Over 12 years after Scrubs ended, lead star Zach Braff and creator Bill Lawerence are still collaborating! The pair reunited when Zach, 47, directed the eighth episode of Bill’s upcoming Apple TV+ comedy series Shrinking, starring Jason Segel and Harrison Ford. Zach raved over his experience getting to work with Bill, 54, again, when he stopped to chat with HollywoodLife for an EXCLUSIVE interview at the show’s NYC red carpet premiere presented by The Paley Center for Media on January 24.
“I love working with Bill,” Zach gushed. “I directed the second episode of Ted Lasso and I directed the eighth episode of this show,” he also said. For those that didn’t know, Bill also created Ted Lasso with Jason Sudeikis, Brendan Hunt, and Joe Kelly. They enlisted Zach to direct the infamous “Biscuits” episode from the first season of the Emmy Award-winning series.
Zach had more positive things to say about his years-long relationship with Bill. “We see eye to eye. We get each other’s sensibilities and each other’s sense of humor,” he told us. “We just love collaborating together.”
Shrinking is being compared to Ted Lasso, since it’s another feel-good comedy show on Apple TV+. Plus, Bill actually created the show (which premieres January 27) with none other than Ted Lasso breakout star Brett Goldstein. But Zach’s worked on both shows and he thinks that Shrinking — which explores a therapist grieving the death of his wife — is “darker” than Ted Lasso.
“I think the only thing they have in common is they’re both a mix of humor and they also break your heart,” Zach explained. “You can be laughing one second and crying the next. So that’s where they overlap. But other than that they’re quite different,” he said. “I think this show [Shrinking] is a bit darker at times. It’s very funny, but it does deal head-on, authentically, with grief. So I would say it’s probably a bit darker.”
Zach’s career hasn’t slowed down since his days starring as J.D. on Scrubs. The Emmy nominee created, wrote, and produced the upcoming comedy-drama film A Good Person. The movie, out March 24, stars Zach’s ex-girlfriend Florence Pugh as a woman named Allison, who forms an unexpected relationship with her would-be father-in-law following a fatal accident.
“It’s really good,” Zach said about the project, which also stars Morgan Freeman and Molly Shannon. “It too is a mix of comedy and drama,” he added. “I hope people like it.”