How do you manage not to act starstruck when directing people like Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine and Harrison Ford? TopTramp
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That\u2019s where my acting comes in \u2013 I pretend that I don\u2019t know how famous they are. Every actor really wants a leader. They want someone who knows the script really well, has a plan for how the scene is going to be executed, and \u2013 in the case of comedy \u2013 knows how to make it funny. The last thing any of those guys wants is someone coming in starstruck and wide-eyed. So I use my acting skills to pretend I\u2019m not starstruck and treat them like normal people.<\/p>\n
Braff (right) on the set of his 2017 film Going in Style, with Alan Arkin (left) and Morgan Freeman (centre). Photograph: THA\/Alamy<\/p>\n
Your Fake Doctors, Real Friends podcast was a real help through lockdown. You were very emotionally open and personal; it was like catching up with friends. I still think about your line that making it in acting, even if you\u2019re talented and good-looking, is like winning the lottery. Do you think that early 00s Zach Braff<\/a> would make it in the present day the way you did? KamesJ And as far as the podcast, that\u2019s so great to hear. We didn\u2019t plan to start it during Covid, but it became a nice sort of warm hug for people who wanted a little bit of nostalgia. Donald [Faison, who plays Dr Turk] and I loved getting together, making each other laugh and reminiscing. So much so that we\u2019re actually bringing it back.<\/p>\n Ripe for a musical? Garden State, from 2004, with stars Natalie Portman and Zach Braff. Photograph: Miramax\/Sportsphoto\/Allstar<\/p>\n Have you thought about Garden State 2? Haggisneepsnfatties When you agreed to join the cast of BoJack Horseman, how did you feel about your character having such a grisly end? topfoot
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Back then, the broadcast networks were making so many pilots, at least it was work for people. Now, I think it\u2019s a much harder landscape to break through. I firmly believe that you can be talented and good-looking, but success is still like winning the lottery. I know plenty of brilliant actors whose lottery ticket hasn\u2019t come up yet. I started auditioning at 14 and barely got anything for years, so I\u2019ve always felt very lucky.<\/p>\n
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We did an anniversary concert for the soundtrack last year \u2013 we got most of the bands together and did a charity show for the Midnight Mission in Los Angeles \u2013 and that was really cool. Natalie Portman was there. I had told her that people have come to me about doing a musical of the movie. I love musicals, but I\u2019ve always thought: \u201cI don\u2019t know if that I want to do that.\u201d Then she said: \u201cWhy don\u2019t you do it with the songs from the soundtrack?\u201d It\u2019s funny, because I never thought of that. I haven\u2019t taken any steps to make it a reality, but I do daydream of somehow using the music that people love so much from the soundtrack to make it into a musical.<\/p>\n
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I love the show, so it was so fun to play a cartoonish version of myself, and I just did whatever they said. I never said: \u201cDon\u2019t kill me that way. Don\u2019t have Jessica Biel feast on my carcass,\u201d or whatever the hell it was.<\/p>\n