Zachary Israel Braff (born April 6, 1975) is an American actor and filmmaker. He portrayed J.D. on the NBC/ABC television series Scrubs (2001–2010), for which he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series in 2005 as well as for three Golden Globe Awards from 2005 to 2007. He starred in The Broken Hearts Club: A Romantic Comedy (2000), The Last Kiss (2006), The Ex (2006), and In Dubious Battle (2016). He has done voice-work for Chicken Little (2005), Oz the Great and Powerful (2013), and the Netflix series BoJack Horseman (2017, 2020).
In 2004, Braff made his directorial debut with Garden State in which he also starred. Additionally, he wrote the screenplay and compiled the soundtrack album. He shot the film in his home state of New Jersey with a budget of $2.5 million. The film made over $35 million at the box office and was praised by critics, leading it to gain a cult following. He won numerous awards for his directing work and also won the Grammy Award for Best Soundtrack Album in 2005. Braff directed his second film, Wish I Was Here (2014), which he partially funded with a Kickstarter campaign.
Braff has appeared on stage, in the dark comedy All New People, in which he starred, and also wrote. It premiered in New York City in 2011 before playing in London's West End. He also played the lead role in a musical adaptation of Woody Allen's Bullets Over Broadway in 2014.
Early life, family and education
Braff was born in South Orange, New Jersey, and grew up there and in neighboring Maplewood. His father, Harold Irwin "Hal" Braff (1934–2018), was a trial attorney, professor and alumnus at Rutgers Law School, a founder of the state's American Inns of Court (AIC) and an elected trustee of the National Inns of Court Foundation. His mother, Anne Brodzinsky (born Anne Hutchinson Maynard), worked as a clinical psychologist. His parents divorced and remarried others during Braff's childhood. Braff's father was born into a Jewish family and Braff's mother, originally a Protestant, converted to Judaism before marrying his father. Braff said that he had a "very strong conservative/orthodox upbringing." He had his bar mitzvah service at Oheb Shalom Congregation. In 2005, he said that he was "not a huge organized religion guy," and in 2013, he said that "the religion (Judaism) doesn't necessarily work for me," although he identifies as Jewish. His older brother is author Joshua Braff. His other brother, Adam Braff, is a writer and producer. His stepsister, Jessica Kirson, is a stand-up comedian.
Braff wanted to be a filmmaker since his early childhood; he has described it as his "life dream." Braff was diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder at age ten. During his childhood, Braff was a friend of future Fugees member Lauryn Hill at Columbia High School in Maplewood.
Braff attended Stagedoor Manor, a performing arts "training center" for youth actors ages 10 to 18. Stagedoor was where Braff met and befriended actor Josh Charles. Braff also knows Stagedoor alums Natalie Portman, Mandy Moore, and Joshua Radin well. Braff studied film studies at Northwestern University's School of Communication and became a brother of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity; he graduated in the class of 1997.
