Broad Ideas with Rachel Bilson & Olivia Allen - Zach Braff on The Scrubs Revival

Episode Date: March 2, 2026

Rachel and Olivia sit down with Zach Braff to talk about growing up in a family who supported therapy, the importance of working on yourself, practical tricks for achieving your goals and dreams, and the highly anticipated Scrubs revival.  Watch the video of this episode here!Like the show? Rate Broad Ideas 5-Stars on Apple Podcasts and SpotifyAdvertise on Broad Ideas via Gumball.fm See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This is a headgum podcast. Hax is back for its fifth and final season, and so is The Hacks podcast. Join the Hacks creators and showrunners, Lucia and Yello, Paul W. Downs, and Jen Statsky as they unpack the Emmy-winning comedy series. On each episode, here's stories from the set, what goes on in the writer's room,

and how these beloved characters close out their final season. Watch Hax streaming exclusively on HBO Max and listen to The Hax podcast, on HBO Max or wherever you get your podcasts. Chicks and tampon strings We'll talk about boys Because people die Hi

Hi Rachel Bilsson You made it I made it You've been asking me to come for a while Thank you I'm so glad it finally worked out He said no for so long Because there's things you won't talk about Well I didn't really to be honest

I'm going to be fully honest I don't really know the show And so I didn't know what the premise was And you know that I love Rachel And you know that I love you and I wanted to hang out with you guys for an hour. But I didn't know, like, I kind of thought maybe it was like delving into your past relationships and shit. And I didn't want to do that.

You were very concerned about that. Well, because I don't want to just sit here like a therapy session and talk about, like, I mean, we can talk about, like, relationships in general. Yeah, we can generalize. I thought you were going to, like, grill me on my past loves or some shit. No. No, but you keep talking about it. So it makes me think you kind of want to get about it. Your engineers are already laughing, so I think we're going to have a good time.

Yes, Kevin's the best. Speaking of therapy sessions, let's go. Okay. She's a therapy session. I am a living therapy session. You grow up with a mom. Yeah. You grew up with a mom?

That is so weird. We all need to go to therapy for that. My mom was a psychiatric nurse and raised four children and then said, I want to go back to school and she got her Ph.D. And became a psychologist. Very, very, very impressive. Four children. getting your PhD. That's insane. Yeah, it's insane. But she was so driven and so smart and

she did it and she became a successful psychologist and my stepfather's a psychologist. My parents divorced when I was eight and then my father remarried a therapist. So I've just been surrounded by my dad was. My dad was a lawyer, but he was very pro-therapy. Oh, why did I think you, okay, he was a lot of therapists. A lot of therapists. And it was, but it was, but. But the good news is it was never frowned upon. Anything you wanted to do speaking to a psychologist, a self-help workshop, like my parents did self-help workshops and like nothing was, there was no taboo at all about talking about feelings or wanting to be proactive in your mental health.

That's outstanding. I was very blessed with that. And does that still show up today? Do you feel like you lean on the things they taught you? Absolutely. And things I did, I did workshops and stuff I think about to this day. As a kid, you did workshops? Um, the, not as a kid, a kid I had a child psychologist that was mostly play therapy. You know, you like, you know, you guys know what that is. And, um, but like when I got at college, they, they had done some workshops that were helpful to them and then I, and they were willing to pay for it. And I was reluctant at first, but I did them. And, and there's things I learned at several of those I think about every day. And I was like 20. I love, I live for a workshop. But doing it that young is impressive. I think my dad, to be.

honest, rest in peace, he's passed away, but he had a bit of a, not a bit, I'm censoring myself. My father had a rage issue. He had a temper. And it was really bad. And it was embarrassing. It would happen in public. And he never drank or anything. It was like, but it was scary and it was traumatic.

And when my parents divorced, he fell in love with my stepmother, who was a therapist. And she said, look, I love you. but this isn't going to work if you don't work on yourself. Right. And what she did with him workshops and retreats and all of the things completely transformed his life. Really? 180 degrees.

And so I think because I was, you know, I was 13 when it began, 13 to 20, I saw such a transformation that I couldn't help but deny, like, wow, this stuff worked for my dad. Maybe it could help me because I was, you know, a bit depressed. and law i mean that's what i wrote garden state about i was i was depressed and lost and anxious and and and so i um i said yes to all the things that they were eventually offering me that's remarkable and you know what's interesting from a psychological standpoint aside from whatever he learned i've seen recently like dr amen are you familiar with i'm i might know the

Okay, he does the brain scans where he can, he's a, oh yeah, yeah, I think I did it. Did you do it? Yeah. Did you learn anything? Sorry. I think we need to do another one. I didn't really learn anything new, but I, but it was interesting. I'm interested in all the things.

Like I really, I'm already changing my fit. I forgot about him. Yes, I know that guy. I did, I'm very, I'm intrigued by it all. Like I'm, I want to, I try lots of things. Yeah. And, and I'm open to try lots of things. Some people are like, well, I'm so into, I was telling Rachel, I'm so into, like,

working on myself. I'm very intrigued by it. And I want to be, I want to get better and better at communication. It's very impressive because I feel like most people aren't, you know, courageous enough to even be open about, even if they're doing it, but being willing to talk about doing it. And you did, do you talk about that? You did the Hoffman? No, we can talk about it.

She's, but did you know she went to spiritual psychology school? I know that, you told me that, yes. Okay, okay. I want to go. I got a lot out of that. You did. It's very intense. I like intense.

But I highly recommend it. It was lovely. Lovely is not the word. It was so transformational. First of all, just go, I guess for people don't know, it's like a week-long retreat and you don't have your phone and you dive deep with a whole bunch of strangers and even just not having your phone. Did that give you anxiety?

It did, but I don't have kids or anything. I'm sure, you know, they have emergency landlines for people. That's what my biggest concern is. There's so many parents there. You have to plan for it and your spouse or whomever is your child care helper has to be there. But there's also like a landline if you need to read. Or if people need to reach you. Of course.

Yeah. They alleviate any concerns about like if people need to reach you if there's an emergency. But other than an emergency, you don't have a phone. You don't even have a book. They don't want. You can't read? No. I love it.

That gives me anxiety. No, but it's good because you kind of got to be in the process, right? It's kind of like a movie. Like I don't want to give spoilers. No, don't do. But I just need to know if I could knit. I think that there and I could. be messing up their thinking.

But I think they're thinking is they don't want you distracting yourself. You can journal. Okay. But they really just want you sitting with yourself. And we're also in our phones nonstop. Yeah. That when you remove the phone and you remove escaping to a book and you remove escaping to TV, it's really kind of trippy.

Even if you weren't doing a workshop, it's trippy enough just sitting there with yourself for a week. You can go on walks. you can journal, but you don't distract yourself with anything. No music. No music. I like it.

I need it. I highly recommend it. I got a lot out of it. I came out of there with some big epiphanies. How long did you go? It feels like a year. I'm really bad with dates. Same.

The only reason I know what happens when is by going to my eye photo and referencing the pictures. Like if you said to me, what did you do two summers ago? I would have no idea. Really? Really? Once I look at the pictures, I go, oh, yeah, that was that summer. But I guess I can run to that. I mean, you don't have a great memory either. I don't have a horrible memory. I like that you're like, really?

I know. I literally like, I don't know what I did yesterday. She's like, I forgot that about myself. I know. It was a very strong, really, from someone with no memory. It's hilarious. Wait, okay. See, I could do this all day with you.

This is her favorite. I could do this for a week with no fun. The other one I got a lot out of for those who can't, just to be. be like a psychological workshop plugger, was the landmark forum. Oh, yeah. That's what I was telling, I asked if you knew what that was. Yeah, of course. That's another really great one.

You can, it's just a weekend. My parents, that was kind of the first thing my dad did. Got it. It's an offshoot of S that used to be S, but for those people who were old enough listening, back in the 17, it's an 80s, est was a really big self-help retreat. And it was intense. And I think it eventually had some backlash because it was like, you know, it was a little bit like a boot camp kind of thing.

people were getting yelled at and shit. I don't know. Don't sue me. But the sort of calmer, um, more, uh, user-friendly version is now called the landmark, is all called landmark. And they have different workshops. And I did a couple. And one that you can do in most cities in the country and all over the world is called the forum and it's a three-day thing. That one you can, you can keep your phone and you, uh, only go Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Uh, and again, just you do a deep dive in a room full of strangers, and I got so much out of it. And so I'm just very open to that stuff. Like, I don't have any taboos in my mind about, like, trying stuff, whether it's, whether

it's a sort of new age workshop or a, or, or. What about like, ayahuasca vibes? I haven't done any of those things, but I'm open to it. I mean, I've read a lot on, on, on, on, on, you know, guided, you know, psilocybin and, and MDMA, I just haven't found the person that I want to do that with. Right. Yeah. I think that stuff scares me.

Also, you're not supposed to be on SSRIs. No, you're not. And I take an SSRI. What's that? Antidepressant. You definitely don't. I had a dear friend take his life recently, and I believe it's because of that. He was on an SSRI.

He was on. And he did ayahuasca. Well, I only know because the person I know who swears by a psilocybin experience guy said that you have to wean off of an SSRI if you're on one. And, you know, I feel so happy in my life right now and things are going really well. And I'm like, why am I weaning off an antidepressant currently when things are feeling right? I don't want to do that. So, and it would take time. And I know that you certainly would feel.

one would certainly feel it. And then I just, I don't want to do that. No. You're like, I like where my brains have. We're good. You know what's so funny in the cycle of happiness and depression is, you know, I find that when I finally feel happy and great, your first instinct is to like, okay, well, what should I start?

Now that I'm so happy, what should I start changing? It's like, grow, just fucking chill. Just enjoy it. You're experiencing a rare moment of joy. It's awkward. What? It's awkward. You're like, yeah, what can I fix?

The human brain is always like, what can I fix? It's its job. That's the brain's job. You got off yours. I did. I was on Zolov for 14 years, and I'm now a year off. And did you take your time to wean down? I took a whole year.

Yeah, it's really important to wean slowly. If you're listening. Don't talk to your doctor. Let me tell you. Talks to your doctor. Stuff kicks back up. And I'm like, wow, that's a wild brain I have, you know, when it's not on an SSRI, like the OCD-ish type loopy-loopy-loopy brain.

Did you have panic attacks? I did have panic attacks. I had really bad anxiety and I had really bad OCD. Yeah, I'm a similar thing. Not in like behavior, just in thinking. Panic attacks? In like 99, 99-ish. I wasn't born yet.

I'm kidding. Sorry. You look like you weren't born yet. Why do you still look 25 years old? It's so unfair. I'm only 5 too. It's because she never drank. Not a drinker, not a drinker, not a smoker.

Not a self-destroar. Right. Well, no alcohol certainly helps. But you look like you're 25 years old. You don't look any different. Thanks. I think you should cut together a picture of her at 25 with her face right now. There's no difference.

Well, we met when I was like 22 or 23. That's young. That's really young. But what were you? Like 30? Maybe. I'm, I think I'm six years old than you. Are you? I think so. What year were you born?

75. Okay, 81, yeah. I did the math fast. That was quick math, guys. Yeah, impressive while being filmed. Wait, why were we talking about that? What was I asking? You wanted to know how old you looked?

No, I didn't. I just. Panic attacks? Oh, you said, 99. Oh, around the 99-2000-ish, I experienced some panic attacks. And if you've ever had one, it's really, your first thought is this can never happen again. And I had it happen for the first time while I was seated in a theater in a play. And I thought I was going to die. I thought I had to go to the hospital miraculously because I've been doing yoga.

I this play was going on and I just sort of switched to slow yoga breathing and I miraculously calm myself down from it but it was terrifying and then I was like I was with I was with my theater it was I think what brought it on is I my theater professor that I loved from Northwestern was in town and I brought him to see a play that I had seen in New York and it was amazing and I thought he would love it and now the L.A. production was happening. I brought him to the LA production and like five minutes in I could tell this was was really bad. It was not a good production. And I had brought him and he was my mentor and here I was saying, oh, here's a yeah. I know me too. I'm like I'm a fan of time. And it's a long play and it was a

homosexuality was a part of it and he's a gay man and I and they weren't doing it well. And I so I felt I felt very, very anxious that I and embarrassed because I because I had told him my mentor, theater teacher that this was great. Yeah. And it wasn't. And it was about gay men. And all of the things were creeping up. And he was doing like things like,

Oh, no. And I'm sweating. And so I could feel my lungs tightened, my adrenaline spike. And it was the first time it happened. And the first time it ever happens before anyone explains to you what it is, you're pretty sure you have to go to the hospital. You think you're dying. Right.

If you've never had it happen, you can't breathe. and you think I'm going to die. And then you start thinking of the ambulance outside and being pulled out of the play and all everyone gathered around and that just gets it worse. Yeah. And somehow I talked myself down by just switching to like,

I had been doing a lot of yoga. So it was the best thing I could have happened because I just switched to yoga breathing. I was like, and I came down about it. And then I thought, okay, God, I don't know what that was. And then it happened a few more times. and then I was like, I got to see someone. And fortunately, I had a friend who was with a psychiatrist,

and she had had a lot of mental health issues, and she said, go see my person. And I sat down with him, and he really changed my life. Wow. That's amazing. My first panic attack was in the theater, too. Really? Really?

What? Movie or play or what? Mine was a movie theater. Well, a play you can't leave. A movie theater, why didn't you just get up and get the fuck out of there? I did. What movie was it? But I was like in sixth grade, it was my first.

boyfriend at the time and I had a panic attack because I was like that I was too scared so I see yeah because it's just scared to be on a date you mean yeah yeah yeah I get it yeah these bring things that makes me sad it does yeah just like thinking of you as like a little girl and being like I want to be here it's it's not something that you can explain of the only way I explain is like I feel like I can't get my spirit back in my body and that's a very scary feeling where you're like I'm not into your caffeine. Like that's the part that would like... Let's stop talking about panic.

I know. Let's talk about acid. I'm like, I'm feeling it creep up. No, but I mean, for people that haven't experienced it, it's, it's, it's, for me, it feels like you can't open your lungs. Yeah. They won't expand. I get it sometimes right before I walk on to do it like a talk show, right?

Like a late night. People take beta blockers. They do. I've never done that either. But all these actors I know, go, why, why are you doing talk? Why are you raw dogging talk shows? Take a beta blocker. We should try it.

People got me in my head about them. Well, we should try it like not going on a talk show and see what it does. Because if I take anything, automatically I'm going to be in a panic attack because I don't know how I'm going to feel. That's the thing. I know. I told you, I took it and it made me feel weird because I was like, where's my anxiety? I can't find it. And that was a weird feeling.

Well, I would say one thing about talk shows is an example is that the adrenaline. You don't want to cancel it. out the adrenaline because part of that is what's going to make you funny is that like you're going out there to perform. And if you're just going out there, chill, like, I don't know if I would come with the same like nervous but hopefully funny energy. Yeah, I think you're doing fine, Zach. Well, no. I think you're doing fine. Did you see me with the puppies? No. Rachel, you have to send it to her. Okay. What is the puppies? I did the BuzzFeed puppy thing where they, they surround you with puppies and they ask you questions. You said, what is this most beautiful moment of your life?

beautiful woman of my life. He's just playing with puppies. I love dogs and they surround you with adoptable puppies and then ask you questions. They're all adoptable? Every single one of them. How did you not come home with 10? Because I've got a lot going on right now and I have a big 80 pound rescue that is good for now. She's a lot.

She's number one. She's so cute. What about the, okay. Go ahead. I have some questions on when you've achieved as much as you've achieved, right? I saw this thing that really bothered me the other day. It wasn't you. Okay, good.

It was, yeah. Jesus, that was quite a segue. No, you bring me joy. And we'll talk about that later. But I saw this thing and she was like, I'm talking to this girl who needs help with her career. And I asked her, what are your talents? And she couldn't quite define them. And she said, so I had this epiphany.

Don't chase your dreams. Chase your talents. And it pissed me off. because there's so many people, especially like you as a young boy, with all of that still to achieve and all the dreams you probably had that you've created now. And for her to sit where she was sitting saying, don't chase your dreams felt dangerous in a sense to me. And my husband is in the health world and he was at this conference. And there was this speaker who's like the head of Harvard or something. I'm going to botch it.

But she said the difference between a healthy person and a sick person is a healthy person has a hundred dreams. A sick person has one. And she said our goal is to get everyone to have a hundred dreams. And I was like, oh, that's fucking amazing. I love that. It's beautiful. Isn't that beautiful? But I look at you and I go, if we eat.

Even just looking at your resume, it's like, you've achieved a lot. What is your relationship to that? And how do you stand now? Having had achieved all of that, what do you still dream for? How do you stand now? I know that's a lot. A lot of my dreams came true early. And I think I didn't necessarily handle that right.

Because what I would say to someone who that happens to is start again and start again with a new set of 100 new dreams. because at like 26, everything I had ever fantasized about happening had happened or was happening. I wanted to make movies and Garden State was a hit. And I wanted to be on a TV show and Scrubs was a hit. And I was winning awards and all these things that were beyond my dreams were happening. And I think one thing that I would give a note to young people was, once you start achieving things, you then have to keep setting the bar higher.

Right. Which I do now at 50, because I really believe in the power of manifesting things. And I'm proof that that can happen by going, okay, well, what's next? What do you next do you want to achieve? What do you want to achieve next? I don't know, but one thing I really do is I really believe in whiteboarding,

writing things out on a whiteboard. Because I have this, feeling that the subconscious brain is so much more aware of things that are going on than what's happening in our conscious mind. And I feel like when I pass a whiteboard, I mean, obviously lots of people journal and stuff, but I feel like if I put a whiteboard with some big goals on it, big and small, every time I pass it, even though I might not acknowledge it, I feel like my subconscious brain is digesting it and saying like, what could you do today to further that goal. And sometimes, you know, it might be making a phone call or sending that email

to that person or whatever it is in line with the goal. You might be doing it without even knowing you're taking a step towards it because it's because your subconscious mind is working on it. I love that. I really am a big proponent. I think you guys are soulmates. Well, the whiteboard is magical. It really is. I, you can buy a whiteboard on Amazon for like. Yeah, I'm like, I need a whiteboard. No, you can buy one for like 20 bucks on Amazon and put it in a place where you're really going to pass it every day. Don't put it in like some back closet. Some place, your bathroom or your office or your front hall or by your door, whatever.

But and be bold. What I do is I write something big and then I put an empty box that's just waiting to be checked. I love that. And they can be huge things or they can be small things. And I'm telling you that like 79% of the time they happen. Zach, this is important because no, it's true. I'm so happy. It's important because the truth of the matter is 90% of our life, right, is lived by our subconscious.

Only 10% of our choices come from our, whatever, our current present moment consciousness. So most of the work is the subconscious. I believe that. I do too. And I think that it's so hard to rewire it if you're not doing it every single day. So I feel like this is a little secret hack where you can get access to it. And some people do this in a journal, which is great as well. For me, it's just the idea that I'm not always going to.

I mean, I saw another thing where you write everything you want to have happen big and small in a journal. And then you read it before bed. and then you read it in the morning when you wake up. That was another technique for this kind of thing I saw. But I just knew I'd be lazy with that. With the whiteboard, it's like, I write it, it's bold, it's got an open box waiting to be checked, and I know that I'm just going to stare. I have no choice but to look at it.

Where do you keep it? In my office, which I'm in every day. Okay. Speaking sure. I also have one. This is also just nerdy, but I found one. people might like this and it's it goes kind of like on your desktop where your keyboard would go and in and you can tuck your keyboard underneath it when you're not using it but you but it's like

it's like the shape of a keyboard but it's a metal whiteboard and so you can also just be like on your keyboard and writing notes or writing things anyway I should have a whiteboard website I know I was gonna say no it's good do you have internal and external goals I don't know what that means Well, like one of my internal goals is to be present on a daily basis, right? Like, I have to work at that. So that's like a goal of mine to be like, or to be grateful. Yes. Those are kind of internal goals.

And then external goals. Just succeeding at the goals. Building an empire. Right. Yeah. Well, I didn't know if you meant like physically like. I didn't know if you meant like going to the gym. Yeah.

No. Yeah. No, no. Yes. I have both I have this practice now where I when I'm falling to sleep I

when I put my head on the pillow after dog snuggles I focus on first all the things that happened that day that were that were good and then I kind of go through the day and make sure to pinpoint all the good things that happened that day

and then I say sort of a list of things I'm grateful for. Like even if it's small, I'm grateful for this bed. I'm grateful to have a roof over my head. I'm grateful to have this dog that I love more than anything. You know, just whatever comes to mind. And I try and have it be the last thing that I'm sort of ruminating on before I go to sleep.

I like that. I had my last therapist or my old therapist would say, when you lay your head on your pillow at night, you think about like, what did she say? The person you were that day. What is it? I don't know. Yeah, whatever.

Anyway, it's like the same kind of thing. Like when you lay your head on your pillow at night, are you happy with, you know, the person you were that day? I think I'm getting it wrong. But it's the same kind of premise. Back when I was a kid and really suffering with OCD, I knew that I was going to lie in bed obsessing about something. So I've kind of figured out early,

and this was just a little kid discovering that I could, pivoted to obsess about things I was excited about, as opposed to things I was worried about. And I used to be involved in the community theater as a little kid, and I loved it. It was my happy place. And so I would just sit there and instead of obsessing about the bully at school or I was afraid of this test or whatever, I would just sit there because I could almost, I could aim the obsession. Yeah. And I would aim the obsession at how excited I was to get to the theater. And, you know, I was into tech theater, you know, like behind the scene stuff. And I was like, oh, cool, we're going to hang the lights tomorrow and I bet that set's going to look so cool. And I would just sit there

and just spin on that and then fall asleep thinking like that. But it was like something I learned at a young age that I could control. That's huge. It is because it's like a, what is it called? Like a fragmented part of yourself, right? And we can't just get rid of those. We have to give them new jobs and you as a kid just intuitively fell into something that they've been trying to teach us in psychology which is you don't discard those parts of yourself give them new jobs yes oh another thing that was really helpful especially if anyone listening has children who are big worriers my mom gave me these things called mexican worry dolls oh yeah oh yeah those are awesome you can put them in your pillar or they or they come in a little container and you assign them worries yeah and they work on the

worries while you're sleeping. Now as a kid, this was as real as the fucking tooth fairy. Sure. So I really, if you got a child out there who's a big worrier, this was so effective for me. And I would give them, I would look at them and be like, all right, you're in charge of this. And I would like, when it was like a big worry, I'd be like, look, everyone come off your assignments. I need the whole squad on this worry. I'm serious. And I'd be like, the bully. I'm afraid of the bully and the bully's being mean to me. And I need everyone to come off your individual assignments. time. That's amazing.

You had his little worried doll for me. But it was very effective. That's something I remember for parents with worrisome children. I might have just played with them, but I did love them. My mom gave them to me. I really got to stop reading the Epstein files before bed. That was quite a pivot. Like what?

He's saying what he would do before bed. Yeah, so all you can think is the Epstein files. I know nothing, by the way. Did they switch Gina? Davis was Selena Gomez. What? Oh, yeah. I know nothing.

I certainly don't know that much about it. I don't know. Everybody's in up in arms because they think they switched Gina Davis's soul and put it into Selena's body. Oh, Jesus Christ. According to Epstein files. Let's go back to Mexican worried dolls. So I'm going to tell my Mexican worried dolls to handle that shit. Oh, my God.

That is very interesting. All right. We're going to pivot to. Let's pivot to you No Yeah go you I'm always here Have fun

Yeah you're too quiet What do I'm too quiet You guys are getting down With the psychology of it all I want to talk to you I haven't seen you in a while How are you? I saw you two days ago You had the premiere

We're reunited Reunited Yeah And you guys came to my premiere Did you like it? I know you liked it I'm just fishing Yeah it was so good

That was fun huh It was a lot of fun You and I did a movie together 21 years ago Something like that Yeah And we have been friends ever since The Last Kiss, it's a really good movie

It's a really good movie I'm really proud of that movie Yeah I think it fucked a lot of people up They were very upset by it Well because it was just dealing with real shit That nobody wanted to really look at Well I think you know the Italian movie

It was a huge hit Yeah It was based on an Italian movie And it really bluntly deals with infidelity and lust and cheating and just getting older and all of the things and they had they didn't pull any punches and the american and it was a huge hit in italy but i think that they're a little better at talking about these topics than americans because yeah people got very triggered and upset and i and i remember it was like early social media and on my space or something

and whereas garden state had been such a love story i think people thought they were coming for like a funny, drama, love story. Yeah. And this was pretty fucking raw. And I remember I was telling Rachel, I remember there was so many comments like,

thanks for the giant fight I got in with my girlfriend. Oh. Because it, it triggered a conversation. Yeah, because most people would come out of that and be like, how would you have handled that? What would you have done?

And, but anyway, we were talking about the other night that it's, it's, we had such a fun time making it. That was the most fun. Yeah. It was one of the most fun times I ever had making a movie. You know, we were so young, and we were in Montreal.

In the summer. There was a big group of us, and we were all the right age and just partying and having fun and laughing. And I really loved that experience. Me too. Well, that was the first movie I ever did. Oh, I didn't know that. Yeah. It was.

You would just, just on the O.C. I was on the O.C. And that was the first movie. Had you done TV before the O.C? Not really. Like, the O.C was my first series of. like real role. I had maybe done a guest spot in commercials or something, but it was my first TV role. And that was pretty life-changing for you, huh? I mean, I'm not doing a bit. I'm saying

like pretty quickly it was like because it was such a hit. It was a hit right off the bat, right? I started as a guest star. Like I wasn't a regular in the beginning. Oh, you pulled an Urkel. I did. Was Erkel a guest star? Urkel was not the original star of Family Matters. Wow. And I, you know, we have Vanessa Bear on Scrubs right now. She's unbelievable. And Vanessa Bear is so funny and I'm cutting the show and I'm, every single thing she says is funny. And I turn to my editor and I go, Vanessa Bear is going to fucking irkle me. This is going to become a show about an HR rep at a hospital.

And so you're saying summer irkled everybody because you became one of the stars of the show. I irkled it. Yeah. Yeah. They liked Adam and I, like our characters, everything. So it just kept building on that. And you were the comic relief too. You were very funny.

And Josh Schwartz thought I was funny. That's how I got the role in the first place. And he just kept writing for me and writing me into the character, you know, like summer, like in golden girls, like all of that stuff. Right. And it just grew from there. But that was the first thing. And then that was the first movie I ever did. And when you got the show, it was the show immediately a hit?

Mm-hmm. And so was it a hard life change for you? I don't. Why are you saying, mm-mm? No, yes, of course, like success, whatever. No, yeah, it was. It was a big... I mean, just getting used to being in the public eye and all the way.

Yeah, yeah, of course. But for me, and I've said this before, Adam and I were together. So we were going through it together. So kind of having someone experienced the same exact thing. I mean, it was more for him because his character was massive. But just having that kind of grounded me, in a way that was different than a single 21-year-old out there with attention and partying and whatever.

I see. So because you were in a relationship, you maybe were more homebodies and you weren't out partying and doing the whole scene? A little. We're partying a little. But I also will attribute it to growing up in L.A. And us doing things very young. Like the clubs and people were going to, I was going underage, doing all that before I was on a show. So it was a combination.

Can I pull this fluff off your microphone in the spirit of OCD? Yes. Thank you. I'm happy to see it alive and well. Yeah. So it wasn't that big of a... I mean, no, I don't want to say it wasn't that... Of course, it was huge.

It changed everything. But as far as, like, changing me or whatever, like, it didn't really do that. How about you? Oh, it was quite a shock. I was waiting tables and all of a sudden the show was a massive hit. And how old were you? I was, I must have been 25. That's young.

Young. That's right. Yeah. Very young. But it was. Yeah, I was 25. It was a success pretty immediately, right? Yeah.

It was pretty big hit. And did you and Donald become besties right away? Right away. I met him at the table read. I didn't know him. I knew him as the guy from Clueless. But, you know, we just hit it off. We had the same sense of humor.

And he was dialed in. He was like going to the clurb. And he was like, he was on the scene. Yeah. He was already there. He was already arrived. He was already arrived. He was on the scene and he was popular and he knew everyone at the nightlife in L.A.

And I was like, I was waiting tables. I was waiting on these people. And where? At a place called Le Colonial, which is a. Oh, yes. I know. I remember. Beverly and Robertson.

Oh, yeah. It's now the Lika store. Okay. And, uh, it was a very sceny spot. And I had some moments, times or I would just wait on people. I had times where I would go on, you know, a general meaning and like be talking about to some manager like how or some producer or whatever about how my career is, you know,

I'm talking myself up and everything's on fire. And then I go to my shift and they're like, yeah, you have table 12. And I look at table 12 and it's the guy that I just have the meeting. And I'm like, so crin. Aw. But probably gave you some good, you know, humble humility. It gave me a lot of humility and good material because I put all of it into garden seat. It's the opening of garden state.

It's the opening of garden state is me working at a French Vietnamese restaurant. Yeah. But yeah, so for me, I couldn't get into nightclubs. Well, I didn't have money to go to nightclubs and I couldn't get into them. And so to all of a sudden be out with Donald and partying in L.A. at 25. That was fun. We definitely went through a fun phase. Was it hard?

Like, was that part hard to adjust to on your nervous system, ego, psyche? It was mostly fun. I think I was drinking too much. I mean, we would drink and then go to work. I mean, it's so crazy. We would, like, go in after a night of partying to do, like, a 12-hour day, which is crazy to my adult 50-year-old mind. but we were definitely living the life, living La Vita Loka.

How many seasons was the first one? We did eight, eight and a half, really. That's a lot. Huh. I remember you guys were right by Valsurf. I know, they were at that hospital. Yeah, I was talking about it. And they knocked it down.

And now for the Scrubs revival, we wanted to go back to that hospital. So we rebuilt it on stage, but like to scale. I mean, Rachel's been there. It's enormous. Like 30,000 square feet? It's like 30,000 square feet on three enormous stages. Dang. And you get lost in the hospital.

People don't can't, you're in a hospital and you can't find your way out. No, I had to have someone walk me out every single time. We rebuilt it because it doesn't exist. Oh, my God. So we wanted it. And now it's condos. But we wanted the show to come back to the old hospital. And so it was a huge ordeal.

And so many brilliant, you know, crafts people worked on it. but we rebuilt the hospital. So we got to see the show, obviously, and Rachel's going to be on the show. Rachel's going to be on the show. I was a little worried only because I was a fan of Scrubs, and it was like a cozy comfort show. And, you know, whenever you're going back to that,

you're like, oh, no, guys, let's see. Yeah, it's very tough. You guys nailed it. Thank you. It was so funny and please. Say this guy over here, Like did everything. I mean, everyone was amazing and worked really hard, but he put so much into this. Like from the very top to the very, like everything. You really were every, you wore so many hats.

I did because Bill Lawrence, who created the show, couldn't be there to micromanage it. I mean, he was overseeing from afar. But that fell on to me. And I had a great team and a wonderful showrunner named Asim Batra, who was leading the the writer's room, but this sort of on-set producer role, and I directed the pilot, and also just I'm the team leader, if you will, and also the keeper of the lore, because I know the show better than anybody else. Yeah. And also Bill's best friend, so I'm there to be everything. And it was so much pressure.

In fact, I was supposed to direct more, but after I directed the pilot, I was like, I can't do this. It's too much. Yeah. It was, it was, it was, thankfully the pilot came out so great, but I was just too overwhelmed. I wasn't sleeping. It was too much. The common denominator in all Bill Lawrence's work that you've gotten to be a part of a lot of his work is the humor mixed with so much heart. And you don't see that elsewhere very much.

He's definitely great at it. Other people try it and it works. it doesn't work. Well, you do that really well. Yeah. Well, I love that too. I think that's one of the reasons Bill and I are such good collaborators. Yeah. It's very similar. My last movie was called a good person. So good. Thank you. And it's a very serious, dramatic film about grief. But there's a lot of humor in it because I know when I go, you know, Quentin Tarantino said, make the movie you want to see. And I always think of that. I always think of like, whether you like, whether someone likes my films or not, I'm certainly honoring

what I believe to be the most important mantra, and that is make a movie you'd want to see. So I love my films, because they're the movie that I want to see that I wish more people were making. I love a movie that breaks my heart. I've got tears in my eyes, and then I'm cackling while I'm swiping away a tear,

because that's just my favorite genre. But that's life. Right. What funeral have you been to that you're not laughing? I'm sorry, but in the darkest moments, you need... We do. Well, and also as a writer, if I've just given you, you know, Morgan Freeman has a heartbreaking long monologue.

And if I don't give you a laugh after that, it's like the pressure, you need to release the pressure. Right. Like the pressure. And so when I watch these movies that are just grief, drama, tragedy, and there's no release, I'm like, this isn't necessarily for me. I need a smile. I need to laugh. And so on the TV, on the TV comedy. side of things. There's nobody better at this than Bill. It started with, I mean, he created Spin

City, which wasn't so much that. But then Scrubs really was that. And then of course, Ted Lasso and shrinking and Bad Monkey is not really that. But the new one with Steve Carell that I directed as well. It's called Rooster. That's going to be on HBO. And now, of course, the Scrubs revival. But Rooster is that? Rooster is that too, yeah. The Bill Lawrence Uvra, yeah. No, but it's true. But it's that in life, too. You know, if you don't have a sense of humor,

or if you can't make fun of yourself, like, I have a really hard time with people that are, like, so serious. Yeah. And, I mean, not that I can't love people that are serious, but I just feel like in this life. Well, you like to laugh. I do like to laugh. Yeah, you're silly.

I am very silly. It's true. But I just think, you know, what's life if you're not laughing. I like that about you. you. I like that you go through life, even though you, things can be dramatic. You look for the laughter. I think that's inspirational. Thanks. That's very sweet. Inspiring. Some may say. Yeah, but I just, I don't know, I'm very proud of you and the show that you made that is now currently out. Thank you. Wednesdays on ABC. Yeah. Wednesdays on ABC.

8 o'clock and Hulu the next day. Thanks. It's so gratifying. You know, I'm just, you know, when we're taping this, I don't know when you're putting this out, but I think next week. I woke up to this so much fan love. And which is like, I mean, we made this for the fans.

Obviously, you always hope critics love it. You always hope, you know, the journalists are happy. You know, you hope for that. I can't always get it. But most importantly, this is a revival for the fans. Of course. And they're so, they love the show so much. I can't tell you how important and pivotal this show was to so many people across the world.

And so there's so much pressure to get it right for them. Yeah. And they have very, very passionate feelings about it because it wasn't, because it really moved them. I had someone say, I literally someone wrote on one of the comments, I watched last night with my mother's urn. Oh, my God. just because I had this was our show. Oh my God.

But that's like not an anomaly. That's like the level of passion people have for the show. And so many people say it's the reason they went into medicine. And I have so many comments about like, oh my gosh, I was watching this when I was in high school and now I'm an MD. So we were all on pins and needles hoping we got it right for the fans. And I think the response shows that we did. And now that I know they like those first two, I'm so geeked because I know what's coming. Yeah.

And they're going to be thrills. I'm very excited. I'm not going to say what it is. I don't know what episode it's in, but I laughed so hard. I can't say. No spoilers. No spoilers. The only spoiler will give you on this show is that Rachel Bilson comes on.

You know what sweet is it. And it's very funny. Thanks. Oh, I can't wait. Rachel, you know, it's so hard when you come, for those of you know, not or not, who aren't actors, when you come on to a show and do a guest star,

it takes so much courage because everybody knows each other. There's a huge crew. There's all these inside jokes. Everyone knows their way around. Everyone has, it's like such, it's such a huge machine, particularly scrubs,

which has 60, 70 background every day. It's a big ass show. And if you come in and guest star, you have to just come in and just jump right in. You can't be a wimp about it. You can't be intimidated by it. You got like,

hey, how are you? Welcome. And rolling. You just got to go. And I was so impressed. I mean, I know you're a seasoned actress, but I was so impressed with how you did that.

You weren't intimidated. If you were nervous, it didn't show. You got right in and you were riffing jokes with Donald right away. And her scenes with Donald are so funny. Her whole storyline is with Donald for the most part. And it's very funny. And I was just so impressed by you because you. Thanks.

I have felt that when I've done that in your position. No, I definitely felt. that but but i'm saying you you you just jumped right in yeah and there's other actors who you can't do what what uh you can't be a guest actor or be on a show and not be able to do that otherwise it's going to get cut because we we shoot the show in five days it's like it's like it's so fast yeah because you know some of these streaming comedies now they have like they've gotten six seven days on i direct shrinking and and and the six and a half seven days sometimes um this is old school broadcast ABC five days.

But the show is bigger. Shrinking is people standing around talking. This is fantasies and action sequences and comedy and enormous amount of background and an enormous set. And it's hard to get it in five days. So there's no time for it. You get it and you perform or if it sucks, it'll just be cut. Right. And most people don't understand that.

It's like, oh, if you don't land your joke. No pressure. Yeah, if you don't land your joke, we'll give you some alts, but otherwise, it'll just be cut. Yeah, yeah. And we have the luxury of VO voiceover in Scrubs, so we can get around a lot of shit by being like, I never knew what happened to Rachel, but... That's what he's planning. That pretty girl in the first scene just disappeared.

I wonder what happened to her. Oh, my God, I love that. Starting written. That's like what we have in our heads at all times. I'm a huge fan of voiceover. Like, I just love it. Me too And it's hard to do right though

It you know In its worst way It's a crutch Yeah They say that Yeah But no I love it too I do

You got it right Sex in the City Had it right There's some that nail it Others it doesn't work I think hard as I just Started out with voiceover And we got rid of it immediately

Oh it did I don't remember that I was like narrating it Well we got rid of it Oh you didn't ever Okay you didn't even Like in the pilot They tried it

and was like, no. Oh, I see. I can't narrate it, apparently. It can really help. And, yeah, it depends on the thing. But it really works on scrubs because we have a lot of fun with it, too. And what's great is we can add extra jokes in post. You're constantly adding jokes as you shoot.

And the writers will come up to you and be like, you got to do this now or whatever. And, like, it's just constant. Well, they're just pitching jokes. Yeah. Yeah. It's so good. It's so fun. Yeah, because we'll do one and we'll go.

Again, it all happens. I love Matt, by the way. He's really funny. Matt Harowitz is one of the writers. He will do one and then it's like, that was great. Now try this. Now try this. So by the time you get to editorial, we've got like five options for shit you could say,

all that are funny or some more funny than others. And then we riff, too. We riff a lot of the stuff that fans love is just stuff we just made up because we were, it was late and we were acting stupid. Were you saying the Eagle thing you guys do was improv? Yeah, because what happens is we, make up a lot of silly shit. And then with the assumption that the stupidest stuff is not going to make it, but sometimes it's late and you're just giddy and you know what it's like. And we're just trying

to make each other laugh. And in the case of that eagle thing, what happened was Brennan Frazier was a guest star. Oh, really? And his character picked me up and started spinning me. And JD, the character was supposed to be freaked out and everything. And then, you know, in the last take, I just thought, well, maybe it's funnier if he loves it. Like JD's like a little boy who like has been picked up by his dad. And then like I thought like, well, what would a little boy do? Well, a little boy might spread his arms and go, eagle. And I just, we all belly laughed. The crew laughed. And I was like, that's so stupid. No one will ever see it. We won't use it. Bill thought it was hilarious. And then it became like something that people yell at me down the street when I'm walking. Oh my God. And do you do it? No, but people Because Donald is usually the base for the eagle.

Oh, you need the base. People mount Donald. I love it. People mount Donald. Yeah, he'll be like, yo, do not mount me without permission, please. Because people come up to me in New York. It's weird. You know, when you're an actor, people just yell shit at you.

Right. Especially in New York, not in L.A. Because nobody walks. But in New York, when you're just walking around, people will just yell shit at you. Like, I was once parallel parking. They do that even if you're not an actor, by the way. Well, if you're a pretty lady, perhaps. They just yell shit at you.

I was once. parallel parking in New York and it was really going poorly. And some guy just without stopping walks by and goes, you're killing it, brough. That sticks out in your mind. That's funny. Yeah, well, people think they, you know, when you are on TV and you are, like, people really do think they know you.

You know, Harrison Ford was saying this recently, you kind of direct him on drinking. And he was saying, the difference. he notices a difference from being Harrison Ford, his entire career, and now being on a TV show in the way that people relate to him. That's so interesting. And I found that fascinating. Yeah. Because he's Harrison fucking Ford.

But the second he's on TV, he said, you come into people's homes and it's a different relationship. And he said he notices it just out and about that the way people interact with him is different. That is. I can imagine that. I had the best interaction not that long ago with someone. I don't care about a lot of people, you know, but this one really. What a sentence. No, I care about all people.

As a psychologist, I don't care a lot of a lot of them. No, I care about all people, but I'm saying I don't get like geeked to see people that often. But I was driving and I saw Jeff Goldblum and I just looked at him and I looked at him and he looked at me back and he went. And I was like he just... He likes the ladies, though. But he made me feel special. You're really just sitting on her dream right there. No, I'm a lady.

But Jeff Goldblum likes the ladies. No, but what he did was he Jeff Goldblum to me. Yeah. You know, like pretty unprovoked. You didn't even tell me this. I just looked at him and he went. He made me feel like I was Jeff Goldblum. You know what I mean?

Like he was giving it to me in a way that felt really good. It felt nice. Did you ever do that? I don't Jeff Goldblum with strangers. Damn it. Damn it, Zach. You could, you would have a good gold bloom. No, I just hide.

Do you? What? I was driving around a golf cart with Harrison Ford on the Warner Brothers lot and there's these trams that go by, you know, like the tours. And they're filled with tourists, checking out the Warner Brothers lot. And he just sort of gently looked away as it passed. And I go, do you ever wave? And he goes, no. But I do feel bad about it.

That's the funniest person you know. Rachel's funny. She's funny. Rachel's very funny. Yeah, very funny. Yeah. We were trying to develop a project. Well, Rachel was developing a project.

Her too. Oh, sorry. I'm sorry. You guys were developing. Sorry. Well, we were talking about Rachel being funny. You guys were developing a project. And I was like, I'm in.

If it's Rachel being funny, I'm in. And that one didn't work out, but I would love to develop something with y'all because I think Rachel is so hilarious. I just, I'm waiting for you to direct me for 21 years. Well, yeah, and even when you came and did scrubs, I didn't get to direct you and tell you what to do. But I was producing, so I still told you what to do.

Yeah. But no, I really believe, I would love to help direct you and find you a show of your own because I think you're so funny and unique. And charismatic, you know, one of the things, you know, everyone read for that part in the last kiss, the Rachel God. I mean, everybody. It was a, there were really good roles in that movie. And Jacinda Barrett and Rachel won the two main female roles.

And, you know, Rachel, not only were you funny and obviously beautiful, but when I think about it, it was your charm. You're part of what people love about summer and part of what people love about, I'm sure this podcast. and just you in general is you're just so friggin' charming. This is why we brought him on today. Yeah. No, because it's more than just being a good actress, which you are and being pretty. It's the charm shines through. And people really...

Well, you have that. Wow. You're very charming. Olivia, get out here. I'm out, guys. And on that note, I'm out. No, but I do think that that's what separates at least comic actors really isn't just you know if it isn't just

looks or talent it's it's a certain level of charm where people are like I want to hang out with you and obviously people felt that felt that about summer in spades they wanted to hang out with her they thought she was funny and they're like I wish that was my friend yep I really like and the last kiss you were the bad guy so I was a bad guy but I played it in a way you played it very well. Not a lot of people looked at me as just the bad guy. They kind of like understood a little because I was so tempting. So tempting. Well, I mean, I think a lot of people, I think the reason for the fights were people going, what would you have done? And if guys were honest, they, they would have been like, I, that. It was a tough, it was a tough call. But it's life. I loved to that movie. And I would have,

I would have done that too. And now there was a whole. You would have done what? Me? Yeah. She would have done me. Yeah. She would have.

I would have had to. The what, wait, really quick, I have to tell you. Yeah. One of the coolest thing that came from the last kiss was I was out at an event or whatever. And Taylor Swift came up to me and was like, I fucking love.

She didn't say fucking. I don't think. But she was like, I love the last kiss. Yeah. And I was like, I knew we were supposed to be best friends. You know who else loved it that's on that level too?

It's Jennifer Lawrence. Really? Yeah. Well, she hasn't told me. I met her a couple times. I had this, this is a long time ago, but you just may remind it. I walked in, and Adele and Jennifer Lawrence were there. And I think they both were, of all things, they were both saying, we love the last kiss.

See, look, we did it. I mean, I don't think it did well because people were getting in fights, but it's good for watching at home and don't. Taylor Swift endorsed. Taylor Swift endorsed and J-law endorsed. And maybe don't watch it with your partner. Like he did rivalry. Just watch it alone. Yeah, exactly.

I think we're in that phase of life now anyways where people watch a lot more independently. I do because I don't have a girlfriend. I watch with my pit bull. Your dog. Yeah. Under my weighted blanket. She is your weighted blanket.

No, I have two weighted blankets. I have my weighted blanket and then I have penny on top of it. It's a double-weighted blanket. You're so secure. Yeah, it feels great. I love my little corner of my couch. Can you get your legs out? That gives me claustrophobia.

No, because it's called Barabee. I don't have you seen. It's kind of like, I'm going to give them a plug on your podcast. You know the ones I have that are like woven? Yeah. So it's not hot. It has holes.

It has holes. But like can you like one leg up over the covers? Yes, girl. Okay. Anything. All right. Anything. It's really great.

Barabi is the brand. I'm going to give them a free plug. That's very nice of you. They'll send you blankets. Send me more, Berabi through Rachel. Let's do the game. to finish us out.

Why are you rushing? Because I have to leave. Came all the way over to Silver Lake, for God's sakes. My daughter has a track meet. I cannot miss. It's her first one. Make me rush to Silver Lake and then tell me to get out. No, you can stay.

I have to go. We'll sit here and talk about you. Now we'll get to the real nitty-gritty. That's what we should do. Rachel should leave and you and you should go deep on Rachel and just talk about her. I'll tell you all the secrets. She does know everything. Every, I know all the bodies are buried.

Yep. Mm-hmm. They're in my trunk. Mm-hmm. All right. What's the game, Rachel? So it used to be fuck Mary kill, but then we felt bad about killing people. He's getting so uncomfortable. My panic attack is happening.

So now it's fuck Mary watch, right? Like, who would you let watch? You're not going to kill him. Yeah, you don't have to kill anybody. There can be a neutral observer. I'm going to, um. You don't have your people yet. You can't just say.

Wait, what? Oh, sorry. Oh, sorry. Oh, you're going to give me people. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're just going to come up with people? I'm dead. Let's play that game.

This is who I want to fuck. This is who I want to marry. This is who I want to walk. Yes, that's the new game. He's going to say, well. What if I told you they're all in this room, including Eric? And we're done. It's Eric, right?

No. Oh, sorry. It's Kevin. What is it? Kevin? Yeah. Sorry, we just met, including Kevin. He's part of it.

I thought you went Eric Christian Olson in your head because you're like, fuck him. I'm not going to see anything more than Kevin's the watcher. That's not where I saw that going. Oh my God. I'm dead. All right. Who are the people?

I might pass. You have to do it. Oh, my God. Oh, you're really good at it. Let's go. Oh, Taylor Swift, Jennifer Lawrence, and Adele. That's who you just said. Yeah.

I don't know. I don't feel like that's a good one. Look your face. Look at your face. I'm just watching. No, let's not do. I don't think we should involve Taylor in anything. Okay.

Because of her army. Yeah, people get heated about Taylor. We'll just say that she loves the last case. What if we go like real obscure? Like what? Like I don't know. We got three minutes. Like Bett Midler.

What? Whoopi Goldberg. No. Okay. I feel like I answered and I crushed. You did. You kind of killed it. I think your answer was great.

He's just trying to get out of it. You won the joke. You know what I mean? Honestly, I'll leave the mystery to the audience. But Kevin's the water. But if you want to ask Rachel, you can. No, excuse me. She just gave you the mic to ask me, my picks.

Yeah. No, I want to keep it wholesome. Okay. You're the best. Thank you for coming on. Thank you for coming on. Thank you for coming on my podcast. Scrubs, 8 p.m. Wednesdays, ABC, Hulu, the next day.

Check it out. You're going to love it. When is my episode? Not for a while. You're the finale. I know, but... Rachel is in the finale. If you love all things, Rachel Bilsen,

and Zach Braff being reunited sits on screen since the last kiss. And check out the last kiss, but maybe don't watch with your partner because you might get into a fight. And on that note, we're out. Bye. That was a hate gum podcast.