Zach Braff was born and raised in South Orange, New Jersey, to Anne Hutchinson . He just completed directing the New Line/ Warner Bros. feature "Going In Style" starring Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine and Alan Arkin.
Attended the same high school and graduated the same year as R&B singer and hip-hop MC Lauryn Hill.
Member of Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity at Northwestern.
He has gained praise at film festivals for his directorial debut, Garden State .
Attended the same high school as Elisabeth Shue and Andrew Shue. In fact, he grew up around the corner from the Shue family.
Brother, novelist Josh Braff, wrote "The Unthinkable Thoughts of Jacob Green."
Father is an attorney, who also does stage work.
Also attending Columbia High School at the same time was Ahmed Best , better known as the voice of Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace s Jar Jar Binks.
Is best friends in real life with "Scrubs" co-star Donald Faison , who plays Turk.
The youngest of four children: Adam J. Braff , Joshua Braff (wife, Jill; children, Henry and Ella), and Shoshanna Braff.
Middle brother, Joshua Braff, and oldest brother, Adam J. Braff have collaborated on screenplays for TV. Sister works in fine dining in a major hotel.
Parents are divorced, each is remarried, and all get along with one another. Zachs "four parents" are all at Thanksgiving dinner together every year, with the four children, and the grandchildren.
Won a Grammy in February of 2005 for "Best Compilation Soundtrack For A Motion Picture" for Garden State , on which he served as the compilation producer.
According to an article in The Chicago Sun-Times, when Braff won his Best First Feature Independent Spirit Award for Garden State , his father jumped up from a back table in the room and yelled, "Thats my kid!".
Attended the same high school as producer Joel Silver ( Road House , Die Hard and Lethal Weapon ) and drummer Max Weinberg (E Street Band, "Late Night with Conan OBrien" ).
Auditioned for the role of Drue Valentine on "Dawsons Creek" , which eventually went to Mark Matkevich.
Per his request that she contribute a song to the soundtrack of Garden State , his ex-girlfriend Bonnie Somerville recorded the song "Winding Road" for the film.
Graduated from Northwestern University with a B.A. in film
Named among Fade In Magazines "100 People in Hollywood You Need to Know" in 2005.
Is a die-hard fan of the show "Lost" .
Mandy Moore accompanied him to the Golden Globes in 2006.
Zachs father, Harold Irwin "Hal" Braff, is of Ashkenazi Jewish descent (from a family from Austria and Russia). Zachs mother, born Anne Hutchinson Maynard, is from a family of English, Irish, and Scottish ancestry (Anne converted to Judaism). Through his mothers line, Zach is a ninth cousin of politician Mitt Romney. Zach and Mitt are both descendants of Francis Nurse (c. 1619-1695), and of his wife, Rebecca Nurse (1621-1692), a woman who was hanged in the Salem, Massachusetts, witch trials, after being falsely accused of practicing witchcraft.
On "Scrubs" , Braffs character is often called by various girls names. Ironically, his first TV role was in an after school special called "CBS Schoolbreak Special" (Episode: My Summer as a Girl), in which he poses as a girl to get a summer job.
Directed the music video "Chariot" for singer Gavin DeGraw. Zach Braffs real-life friend and "Scrubs" cast mate, Donald Faison , also made a cameo in the video.
His right leg is an eighth of an inch longer than his left, which led to a herniated disk in late 2006.
Some of the events in Garden State (which Braff wrote and directed) are quirky, exaggerated derivatives of occurrences in his real life.
The actor has cut a one-year deal with "Scrubs" producer ABC TV Studio that will pay him about $350,000 per episode for the 2007-2008 season.
His alma mater, Columbia High School, is in a town (Maplewood, NJ) adjacent to (and is a de facto rival of) Millburn, where Zachs "Scrubs" co-star John C. McGinley grew up and attended high school. Actress Anne Hathaway also attended Millburn High.
When he sent the script for Garden State to people, he would also send them a copy of the songs (which he handpicked) that would eventually be the soundtrack. This was in the order in which they appeared.
Close friend with "Scrubs" co-star Sarah Chalke.
Went to film school with Janae Bakken ; they now work together on "Scrubs" .
Had a small uncredited cameo as a worker in the homeless shelter in The Pursuit of Happyness . That film was directed by Gabriele Muccino , who worked with Zach on The Last Kiss .
Stepbrother of New York stand-up comedienne Jessica Kirson.
In 2012 he became the spokesman for Pur Water Filters.
(April 2005) Playing J.D. in NBCs hit comedy show, "Scrubs" .
Godfather of Donald Faison s son Rocco.
Good friends with James Franco. James younger brother, Dave Franco , starred as one of the new interns in the final season of Braffs show, "Scrubs" .
Zach had his Bar Mitzvah ceremony in a Conservative synagogue.
Is frequently mistaken for Dax Shepard.
Everyone has an idea that they think would be a great movie. Everyone,has a cousin who they think you should work with. Everyone has a warped,vision of Hollywood and what success in Hollywood is like. That you,love cocaine and that you spend every night in orgies with models. If,only it were true.
I was kosher until I had my Bar Mitzvah, and I parlayed officially,becoming a man into telling my father I wanted to eat cheeseburgers.
I think - not to push this on anyone - that this is the life we have.
