Zach Braff • Films To Be Buried With with Brett Goldstein #208

sense to me. Every week I invite a special guest over. I tell them they've died. Then I get them to discuss their life through the films that meant the most of them. Previous guests include Kevin Smith, Barry Jenkins, Sharon Stone, and even Zed Campbell's. But this week it is the brilliant actor, writer, director, producer and podcaster mister Zach Braff. Head over to the Patreon at patron dot com forward slash Brett Goldstein, where you're getting extra twenty minutes of

chat with Zach. We laugh a lot, We talk about beginnings and endings. He tells me a secret. You get the whole episode uncut and ad free and as a video. Check it out over at patreon dot com. Forward slash Brett Gostein so Zach Braff, Come on now. Zach Braff was the star of Scrubs who went on to become a filmmaker in his own right. He's made some excellent films. I met him when he directed episode two of season one of ted Lasso, for which he was nominated for

an Emmy. We stayed in touch. He really looked after me when I was in LA He's a lovely man. He's a brilliant podcaster in his own right, and I was very grateful for his time. We had a really lovely chat, and I think you're gonna love this one. So that is it for now. I very much hope you enjoy episode two hundred and eight of Films to be Buried With. Hello, and welcome to Films to be

Buried With. It is I Brett Golstein, and I'm joined today by an actor, a right, a producer, a comedian, a director, a kickstarter, a doctor, a podcaster, a real friend and a fake doctor and a hero to the world. Please welcome to this show. It's the one and only Can you believe it's here. I certainly can't. I can't believe it it's him. Yes, that's right here he is is Zach Rath. Wow, thank you. That's the nicest introduction I've ever been given in my whole life. Well, I'm

glad to do it. I really like you. I genuinely love you as a human being, and I'm so honored to be on your fancy podcast. Well that is a very very nice thing to say up top, And I love you too, and I'm very grateful that you're doing this. So tell me this. What do I want to know? I want to know so much about you for the podcast obviously. I mean, you're doing this podcast that is brilliant and it's sort of has this change your life? This podcast thing in a weird way. It's I love it,

you know. We started during Quarantine and Donald Phayz on my costar on Scrubs. The show is called Fake Doctors, Real Friends, and it was a way to just initially we were gonna do it before the pandemic. We were gonna do it in a studio, and then when we lockdown happened, we started doing it like we're doing now over zoom. But professionally recording it so it sounded good and it became one of my one of the things that saved me during the during the horrible lockdown, and

it was just a conversation. Every week we watch episodes the whole series of Scrubs, and then we talk about each episode. Each episode is looking back so many years fifteen twenty years back and going through the show as best friends who have the same sense of humor, and we don't remember this, it's so long ago. So we're watching a show that that is our sense of humor, and Bill Lawrence is obviously who you know well, and we're just cracking up at stuff we don't remember doing,

but it's us. It's very surreal, and it was it was better than therapy because it was laughing with my best body, you know, once or twice a week, and it was it really saved me. You know. I think that you were a big inspiration. I remember thinking because when I really really loved Scrubs, I loved Scrubs and you were brilliant at it. And when you went off and made Gardens Day and you were like twelve years old,

I don't know, twenty five. I think twenty five and I just remember being like, yeah, fucking right, like and what I wonder about that? If you remember, it's also like it's such a confident film, Like it's a really you know what I want to know it is, do you have you always had a strong confidence in what you do and everything? Because to be that young and girl, I'm going to write and direct this film and starring

in and do it very very well. Were you full of anxiety doing that or was it like no, I was. I was, of course, because I've always believed in the thing I feel most confident is something that I've actually managed to get on the page and I wrote it and I believe in it and it's mine and it came out of my brain and some people may love it, some people I hate it. But it's certainly the story I had to tell at the moment. It's what came out of me. Yeah, and um, I feel confidence in again.

It could be polarizing, but but but it is. It's it's my it's true for me. It's what's true for me. I was lucky enough to have Bonnever write a song for my movie Wish I Was here, and Justin wrote this incredible song after seeing the movie, stood up and wrote a song and and and the song was incredible, but it wasn't quite right for the moment that I had asked. And I had the audacity to tell him, this is brilliant, but it doesn't really kind of fit the moment we were talking about. And he goes, I

don't know what to tell you. That's I watched your movie and that's what came out of me. And I went back and went, oh, wow, well, now i'm gonna it's I'm gonna use it. I'm gonna use it in a different spot because it was because it was fucking brilliant. But that always is stuck with me, what he said, because I think he's a genius. So I I've always thought, well that that's that's the film that came out, that's what came out of me. So um, and I have a new one that I've made and again for better

for worse, hopefully people will love it. But it's it is, It's what came out of me at forty seven years old, during after a lot of a string of grief, of some people dying and the pandemic and all of it. It's what my brain had to say in twenty twenty two. I mean, all of that makes perfect says to me.

I guess what I'm like curious is the reality of making a thing like you're twenty five and having a crew and yeah, a movie star and you know all these yeah, like and it's quite a big there's quite a big cast in the way, there's lots of sea, there's some big stuff. Yeah, it was big. And we shot it in twenty five days for two and a half million dollars um, which, for those of you don't know, is it is a lot to do with very little money. But yeah, I don't know, man, I just everyone had

passed on it. I mean, it's uh, you know what happened was nobody wanted to make it, even after Natalie had said, yes, nobody wanted to make it. I think he thought, you know, it's it's There's a a term they used in Hollywood called execution dependent, meaning like this is interesting, but it could go so many ways. This

guy's never made anything. I mean, it did go to film school, but they weren't gonna watched my film school shorts, you know, so anyway, they called an execution dependent, meaning like we have this could go anyway and then um, a few people believed in me, one of whom is Pam Abdy, who's always been a huge champion of mine. Um. In fact, she was an executive at MGM, and she's the one who just uh you know, bought my latest film,

which is called That Person. And then actually, yeah, so so she's been one of my biggest supporters of my entire career, and she now just became the president of Warner Brothers, which is exciting for her because she's incredible and really cool and been and just been along with Bill Lawrence. Um has been one of my biggest champions in my whole life. But sorry, I digress. A lot

of people had passed. And what happened was a guy, a wealthy guy named Gary Gilbert, who he and his brother created the mortgage company that would become quick in Loans. He wanted to get into Dan Gilbert is a famous owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers and a famous businessman here. Anyway, Gary, his brother wanted to get into film production. And there was one company that was dangling a carrot a bit like we might we might pay for it if X,

Y and Z happens. We want to we want to get an equity partner to split the cost, and at the time, the budget was around six million dollars. And Gary came to his first Hollywood meeting as a very successful businessman and sat and listened to this company, you know this this they call him many majors at the time. You know, I'm not going to name the company, but the company was saying like, yeah, we want to split

this with you. Here's the deal. And in the parking lot, he said, that is the most ludicrous because I don't know anything about Hollywood, but this is the dumbest deal in the world. Why would you ever do this? Why would I ever do this? He goes, they recoup first, but you don't recoup and I recoup and it's like not fair to anyone but them. He goes, is there any looks I don't know any about Hollywood, Is there any whe you could make this for half of that,

because if so, I'll just pay for it myself. And we were like, give us a second, and we huddled up and we figured out how to make it for two and a half million dollars and he paid for it himself out of his own pocket and um, and it went on to be at Sundance and have a big sale and then and then became what it became. Yeah, that's incredible. It was very successful, wasn't it. I mean, what about can I ask you this? Because you were

twenty four when you got Scrubs? Is that right? Yeah? Ish, I think I'm bad with I'm bad with dates twenty four, twenty five and maybe Garden State. I was twenty six. I forgot, I forgot. I forgot. It was I got Scrubs in two thousand, which was twenty two years ago that I'm good at. That's easy math. How did you cope with fame at that age in the beginning, It's

quite an adjustment. It was mostly positive. Um, you know, I feel for the most part, unless people are drunk, barring drunk people, um, most people are just very kind. Um they come say I love you, I love your work, and this is you know. In the beginning was before a selfieas and stuff like that. So so people would come and say just oh, you know, something nice to you. And even drunk people are meanwhile, they just are drunk. I'm sure you've encountered that. You probably can't walk into

a fucking bar right now. After No, you should definitely not walk around London and go into pubs. But no, it's definitely an adjustment. But I find ninety nine percent of the time people are lovely interesting. And one thing I would say publicly so that people know because the dead it is you directed Ted Lessay episode two season went, Yeah, and you invented part of the style of it because we had this the football pitch where the players trained.

We would tell you're not allowed to put any cameras on the pitch. Nothing can go on the pitch because it would ruin the pitch. Yeah, they're very sacred about the pitch. I know nothing about sports, I should say, which is interesting because when Bill ask me it directs Ted Lasso, I didn't. I didn't know that I'd be right for it, because I mean, I love Jason, I

love Bill, I'll do anything for him. But I was like, off show about football soccer, I don't know, I'm not into sports at all, But then I saw what the show was. And but interestingly enough, episode two is the first one where there's any soccer playing. Yeah, and I get there and the Greensmen are so protective of this pitch that they say, just so you know, you can't

bring any equipment on here. And you know, normally, if it wasn't so giant, you might figure out a way to do a crane or there's a piece of gear called a steadicam, but it's the ball was moving too fast for a steadicam operator to run. I was like, how the hell are we going to shoot this? And so me and your key Grip together and the DP

came up with this rig. We devised this, uh, this this rig that involved mounting the camera on these giant inflatable tires that wouldn't hurt the pitch and it was on a remote head, so the operator was on the on the sidelines, and then the guys the grips would run with football shoes on run with the rig to keep up with you guys, and we we we conceived that it was really cool, cool man, and that's the that's the that's we used it to this day right now.

Well I should be named after the key Grip because he actually built it. But I had a lovely time doing that. I really thought that that show was so much fun. And of course I had no idea that that it would as I'm sure you didn't that it would become the worldwide phenomenon that it became. I remember it's all being very very nervous about your directing it because we were all why because we were all such

fucking cute. It's it's you know, we were huge, huge, huge scraps fans and oh and here you were and we were like, we're good actors because I didn't sense that at all. Oh yeah, everyone was like, fucking here is there were us here. He is fucking out. But you were very very I remember being like, fucking he's charming, straight up, thank you. I had so much fun. You know. It was fun because you guys were so and the cast was incredible everyone. I'm not just saying this to

kiss your ask. Everyone was so um lovely, and Hannah was so lovely and all the all the team members and and uh and Jason was so funny, and I just you know, you know, builds one of my best friends in my life. So there we were back together, sitting in a monitor, laughing together. It was it was. It was my dream. Although I had to adjust to I never shot anything outside North America, so I had to adjust to the differences over there, the main one

being there's no overtime. Yeah, but you are allowed to pick up a cab. But if you see, what all I know is that like you just do ten hours in the UK, you don't go over. And I was like, can we just finish the shot? And it was like a record scratch and then like like someone dropped like a ceramic their ceramic teacup silence. And the first they do was like, we we can. We need to go around and ask every crew member if they're willing to go overtime. I was like, oh really, I didn't know that,

and they did, and they did. They went, they went around and everyone said, yeah, sure, we can work a little bit longer. And I was like, oh wow, this is because here, you know, we worked crazy over ten hours. They just work until you until you did right. Well, no, they used to, by the way, when I used to be a pay on music videos back in the nineties, I would do like I did, like twenty four hour days, which is so unsafe and dangerous, and they've they've actually

curtailed people doing that. Um now now it's limited to I mean, you'd be hard pressed to go over fourteen hours I think these days. But mostly people try and stick to twelve, but because it's just dangerous. People were getting in car accidents and your people are just exhausted. I've forgotten to tell you something, Zack, I forgot. I can tell you. I should have told you earlier. I feel like an idiot. I should have I probably should have opened the bit of this. And now you're gonna

fade about it. I'll just I'll just tell you that you've died. You're dead? Oh fuck? Yeah? Sorry man, how did you feel it? This is real, that that lead up made it real? Did you die? How did you die? I'm front row at the Oscars, and I'm front row at the Oscars because I have obviously been nominated for Best Director and Best Picture of the Year. Okay, even though I'm old interesting you pick those so not not best Actor, best writing? You know, oh' to night and

dangled that. Okay, I'm also for Best Writer. This is my dream, thank you. But no, I don't care about acting. Okay, I mean I like acting, but my I this is my dream. It's my fantasy and it doesn't include acting. Okay, directing, writing, picture front row, I got like the I got like the next. I'm next to Meryl Streep. You know, I got those seats right The Life and Times of Bread Goldstein.

It's a dut okay. And we get to the part of the show where they do the in memorium and um, you know, somebody's singing, probably Billy Porter or something, you know, um, some sad song, and the montages happened, and I have a heart attack right at the top of the memorium, and the people on the other side of me, Meryl Street and you know, Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, you know,

the big megastars. They're doing CPR on me during during the whole memoriam montage, right and by the end, by the end, you know, most people don't really most people don't see. It's just the megastars at the front, Beyonce,

you know, they realize and they're doing CPR me. And then the memorium is sort of wrapping up, you know, getting to the people that people didn't know, like you know, editors and publicists, and Billy's about to hit his last final note and they really that they're not going to resuscitate me, so they all collectively haul me up onto the stage and just hold me up for the audience to see. Yeah, at the end of you know, Brad

Pitt's cutting by the waist. He's holding me up like like they held up Simba in Lion King and uh and I'm just sort of like the the final moment of the memorium. That's a really food that you'd be a base how often it comes up? Has anyone said it that way before? No, that's really funny. I really like it. My question is, listen, I was just thinking that. I was thinking, well, surely that stops the oscars. But then I'm thinking about what happened at the oscars last year.

I'm like that, yeah, no, and they don't stop. They don't stop raining. I think I get a standing Oh you get a standing out, just like Will Smith. They sweet you up the stage and then they carry out. Oh yeah, they don't stop the oscars. That'd be a bit of a vibe in the room, like something happened. The room will be tense, Yeah, bit tense. Mary Street would wipe a little too. You'd be like, she's very good. But then they go back to it. Once I once

heard this thing, it's like a psychologist told me. Therapist told me, he said, you know, when you die, people will be very, very sad. They'll go to your funeral and they're gonna sob and they're gonna hug each other and they're gonna be so upset, and then they're gonna go eat lunch. I think about it a lot too.

It's just the ultimate. It's the ultimate carpet dium. It's like they're literally I've had a lot of death in my life from loved LUNs and friends in the last couple of years, and it's so fucking tragic and true. Not to say you don't think about the person I lost my father, but I think about them all the time. But it's just shocking how quickly life life goes back on. Yeah,

it will fuck you up. You'll get yourself crying on the treadmill because you're like, oh my god, I'm back on the treadmill and my friend died, you know what I mean? I do know what you mean. I remember seeing it that I won't name them, but there's a TV writer here in England who had done a load of amazing stuff and they died and someone wrote like a very beautiful sort of a bittery about them in their career. And I remember reading that and then going

yeah and then that's it, do you know what I mean? Like, that's it. It's that a bittery and then everyone, yeah, move on and you're like, oh Jesus was what do you worry about death? For yourself? I don't worry about it, but I think it drives me to seize the day and to do as much as I possibly can, and to be grateful and to get up and keep going. When you when you have the expression that you know English, keep calm and carry on, it's like that to keep

to all together and keep going. Because I don't really, I don't believe in an afterlife, so I just think, like, no, I think this is it. I mean, I hope I'm invited if I'm wrong, but I don't. It's not something I believe in. So well you if you're there before me. I'm older than you, so i'll make it there before you. But um, i'll make it nice and cozy for you. I would love it if there to be, of course, but I don't. It's not something I my science brain

can make sense of. So I just say, um, you know, see's the day, do it now or never? So you have you have no Sorry if this is a dark question, I know, isn't it. I heard the Judd Apato one and he was so funny. Am I being too dark for this? No? No, you're being brilliant at one point. If I can ask you this, I think so with Oh god, this is such a dark question. If this is too much, please say all right, I'll say pass. Yeah. With the people that you've lost, and I'm very sorry

for that. So you you don't feel there's any connection to them now, as in they're they're gone, that's done. Is that how you feel? I do. I do feel connection to them, and I will talk to them, but um for comfort, particularly my father, but um, and I think about them all the time. But I don't. I don't, I don't, I don't. I can't be honest with you and say I rationally think that they're in the sky, or or that their spirits or their energies around me.

It's so comforting to think about. I think that's that's that really comforts you, like like a teddy bear comforts a child. But I don't think that it's actually there. I think it's an ideology that's there for comfort. Well pretty big, Yeah, yeah, you're wrong, kid out, you're wrong. I'm sorry. I'm gonna fuck up the whole show if I'm not alive to talk about the movies. No, no, no, there's a heaven, big out heaven, right, and it's filled

with your favorite thing. What's your favorite thing? My favorite thing is probably my dog right there, Billy, Okay, my dogs. My dog's not there though, because well you know, she's there. She's there because her name is Billy, and she's there because this is so in the future and I've outlived her because dogs sadly have a shorter life than we do. And so she's there. She's there to well me looking

my face, Okay, well, there you go. She's there. Also, she's been cloned, and there's a million of her there. I could love you a lot. She's a lot. Yeah, that's a lot. That's a lot of dogs. But everyone's very excited to see you. Dogs everywhere all the same one, very excited to see you. And everyone is a huge fan. They want to know about your life, but they want to know about your life through film and the first beautiful what a beautiful What a beautiful concept for a podcast.

Thank you for inviting me. Well, the first thing that they want to know is what's the first film you remember seeing, Zach. I've thought about this a lot, and I think the first memory I have is For Your Eyes Only, which I which I would have been five, really in the movie Theater, and it's an odd movie to take a five year old too, but I did them. I recently read that it came out in nineteen eighty, which and if I saw that theater would make me five. Wow.

Who did you see that with? Do you remember? I know not my parents. I didn't. I think a baby. Well, I don't know that they would have approved. Not that For your Eyes Only is too are There's some sexual scenes. I remember there being like an ice skater who's trying to lure Roger Moore to bed. And I remember, even at a very young thinking that that was very interesting. I can't put the map together. My answer was right

away it must have been for your Eyes Only? But that makes me five or maybe I was six, I don't know, but it was for your Eyes Only? Where was this? Where did you grow up? I grew up in New Jersey, Garden State. Okay, so English people might not know, but each state here has a nickname, a sort of slogan or whatever. You want to call it, and New Jersey's is the garden State, and that's why

that's why I name the movie Gardening. So I grew up in North Jersey, about forty five minutes outside of Manhattan, which was great because we would not only Actually I just led me to another answer. That's funny is I think the first independent movie I ever saw was The Gods Must Be Crazy Because have you seen that movie. That's the one where the kite can and the pistre is the woman from a plane. Yes, you got to see it. I don't know if it holds up, but

it was. It was amazing because at the time. At the time, there weren't independent movies quote unquote, but we we lived so close to Manhattan and my father would would take us into the stay to see theater so much. And then word had spread I guess to New Jersey that there was the South African movie that was only playing in Manhattan that you had to see. It was the movie to see, and so we drove. We drove in and so I don't know what year, whatever a year that made it to art houses in Manhattan. I

saw that. Wow. My dad was always taking me to movies beyond my years. I mean, he was so into movies and he would just bring me. We would I would suffer through, like something was so over my head like Gandhi or or or or you know, or just something that a kid could not possibly understand or was too fucked up for them to see. Not not sexually or or or even I guess I should say not sexually. I just remember like he took me to a reconcilable No,

not a reconcilable difference. He did take me to Reckon. My parents went through a divorce, and he took me to a reconcilable differences, which was about a divorce. It was so upsetting. Yeah, he took me in terms of endearment, which is which is probably one of the saddest movies I've ever seen. And I couldn't stop crying. I was sobbing, and he felt like he broke me. He was like,

why can't you stop crying? And I was like, because he think I think my mom loses it and then you say goodbye to there she says goodbye to her kids. And I was just sobbing for hours. It so fucked me up. It was so he meant well, I guess, but I mean obviously didn't mean to cause me any harm, but it was psychologically harmful to show a child. Yeah, well, I haven't talked about this in the podcast for a very long time, but like, that's how I felt about eight.

I felt it was abusive. Taking me to et et made me cry so much that I was like, Yeah, why have you brought me to this? Why? Why would you do this to me? Yeah? Why you? Why do you want to hurt me? I have another young memory of my mom taking me to Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom with my stepfather. They had gotten divorced. I was I must have been maybe eight. I forgot I don't, I don't know roughly, and that movie I

was not appropriate for any year old. I think my friend Carrie Brothers, who's a massive movie IMDb Living IMDb, said that that's the movie they created the PG thirteen rating for in the United States because pants were bringing their kids and it was so realistic when he pulls in and pulls the heart out and I my mom must have looked over at me and such shock, and my face must have registered such terror that she was like, do you want to go to the lobby and play

video games. And I just like furiously started nodding, and we left my stepfather there to finish the movie and we went to play video games in the lobby. I was out. I was out second that a heart came out, not for me, get it. What's the film that made you cry the most terms of endearment as a child, Definitely, I think of a color purple. I cried a lot when the two sisters are being separated. I remember that really really fucking me up. And it's always been a

point of return to me. When I think about what gets me the most in a theater, it's it's love that cannot be whether it's romantic or familial. Two people that love each other that cannot be together, pulling them apart. Um field of dreams. When the father comes out to play have a catch with his son, and then they has to say goodbye. I mean that kind of thing, you know, the mother saying goodbye to her children, Deborah

Winger saying goodbye to her children. Termine different. That's just the eye of the storm for what fucked me up. And then as an adult in a romantic way, the one that came our mind was Blue is the Warmest Color um, which is which you know? That movie? Yeah, unbelievable movie. I mean it was. I feel like it was sort of sold as like, oh, we have this epic sex scene, and I guess that's how they chose to market it. And I remember seeing it being like,

the movie didn't need that sex scene. This movie is you didn't? Why did you you? Almost? I mean, god, I'm not going to criticize the filmmaker because he is a genius and it's a brilliant film, but I was almost like why that was almost felt egregious because this movie is so brilliant and heartbreaking and anyway, they're there again, two lovers who can't be together but should be and can't be. And that's that's that's what always gets me. Are you always seemed at available? Man? Yeah? I would

definitely wearing my heart on my sleeve. Have you always been that way? Yeah? Yeah? I was a very emotional kid. A friend of mine just told me in a term I hadn't heard before, called an HSP a highly sensitive person. Have you ever heard that? Explain? Only in America? Do we have diagnosis like these you guys laugh at us. No, But it's like a diagnosis. And I was like, oh, I just thought everyone was like that. He's like, no, no, there's people that aren't as sensitive as people like you

and me. And I was like, oh, then I'm I'm in the HSP. Oh No, I was a very sensitive kid, very sensitive. I'm in SAG. I'm indeed the DGA. I'm in HSP. What about being scared? Do you like being scared? What's the film that? No? I hate horror movies. I never got into horror movies. I never was into them. We had two SP I'm two HSP highly sensitive person, I'm two ages. Because of that. I do remember liking one though, even though it scared me. And this is

what my answer was. Exorcist three. Well, no, I won't spoil it. I don't even remember. I just remember it being a horror movie that I was just forced to watch, you know, probably as in my twenties or teen years, and I remember thinking, man, I hate this. I hate being scared, I hate jump scaries, I hate there's a thing around the corner. But wow, this movie is sort

of bizarrely good. There was some I don't know, if you're into horror, I'm sure you've probably seen it, but anyone who's in the horror listening, uh, check it out. Because I remember thinking, I'm someone who doesn't like horror, but why is this movie also kind of brilliant? No? I don't want I don't I don't like being scared. I don't like interesting that harbor. I don't like that feeling if there's something around the corner. Yeah, I love it.

I love it? You do? Yeah? You love horror? Yeah? Yeah, I'm friends with Eli Roth. You know that filmmaker Eli Roth. Yeah, he's like them. He's that's like his thing. He's the master of that, and he's so knowledgeable. Here's a whole show about exploring the world of horror cinema. Um, yeah, it's never never my thing? What about? What is the film that you love? People don't like it, it's not critically well received, but you love it. You don't give

a shit what anyone tells you about. I don't know if this counts right, but I do feel it's a polarizing movie going and it's a recent movie. But I loved it so much, and I feel like some people fucking hated it, La la land. I love it, But yes, I love it, And it might be because I love musicals and I love em A Stone and I love Ryan Gosling, and I just thought the filmmaking was beautiful, and I it's, of course it's about a world that I'm in auditioning and directing and making movies. But I

just thought it was a masterpiece. And I know that there's people that abhor it and people that won't even watch a musical, but that's a movie that really really blew me away. Are that Emma Stone's performance in that movie, She's amazing in particular. I just think she's she's she's brilliant. I love the ending. The ending is what makes it. I love the ending. I love the ending, and I love an ending like that where you know it's funny.

My father was alive and he loved it. He'd loved musicals and he would he would love to talk about the end of that movie. He was like, you, so, do you think it's that is that earlier? Is that her fantasy? Or is that a prem sort of a premonition that they're going to get back together? And I have great fond memories of my father being alive, wanting to wanting to debate the movie, and actually Donald Phaze

on It's Funny, my co star on Scrubs. He almost almost ninety nine percent of what he consumes is Marvel and Star Wars movies. But he also does love musicals, and that's a movie he loved. And there was the time back in the day where he would go on Twitter. He would he would be flying a lot, you know, for work or whatever, and he would back when we were both on Twitter a lot. Now we're both not anymore,

but he would he would drunk. I always knew he was on I always knew the plane because he'd watched La La Land and like drunk tweet about it. He's like, there's no reason he couldn't have come to Paris. Yeah, and why he puts so much in there? Why didn't she in find There's plenty of jazz clubs in Paris. And I'm like, oh god, Donald's drunk tweeting about Lala

Land on a plane. But I mean he would just get on the plane and play La La over and over again and get drunk and then like scream about why the movie was had fucked him up so much? It is I mean, again, I'm sure I tooked about it. But that the end of land before the end end, which I love. But what do you make of it? She she sort of guys, I've got a job in Paris, and he goes, well, obviously we can't be together anymore.

You're like, yeah, that that that that that that needed to be so for you for it to have brilliant ending that it had, would that would? I love that dream sequence. I just thought it was inspired and it was a way for you, for the filmmaker to give the audience both endings. You know. Was as a filmmaker, it's so hard to end a movie, and anyone who's paying for it or or testing it needs the audience

to be gratified. At whatever budget point you're at, they're going to test it and they're gonna be an audience who says they love the ending or I hate the ending, and that filmmaker found a way to give you both. It was like, here's the super happy ending and here's the sad ending, and you get to decide if you want. It's up for interpretation which one you get, you know what I mean? I thought that was like a way

to have your cake and eat it too. That's like what David Lynch and Mark frusted with twin Pakes to return if she watched it. I didn't watch that. No, incredible, you would like it. It's scary. Hey, we pause for one second while I pee. Yeah, well, I know, I pee pee quick. Don't worry. Okay, this is so much fun. I'm having such a good time. I just like talking to you. I wish that we had an appointment to weekly zoom. Let's say that I think I pee quick.

The Zach rep Story is a pretty good title. Feel men, West, I'd be Quick, Zach. That's my autobiography. Time, I'd be Quick, I'd be Quick. The Daries of an HSP. I'd be Quick, Life and Times of an HSP. D GA sag Riddle me this, What is the film that you used to love but you've watched it recently and you've thought, I don't like this anymore and it maybe you've changed, or

the world has chased you might be anything. Um. There are a lot of movies that we grew up on in the eighties that are so now politically incorrect and fucked up and have aspects of them that are that are so wrong. But you know, in the eighties, we didn't see that like Revenge of the Nerds or Weird Science. Yeah, those are those are my like some of my favorite

movies growing up as a kid. Yeah, And and now they have aspects of them that we're like, we don't even we can't even talk about them on on our our podcast because they sometimes come up and we go, you know what, we can't even talk about this fucking movie. It's so it has things in it that are you know, wrong, And uh, I'll take a funny story though about Revenge of the Nerns. I remember a babysitter brought me um

that I had a crush on. It was a very young child, but I was old enough to have a crush on a probably shouldn't have been seen this movie. It was definitely are and I was too young to probably be seeing it. But but a babysitter that I had a crush on brought me. And it's got lots of nudity and sex and and um, I was clearly sort of maybe you know, turned on even as a as a young boy. He started you would you would

primed young, I guess, I don't know. But anyway, so after the movie, we go into the sea, you know, drug store or something um pharmacy, you know, a supermarket kind of plays because my sister with my sister too, and she wants to buy makeup or something, you know, the babysitters taking us into the to a to a big market. And I remember thinking I need to impress my babysitter by wanting something that only an adult, like

a grown up would want. And then so I wandered into the hardware aisle, and uh, and I found these batteries. They were, you know, like the bat like a big battery, like like this big, like you like in the old days he used like on a lantern. And uh, I didn't even I didn't even probably know that at the time. It was just a big battery. And she came, she was, what are you doing in this aisle? What are you? What are you doing? And I remember, like, see this,

she goes, the big battery. Yeah, I want this for my birthday. Very sweet. Yeah, they meet this battery just so you know, if anyone asks for a birthday and revenge of the nurse, I'll never forget as long as it made me. It made me I have the audacity to think that choosing a giant battery in a supermarket would somehow make my babysitter go, Wow, this is a very adult young man. I wish I could date him. I wish I could date him. Did it work? No? No, I did not work. I never dated my babysitter. You

never had anything that would actually fit that battery. No, But isn't that that's a memory. I will always have Revenge of the Nerds. So anyway, my answer is, you know eighties comedies that are they have really on a really sort of in hindsight fucked up shit in them. But I was raised on them and and and loved them. Why I didn't it? Sixteen Candles is another one that falls into that. Yeah, that was riddled with programs. What

is the film that means the most to you? Not necessarily the film itself is good, but because the experience you had around seeing it always makes it special to This is a very special movie to me, and it is a great movie, but it's special to me as Beverly Hills cop Um. It was the first our movie that my father brought me to as like father's son, We're gonna go see an R rated movie. And I love Eddie Murphy, always loved Eddie Murphy. Eddie Murphy's one of the reasons I wanted to be a funny person

with my life. I just think he's a genius. And I and Beverly Hills. Cop was the first rated movie my father took me to. And we were late. My father was chronically late, and I was always so pissed and it was a big annoying problem in my life that he just could not be on time. And we came to the movie probably fifteen minutes late, but we saw it and we both laughed together, and it was so you know, we were laughing at at jokes that were very adult and and there was a strip club scene.

But he was he was he was sort of saying, like, your old enough son to go to an R rated movie. My dad and and I loved it, and he said, you know what, and the movies over, the credits are rolling. He goes, why don't we stay and watch the first fifteen minutes? And so the credits roll, the audience leaves, new audience comes in. We wait there the whole time, and then we watched the first fifteen minutes and when it got to the part that we had already seen,

me left. Um, So that's a really fond memory I have with my father. That's really really nice. It's been a touchstone in my life because it was an ultimate example of UM doing a comedy where where the stakes and everything's played straight, but but interspersed. It's Eddie's very being very broad, I mean incredibly broad at times. Yeah. Forty Trading Places is another similar thing. It's like everything

is everyone else is playing it straight. And in Beverly Hill's Cop, the bad guys are genuinely bad guys and the stakes are played real, but Eddie's it gives Eddie the freedom to be as broad as he got and even looked down the barrel of the lens and look at the audience at one point. He does that in both Trading Places and The Hills Cop. He breaks the fourth wall and looks at the audience like are you watching this ship? And so I know, I just think it's a good It's always a good touchstone for for

action comedy, for UM. You know, I love to do UM. You know what Bill's style is obviously on Ted Last and Scrubs, and I think it's just it's crosses over with my films is to do something that will make you laugh and then hopefully break your heart. You as Roy in the locker room at the at the end of season one is just the ultimate example of that. You just had us laughing and now we've got tears in our eyes. Um and your performance there was so good. I was mad at it and direct that one. God

bless sees that. But anyway, Beverly Hills Copps is a great example of how you can have both. You can you can and in that case its action and stakes and and and drama, but also have broad laughs. What's the films again? Again? A lot of my answers are just from my from growing up. I'm not so far on answering current day or recent movies. But Ferris Spieler's day Off was who I wanted to be. When I saw Matthew Broderick and Ferris Spieler's dy Off, I was like,

He's the coolest person in the world. Also, because I felt like in school, I felt like that I wasn't into sports at all. I was I was. I wasn't quite a theater geek because I was too shy to do plays in school. I would do stuff outside of school, but I was the class clown right And I felt like Ferres was the ultimate example of like the popular kid who all the groups? Like who has nothing to do with sports? Because in my school was it was like if you didn't play a sport, it's like, how

are you gonna make friends? I mean, you know, of course we had you know, the stoners and the all the stereotypes and the goths kids and all that stuff. But and then you know, but but for me, I felt like I was kind of like I want to be Ferres Bueller that I was. I was a class clown who could who could go to different groups? Did you ever take a day off? I did, but I didn't get into all the fun that Ferris got into. You didn't take every pred just stayed home and watch

the prices? Right is the question? I guess I've been nice excited about that? Is everyone listening? What's the sexiest Philmi ever? Stay in sect? Right? Well, I'm just gonna say again from my childhood, this is this is the last movie I shouldn't have seen as a young person. But it was Fast Times at Ridgemond High. Okay, now I hadn't. We didn't have cable in my town. My town when I grew up was was for some reason, they didn't have We didn't have cable like other towns,

so movies you couldn't stumble. We only had the networks, the main networks. You couldn't stumble across an ORATD movie in my house. But while staying over a friend's house, Fast Times at Ridgemont High was on the TV and I had just I mean, it just blew my mind. When I was seeing Phoebe Kates coming out of the pool. Was the sexiest thing I'd ever seen in my life. It's still to this day it might be the most wondrous.

It's really magical. It might just it's still to this day it might be the most sexy thing I've ever seen on film, especially to a teenage boy. I had never seen anything like that. She was so beautiful and it was so sexy, and of course what's happening is so taboo, and I just, um, it blew my mind. I didn't. I didn't know that there were movies like that? What about? What about? There's a subcategory traveling bone is worrying? Why dons? Who framed Roger Rabbit? Oh? Here we go?

I was definitely lit up by by Jessica Rabbit yeah, I mean, did you did you not find her or more mental? I did? I don't know what's coupling about it. I'm like, imbelievable. Well, it's a cartoon I guess that's what's troubling about it. I don't know. I mean, I guess that's you're meant to be You're meant to be turned on by her, meant to be troubled. But I think it was the only time in my life I've been turned on by by a cartoon character. Oh, I

wish I could concur with that. It's a cartoon character. Let's turn you on so many of them, most of them, I know what you're listening, Scar, Scar, most of the Castle Lank, the entire castle line. I just did it for me. What It's objectively the greatest film of all time. It might not be your favorite, but it is the ultimate in cinema. I think it's hard to say not

the Godfather. Um. I think, I know that's probably a common answer, but I think in terms of like, um, the movies I've seen in my life, that it might not be the best film of all time, but in terms of my experience watching cinema, it being the most. Oh, my god, the geniusness of the art mixed with not being so artful that you alienate an audience that you're telling it's a story that makes every single person lean forward. I think Godfather wanted too. Uh sorry, I'll combine them.

Are are sort of the best example of that to me. Still singing in the rain though, is it? It's not that's your singing in the rain. Yeah, it's not singing in the rain though, is it? Well? Do you know do you know that movie with where they the Beatles all the Beatles songs were had never happened in the in the in the Kids Today. Yeah, the funniest line in that movie was when he's singing one of the and it's like some some giant beetles hit and some

some woman goes, it's not fix you? Is it? It's good? It's not fix you? Is it? What is the film you could? Are we going too slow? Am I going too slow? All? Right? Day? Too fast? No? No, no, I'm just enjoying it so much. What is What is the film you could? Or have? What's the most over and over get? Probably Harold and Maud. Oh, great film. I love that movie so much and it's been a

big touchstone for me in my life. I have like I have it, and you know, I have a collection of some foreign movie posters and I must have that in like four languages. I just think it's it's And also the foreign posters for that movie are particularly beautiful. Why is it specially? I mean, I really loved that film, but just for you, why is it special? To um? It really was sort of very formulative for me in

terms of what I wanted to make. I mean, if you look at Garden State, to me, it's very inspired by that movie. Um. Even though it's a different kind of love story, it's um, it's moving, it's funny, it's a love story. It has the most amazing epics Cat Stephen the soundtrack, it's beautifully photographed, and it's unique. There's not another movie like it. And um, and I just thought it was so genius when it was, when it was when I was exposed to it, and it's just

been a special movie from my whole life. I love it. I don't like to be negative exact. I don't know about you, but let's do it quickly. What's the worst filvie I've ever seen? Meatballs too? Did you ever see Meatballs. No, I've never seen mebles Zill meat Bles too. Okay, Meatballs is a Bill Murray movie that's amazing. Horrible title Beatballs

meat Balls is an insult to how good the movie is. Yeah, I think I always confused meat both with Spaceballs, and I thought it was a Spaceballs is a space Bass mel Brooks's Star Wars spoof, Yeah, which I have said. Meatballs is a great kids Bill Murray movie, right, and young Bill Murray like snl age Bill Murray. It's a

great movie, and that it was such a hit. They made a sequel without Bill Murray, and it was the time of ET, where ET was so successful that in meat Balls Too, they didn't have Bill Murray, so they needed a hook, and it takes place at a camp and the hook is that the kids find an alien that looked a lot like ET. So they went from this really epic Bill Murray comedy that had had an

impact on either child and they lost Bill Murray. So they replaced the hook of Bill Murray with the kids stumbling across an alien that was like a knockoff of ET and they have to help him like Mac and may Ma. Yes, yeah, meat Balls Too, You can skip me balls too. But you're teenagers. Young teenagers if they like eighties movies, might like meat Ball's one. He may would always make boys team more. To be honest, comedy, you're a comedian, you're very, very funny. What's the film

that made you laugh the most? Um, anything with any Murphy I mean the early Eddie Murphy Trading Places, Beverly Hills comp I mean any any of the any Murphy hits, but the first one that comes to minus Trading Places, Zach Brad. Yes, sir. Now, the film that you made, The Life and Times of Brett Goldstein, got nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Writer. And you who plays bred Goldstein? Who would you want to play bred

Goldstein in this movie? Denzel? Okay, yeah, he's my favorite actor. I mean too, I love Denzel. Who doesn't love Denzel? That that's that's one of the few topics that isn't polarizing in twenty twenty two. Everybody loves Denzel. I'm sure he'd do a good job. He can do anything. Yeah, he can do anything. He can play he can play an English comedian. So anyway, yeah, you're at the Oscars. He'd be one of the people holding me up. Then we'd probably be seated next to each other, so he'd

be other people. That is the thing. Yeah, you're you're set with Denzel. You're at the front army next to Merrill, Denzel, Brad and someone else. You're set in the front row of the Oscars. Time of your life is so excited.

It's finally happening. And then they do the in memoriam section and Billy Porter comes out and sings this song, of course, very beautifully singing this song, and you start to have a heart attack and you're like tapping merrow sorry, and Denzel bull sides think now I think I'm having You're like it, start flapping like a bird. I think I'm having a heart attack. And they go watch because they're crying, like sorry, Zach, but we're watching the rude.

We're in the front row and I'll be ruined to Billy, I think I'm having a heart attack, and they go, oh God. And then Merril, having studied probably for a part cbr she gets straight. She throws you to the ground and Denzel puts his foot on your neck and

he goes, what are we doing? Mary goes, no, no, he's having your heart attack if you get I'm sorry, I reacted, and she starts giving you CPR and to the tune of the Immemorial song, of course, but well that's probably not fast enough because the memorial song is usually slow and sad. Yeah, which is, oh, that's so you you die because the song was too sad, and you you die. And Denzels put into your he's gone, He's gone, and Billy Porter hits about to hit the

high note. Billy, no, Brad, Denzel merry up like simber, like simber, and they carry you onto the stage to face the the audience. Everyone's so shocked and upset. Oh my god, and we what do we do? And then one more? We've got one more? Yeah, Denzel, guys, one more, one more? Everybody, everybody, Billy hold that note. We've got one more. And then the audience starts chanting one more.

And then everyone's sad and shocked, and then they presenter looks across Brandon, he goes, shrugs and carries you off stage, and then just bring out the next presenter and get on with the woods. It's a little bit of an atmosphere for the next couple of things. You actually win for Best Best Writer, Best Screenplay, And there's like a moment you get announced and Denzel looks at Merrill and he goes, I guess I should do because I play Brandy.

So he goes, he goes off, and he goes, I mean, obviously, well, zachs, should we get him out again? And they two seat fillers carry you, carry you on Weekend of Bernie's Weekend of Bernie's. Yeah, and Denzel just does an impressive of you whilst nod in your head. Thank you very much, thank you, and they take you off again and then you win Best Director. Oh my god. By this point they've they've rigged me to the to the fly of ropes so they can kind of bring me out like

a marionette puppet. Yeah, now you come out like this, now, mate, Now my weekended Bernie's props is able via ropes to accept the award, and Donald fas he's at the side that he's now he can do a very good, impressive view. So he's now doing your voice. Yes, and he's probably crying. I'd like to think he's crying. He's crying. He's doing

my voice but through tears. Yeah, but it seems like you're crying because you're an invest and then it comes the best picture and you don't win it, and what happens is they drop your body from the ceiling and as you land goes that's bullshit anyway. I happen to be there with a coffin because you know, I had a plus one and I've seen the absolute state of this and I'm like, blood, yeah, zag, what have you done?

What have you done? Mate? So I've come out and that everyone as the credits are rolling, you know, it's the credits and there's sort of people waving like it's the end of USNL, but your body is just crumbled under stage, and I'm sort of like, sorry, guysmerol, do you mind because you get to excuse me, Mary, get excuse me anyway, just give me a hamm with this

brand with you get your body. Because of all the contraptions that were stuck on you or all the rigging that have been built, there's more of you than I was expecting. So I'm having to be like, has anyone got any any axes on them? And comes out? It comes out with the axe. He gets to having the shining carries around, so we're chopping up, chopping you up, chopping you up, chopping you up, so that we can get you into the coffin. Are the credits rolling or

is this people being splashed with your blood? But they're just waving, waving like it's yeah and blood of waving anyway, chops you up, put you in the coffin. But the coffin is full, much fuller than I expected with all the extra stuff. There is only enough room in this coffin to slide one DVD into the eye of you for you to take across to the other side. On the other side, it's movie night every night. What film are you taking to show the people of heaven and

your million dogs when it is your movie night? Zach Braff got Beverly Hills Cop. They're delighted. They're absolutely delighted, just because we're gonna laugh. I mean, I can take other things, but everyone in Heaven's gonna want to laugh. And uh, and of course I'll be reunited with my father and we can rewatch it together. And Billy, Yeah, well you've done it. You've bloody dad it. This is ending on a sad note. I'm dead. You've done exactly

what you wanted. Familiar films. You've made it and I want the best And I won the Best Picture for for doing the bread old scene story. Oh no, I didn't win. Didn't want screen screenwriting is kind of the coolest one to win. Yeah, I think you're one of the few people on earth. So who's seen my movie? My new one? My new one? Um is called a good person? And U like Bret. I like Brett in his opinions so much, um that I asked him to watch it. I did watch it, and I found it

incredibly moving and thank you and funny hopefully. Yeah, it's funny, but it is also really sad. But it's scary patriot and people away from watching it. It's it's a very move it's hopefully and that was hilarious. No, no, you know it's it's a it's a it's a drama, but there's comedy. My favorite thing. Like Brett like like like Juno coming into the locker room. I've got tears coming down my face when you say don't come in here, because you know why, I'm Brett. You're really talking about

your heart. Yeah, you get it? When did you did you get your subtext? Yeah? Um? End of March, end of March. Um, oh, actually, you know what, in the United Kingdom it may come out later, but in the in North America, I think we're aiming for March next year and then um, I believe it may come out fall in the UK, but that I'm not positively. I just know that the North American date is end of Mark.

It's very very well directed as well. You're a very good director, and thank You've amazed me that you made that film in like two days or whatever it was twenty five. Thank you either an amazing crew and an amazing cast. And I love cinematographers. I have just so many crushes on their talent, and this particular cinematographer is genius. And he went It was was so fast at which

I needed him to be. He's really fancy, and I was like, oh, I hope his name is Malo Fiori and he's incredible, and I was like, I hope he can go fast because he's made some big ass movies and he did, and it's so so beautiful. It is beautiful, Zach Brab is that anything else you would like people to look out for? Listen to your podcast, perhaps my podcast, just to tune in you don't really. I mean it helps if you've seen Scrubs, but you don't actually really

need to have seen Scrubs. Is just two fellows laughing and hopefully trying to make you laugh. It's called fake doc. There's real friends, and you can get it wherever you get podcasts. We release new ones every Tuesday. I mean a kids movie recently called Cheaper by the Dozen, uh with Gabrielle Union that's on Disney Plus. If you have kids, Uh, it's very fun to watch with an eight year old um because it's you know, aimed at the at young kids.

But it's uh, it's I promise you you as an adult will laugh too because it's it's it's it's got some good, good laughs for the parents in there too. That's a Disney Plus. That's all I have to plug for now. Zach Braff, You're a pleasure and a delight. Thank you for doing this, and I love you and I think you're a great human being. And I'm gonna I'm very honored and I'm going to direct your new show. Are we allowed to talk about your new show? Probably

by the time this comes out. Yeah, Well you better not delay this forever, Like how cute. My talk is, um, UM, I'm going to I'm honored to be directing something that you wrote with Bill Lawrence, um created with Bill Lawrence. And UM, I get the the the honor of directing Harrison Ford, which is pretty crazy. And Jason Segels, I've always thought was so incredibly talented cast a cast you put together. I can't believe it. I'm so happy for you. Thank you. I just wish it meant that you were

in Los Angeles a bit more. Well, i'll see you said, I know that the people of England want you there. You're theres we want to have you. We want to have you sometimes too. You're very kind, what nice man? All right, well, all right man, I will stop the recording. And so that was episode two hundred and eight. Head over to patreon dot com forward slash Brett Golstein for extra twenty minutes of chat, secrets and video is that Go to Apple Podcast give us a five star rating.

But right about the film that means the most to you and why it's a lovely thing to read. My neighbor Marian loves it and it helps with numbers, et cetera. And it is very much a nice thing. Thank you so much to Zach for giving me that time. Go see his film A Good Person when it comes out. Listen to his podcast Fake Doctors, Real Friends with the wonderful Donald phase On. Thank you to Scrubs, Pip and the Distraction Pieces Network. Thanks to Buddy Peace for producing it.

Thanks to ACAS for hosting it. Thanks to Added Richardson for the graphics at least Laden for the photography. Come and join me next week for another incredible, amazing guest. I hope you're all well. Thank you for listening. That is it for now. In the meantime, have a lovely week, and please, now more than ever, be excellent to each other.