member for the first six episodes and also
served as one of the executive producers.
As director
Braff directed several episodes of Scrubs. Braff
wrote, directed, produced, and starred in 2004's Garden State, which was
filmed in his home state New Jersey, in various towns such as South Orange, Cranford,
Maplewood and Tenafly. Producers were initially reluctant to finance the film,
which Braff wrote in six months. In February 2005, he won a Grammy Award for
Best Compilation Soundtrack for a Motion Picture for the Garden State
soundtrack, on which he also served as the compilation producer.
Braff has directed several music videos: Gavin DeGraw's
"Chariot", Joshua Radin's "Closer" and "I'd Rather Be
With You", Cary Brothers' "Ride", and Lazlo Bane's "Superman",
the theme song from Scrubs. His music production has resulted in
newfound success for some of the artists featured on his film soundtracks, such
as The Shins, who were prominently featured on the Garden State
soundtrack and the Scrubs soundtrack, resulting in the expression the
"Zach Braff effect".
Other roles
Along with many Scrubs cast members, Braff has a
small role playing himself in It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie.
Braff has done voice acting, providing the voice of the
title character in Disney's animated film Chicken Little (2005), a role
he reprised in the video game Kingdom Hearts II. Braff has also done voice
overs for commercials, including a PUR water campaign, Wendy's TV commercials
in 2007 and 2008, and Cottonelle commercials, in which he portrayed a puppy.
In 2005, Braff was featured on Punk'd when he was
tricked into chasing a supposed vandal who appeared to be spray-painting his brand
new Porsche. He then proceeded to hurl expletives at the young boy, and at one
point physically assaulted the 12 year old until Ashton Kutcher, the show's
host, appeared. The episode aired March 20, 2005.
Braff was in talks to star in the film Fletch Won and
had signed on to play the role eventually played by Dane Cook in Mr. Brooks,
but dropped out of both roles to work on Open Hearts, which he adapted
from a Danish film and will direct. He has also co-written a film version of Andrew
Henry's Meadow, a children's book, with his brother, and was scheduled to
direct one of the segments for the film New York, I Love You.
In July 2009, he signed on as an executive producer for
the documentary Heart of Stone to "help spread the word about
it".
Braff starred in the romantic drama The Last Kiss,
which opened on September 15, 2006. Braff tweaked several parts of Paul Haggis'
script for the film, as he wanted the script to be as "real as
possible" and "really courageous" regarding its subject matter.
As with Garden State, Braff was involved with the film's soundtrack,
serving as executive producer. The film's director, Tony Goldwyn, compared
Braff to a younger version of Tim Allen, describing Braff as "incredibly
accessible to an audience... a real guy, an everyman."
In 2007, Braff starred in the film The Ex (2007),
which he has described as a "silly comedy".
Braff stars in the Canadian indie film The High Cost
of Living with Quebec actress Isabelle Blais in 2010. Directed by Deborah
Chow, the film was shot in Montreal and principal photography wrapped on March
9, 2010. Braff stated he enjoyed filming in the country in which The Last
Kiss was also shot. The film premiered at the Toronto Film Festival and was
also shown at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Theatre
Braff has spoken of his love of theater and his desire to
return to stage acting in New York City, eight years after playing Sebastian in
the Shakespeare in the Park production of Twelfth Night. In mid-2010,
Braff took a lead role in Trust, at the Second Stage Theatre, a
contemporary Off-Broadway theater company. The play ran from July 23 to
September 12, extending its scheduled run by one week. Braff wrote on Facebook
that he was "Having so much fun doing Trust". The play
co-starred Sutton Foster, Ari Graynor and Bobby Cannavale, was written by Paul
Weitz and directed by Peter DuBois. Braff played Henry, a wealthy married man
who "looks to find something real in the most unlikely of places".
In early 2011, Braff announced that he had written a play
to be performed at the Second Stage Theatre in mid-2011. The play, All New
People, is set on Long Beach Island and centers on Charlie, a 35-year-old
from Braff's home state New Jersey. The play was directed by Peter DuBois, who
directed Braff in Trust the previous year. When announcing the play on
Facebook, Braff wrote that 'one of my dreams comes true'. In 2012, Braff moved
the play on tour to the UK, playing in Manchester at the Manchester Opera House
between 8–11 February, Glasgow at the King's Theatre between 14–18 February,
and finally in London for 10 weeks at the Duke of York's Theatre from 22
February.
In June 2012, he announced via Twitter there were plans
to create a movie adaptation of the production
Future plans
Braff's next work as director is on the upcoming film Open
Hearts, a remake of a 2002 Danish film Elsker dig for evigt (Love
You Forever), which was directed by Susanne Bier. The film will focus on a
woman who, shocked by her fiance's paralysis in a car crash, has an affair with
her husband's doctor, whose wife caused the accident. The original film starred
Mads Mikkelsen, Sonja Richter, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, and Paprika Steen. The
cast-members for Braff's remake have not yet been announced. It was first
revealed that Braff was planning to remake Open Hearts in 2006, at the
same time Braff's film The Last Kiss was being released. The film will
be produced by Paramount Pictures.
In July 2009, Braff announced via Facebook that he is
working on the script of a film to be called Swingles, which he will
direct and star in alongside Cameron Diaz.
Other pursuits
In 2009, Zach Braff opened up the restaurant Mermaid
Oyster Bar in New York City with chef and high school friend, Laurence Edelman.
Personal life
Braff's brother is author Joshua Braff; his stepsister is
Jessica Kirson, a New York stand-up comedian.
Braff is currently dating model Taylor Bagley whom he has
been in a relationship with since 2009. Braff is best friends with his former Scrubs
co-star Donald Faison.
In November 2008, Braff earned his pilot's license flying
a Cirrus SR20.
Braff was spotted attending the 2012 Democratic National
Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Filmography
Actor
Film credits
|
Year
|
Film
|
Role
|
Notes
|
1993
|
Manhattan
Murder Mystery
|
Nick Lipton
|
|
1999
|
Getting to
Know You
|
Wesley
|
|
2000
|
Endsville
|
Dean
|
|
2000
|
Blue Moon
|
Fred
|
|
2000
|
The Broken
Hearts Club: A Romantic Comedy
|
Benji
|
|
2002
|
It's a Very
Merry Muppet Christmas Movie
|
Himself/John
"J.D." Dorian
|
TV film
|
2004
|
Garden State
|
Andrew Largeman
|
Central Ohio
Film Critics Association for Breakthrough Film Artist (also
for writing and directing)
Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss (shared with Natalie Portman)
Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Male Performance
Nominated—Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Breakthrough Performance
Nominated—Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie: Drama Actor
Nominated—Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie: Blush Scene
Nominated—Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie: Breakout Performance - Male
Nominated—Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie: Liplock (shared
with Natalie Portman)
Nominated—Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie: Love Scene
|
2005
|
Chicken
Little
|
Chicken Little
|
Voice only
|
2006
|
The Last Kiss
|
Michael
|
|
2007
|
The Ex
|
Tom Reilly
|
|
2011
|
The High Cost
of Living
|
Henry
|
|
2013
|
Oz: The Great
and Powerful
|
Frank and Finley
|
Filming
Dual role
|
|
TBA
|
Open Hearts
|
Niels
|
TBA
|
|
Television credits
|
Year
|
Show
|
Role
|
Notes
|
1993
|
The
Baby-Sitters Club
|
David Cummings
|
1 episode
|
1994
|
CBS
Schoolbreak Special
|
Tony / Tammy
|
1 episode
|
2001–2010
|
Scrubs
|
John
"J.D." Dorian
|
Main character
and narrator (175 episodes)
Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or
Comedy (2005, 2006, 2007)
Nominated—Hollywood Foreign Press Association Award for Best Performance by
an Actor in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy (2005,
2006)
Nominated—People's Choice Award for Favorite Male Television Star (2005)
Nominated—People's Choice Award for Best Leading Star (2005)
Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series (2005)
Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or
Comedy (2005)
Nominated—Teen Choice Award for Choice TV: Comedy Actor (2002,
2003, 2004, 2005, 2006)
|
2002
|
Clone High
|
Paul Revere /
X-Stream Mike
|
2 episodes
(voice only)
|
2005–2006
|
Arrested
Development
|
Phillip Litt
|
2 episodes
|
2009
|
Scrubs:
Interns
|
John
"J.D." Dorian
|
1 webisode
|
2010
|
Cougar Town
|
Himself/Phone
App/Pizza delivery guy
|
2 episodes
|
2012
|
The Exes
|
Chuck Feeney
|
1 episode
|
2013
|
Do You Heard
What I Said?
|
Nall Mansen
|
1 episodes
|
Director
Film and television director
|
Year
|
Film
|
Notes
|
1997
|
Lionel on a
Sunday
|
Short film. Also
writer
|
2004
|
Garden State
|
Also writer and
actor
Central Ohio Film Critics Association for Breakthrough Film Artist (also
for acting)
Central Ohio Film Critics Association for Best New Director
Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Most Promising Filmmaker
Crystal Image Award
Florida Film Critics Circle's Pauline Kael Breakout Award
Hollywood Breakthrough Award for Breakthrough Directing
Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature (shared
with producers Pamela Abdy, Gary Gilbert, Dan Halsted and Richard Klubeck)
National Board of Review Award for Best Directorial Debut
Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Breakthrough Filmmaker
Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Breakout of the Year - Behind the
Camera
Nominated—Empire Award for Best Newcomer
Nominated—Humanitas Prize for Sundance Film
Nominated—Independent Spirit Award for Best Screenplay
Nominated—Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Original Screenplay
Nominated—Sundance Film Festival's Grand Jury Prize
Nominated—Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay
|
2004–2009
|
Scrubs
|
7 episodes
|
2008
|
Night Life
|
TV film
|
Discography
Year
|
Album
|
Notes
|
2004
|
Garden State
|
Compilation
producer
Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture,
Television or Other Visual Media
|
http://en.wikipedia.org