# Zach Braff
**Zach Braff** is an American actor, writer, and director known for playing [Dr. John](https://www.edgepedia.org/dr-john) "J.D." Dorian on the television comedy *[Scrubs](https://www.edgepedia.org/scrubs-tv-series)* (2001) and for writing, directing, and starring in the film *Garden State* (2004). Born in 1975 in South Orange, New Jersey, his full birth name is Zachary Israel Braff.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0103785/bio/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1975, South Orange, New Jersey; birth name Zachary Israel Braff[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0103785/bio/) |
| Signature TV role | Dr. John "J.D." Dorian on *Scrubs*, which ran nine seasons; he earned an Emmy nomination and three consecutive Golden Globe nominations[2](https://www.detpress.com/abc/bios/zach-braff/) |
| Breakthrough film | *Garden State* (2004), written and directed on a $2.5 million budget, sold for $5 million to Fox Searchlight at Sundance and grossed over $35 million[2](https://www.detpress.com/abc/bios/zach-braff/) |
| Grammy Award | Best Compilation Soundtrack Album, 2005, for *Garden State*; the soundtrack sold over one million copies[2](https://www.detpress.com/abc/bios/zach-braff/) |
| Crowdfunded film | *Wish I Was Here* (2014) raised $3.1 million on Kickstarter from nearly 47,000 backers[3](https://time.com/2976322/zach-braff-interview-wish-i-was-here/) |
| Later TV directing | Was nominated for a 2021 Primetime Emmy Award for directing the *Ted Lasso* episode "Biscuits" and directed episodes of *Shrinking*[2](https://www.detpress.com/abc/bios/zach-braff/) • [12](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/2021-emmy-awards-winners-nominees-list/) |
| *Scrubs* revival | Premiered February 25, 2026 on ABC and Hulu; Braff directs the pilot and serves as executive producer[4](https://www.gamesradar.com/entertainment/comedy-shows/watch-this-turkelton-hulus-scrubs-reboot-starring-zach-braff-and-the-original-cast-finally-has-a-release-date/) • [2](https://www.detpress.com/abc/bios/zach-braff/) |
## Early life and stage work
Braff grew up in South Orange, New Jersey, where he was born; his parents were Anne Hutchinson Maynard, who worked as a clinical psychologist, and Harold Irwin Braff, a trial attorney.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0103785/bio/) His father's family came from Russia and Austria, and his mother's family had deep roots in New England.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0103785/bio/) He attended Columbia High School in Maplewood, New Jersey, and graduated from [Northwestern University](https://www.edgepedia.org/northwestern-university) with a bachelor's degree in film.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0103785/bio/) He began acting as a child at Stagedoor Manor, a performing arts training center in New York.[5](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/zach-braff/bio/3030192257/) An early screen appearance came while he was in high school, with a featured part in [Woody Allen](https://www.edgepedia.org/woody-allen)'s 1993 film *Manhattan Murder Mystery*.[6](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-aug-02-et-taylor2-story.html)
## *Scrubs* and television stardom
After numerous small parts in television and film, Braff's break came with the lead role on NBC's *Scrubs* in 2001.[5](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/zach-braff/bio/3030192257/) The half-hour show drew Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Comedy Series and Comedy Writing over its nine-season run, and Braff earned an Emmy nomination and three consecutive Golden Globe nominations for his performance.[2](https://www.detpress.com/abc/bios/zach-braff/) While starring on the show he also moved behind the camera, directing seven episodes, including the series' 100th.[2](https://www.detpress.com/abc/bios/zach-braff/)
## *Garden State*
Braff's feature writing and directing debut, the 2004 comedy-drama *Garden State*, in which he also starred as Andrew Largeman, was shot in his home state of New Jersey on a $2.5 million budget and sold for a then-unprecedented $5 million to Fox Searchlight at the 2004 [Sundance Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/sundance-film-festival).[2](https://www.detpress.com/abc/bios/zach-braff/) He had trimmed the budget from a hoped-for $4 million; investor Gary Gilbert then financed the film himself, which secured Braff the final cut he wanted.[6](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-aug-02-et-taylor2-story.html) The film grossed more than $35 million worldwide, drew more than three dozen award nominations, and won Braff an Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature, along with nominations for Best First Screenplay and a Writers Guild nomination for Best Original Screenplay.[2](https://www.detpress.com/abc/bios/zach-braff/)
The film's soundtrack, which Braff assembled, sold more than one million copies and earned him a Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack Album in 2005.[2](https://www.detpress.com/abc/bios/zach-braff/) • [7](https://snapshot.apple.com/us/person/6621221730) In interviews he has described finding songs by a physical test: when his arm hair stood up during a playback, the song was a candidate.[3](https://time.com/2976322/zach-braff-interview-wish-i-was-here/)
## Directing career after *Garden State*
*Wish I Was Here* (2014), co-written with his older brother Adam, was Braff's second feature as director, in which he starred as a struggling actor and father alongside [Kate Hudson](https://www.edgepedia.org/kate-hudson), Mandy Patinkin, and [Josh Gad](https://www.edgepedia.org/josh-gad).[8](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/films/features/zach-braff-interview-scrubs-star-on-new-film-wish-i-was-here-and-pushing-40-9744274.html) • [2](https://www.detpress.com/abc/bios/zach-braff/) Traditional investors would have required him to give up creative control, so he turned to [Kickstarter](https://www.edgepedia.org/kickstarter) and raised $3.1 million from nearly 47,000 backers.[3](https://time.com/2976322/zach-braff-interview-wish-i-was-here/) In 2017 he directed *Going in Style*, a Warner Bros. remake of the 1979 Martin Brest caper comedy, starring Academy Award winners Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, and Alan Arkin.[2](https://www.detpress.com/abc/bios/zach-braff/) In 2018 he directed, produced, and starred in the ABC series *Alex, Inc.*, based on Alex Blumberg's podcast *StartUp*.[2](https://www.detpress.com/abc/bios/zach-braff/)
His 2023 film *A Good Person*, starring [Florence Pugh](https://www.edgepedia.org/florence-pugh) and [Morgan Freeman](https://www.edgepedia.org/morgan-freeman), was followed by continued television work with *Scrubs* creator Bill Lawrence: a 2021 Emmy Award-winning *Ted Lasso* episode, directing on *Shrinking*, and a guest role on *Bad Monkey*.[9](https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/entertainment/7-fun-facts-about-actor-writer-and-director-zach-braff) • [2](https://www.detpress.com/abc/bios/zach-braff/)
## Theater and podcast
Braff's stage work includes the 1998 Public Theater staging of *Macbeth*, the 2002 New York Shakespeare Festival *Twelfth Night* at [Central Park](https://www.edgepedia.org/central-park)'s Delacorte Theatre, Paul Weitz's off-Broadway play *Trust* in 2010, his own play *All New People* in a 2012 West End debut, and a 2014 Broadway lead in *Bullets Over Broadway*.[2](https://www.detpress.com/abc/bios/zach-braff/) With Donald Faison, his *Scrubs* castmate, he launched the iHeart podcast *Fake Doctors, Real Friends* in March 2020; it passed 100 million downloads across more than 200 episodes discussing individual *Scrubs* installments.[2](https://www.detpress.com/abc/bios/zach-braff/)
## The *Scrubs* revival
After a development order in 2025, the *Scrubs* revival, starring Braff, Donald Faison, and [Sarah Chalke](https://www.edgepedia.org/sarah-chalke), premiered on ABC and Hulu on February 25, 2026 as a tenth season set at a teaching hospital with a new group of interns.[4](https://www.gamesradar.com/entertainment/comedy-shows/watch-this-turkelton-hulus-scrubs-reboot-starring-zach-braff-and-the-original-cast-finally-has-a-release-date/) Braff directs the pilot episode and serves as the show's executive producer, and the series follows J.D. and Turk navigating a modern medical system after fifteen years, with J.D. now the veteran rather than the newcomer.[2](https://www.detpress.com/abc/bios/zach-braff/) Braff has said the revival deliberately returns to the grounded, reality-based tone of the show's early seasons rather than the more cartoonish later ones.[10](https://apnews.com/article/395e9e6ccedc62c2880439858574e62f) The season was renewed for further seasons as part of ABC's 2026-2027 lineup.[11](https://au.variety.com/2026/tv/news/scrubs-revival-renewed-abc-shifting-gears-renewed-season-3-36098/)
## References
1. [Zach Braff - Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0103785/bio/)
2. [Zach Braff, ABC Press biography](https://www.detpress.com/abc/bios/zach-braff/)
3. [Zach Braff Interview: 'Wish I Was Here' and Kickstarter, TIME](https://time.com/2976322/zach-braff-interview-wish-i-was-here/)
4. [Watch this, Turkelton! Hulu's Scrubs reboot finally has a release date, GamesRadar](https://www.gamesradar.com/entertainment/comedy-shows/watch-this-turkelton-hulus-scrubs-reboot-starring-zach-braff-and-the-original-cast-finally-has-a-release-date/)
5. [Zach Braff Biography, TV Guide](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/zach-braff/bio/3030192257/)
6. [Out of his scrubs, Los Angeles Times (2004)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-aug-02-et-taylor2-story.html)
7. [Zach Braff, Apple Snapshot](https://snapshot.apple.com/us/person/6621221730)
8. [Zach Braff interview: Scrubs star on 'pushing 40' and his new film Wish I Was Here, The Independent](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/films/features/zach-braff-interview-scrubs-star-on-new-film-wish-i-was-here-and-pushing-40-9744274.html)
9. [7 fun facts about actor, writer, and director Zach Braff, About Amazon](https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/entertainment/7-fun-facts-about-actor-writer-and-director-zach-braff)
10. ['Scrubs' revival brings back the old goofy gang, but now they're, gulp, in charge, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/395e9e6ccedc62c2880439858574e62f)
11. ['Scrubs' and 'Shifting Gears' Renewed at ABC, Variety Australia](https://au.variety.com/2026/tv/news/scrubs-revival-renewed-abc-shifting-gears-renewed-season-3-36098/)
12. [2021 Emmy Awards Winners Nominees List, cbsnews.com](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/2021-emmy-awards-winners-nominees-list/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 2000s onward › Surnames Bo to Br*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license