John 'JD' Dorian
Born on April 6th 1975 in New Jersey, Zach Braff graduated from Northwestern University’s film program, where he also studied theatre acting while writing and ...
Full Biography
Born on April 6th 1975 in New Jersey, Zach Braff graduated from Northwestern University’s film program, where he also studied theatre acting while writing and directing his own short films.
It is in all these areas that Zach has gone on to excel, probably more than his wildest expectations.
With his feature-film writing and directorial debut in Garden State, he revealed himself in all three capacities; acting, writing and directing.
With a budget of only $2.5 million, the film premiered at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival, where it sold for $5 million in an unprecedented sale to two major Hollywood studios, Fox Searchlight and Miramax.
The film went on to be a box office and critical success.
On the writing side, Zach received a Writers Guild nomination for Best Original Screenplay.
The film has also garnered him an Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature as well as a nomination for Best First Screenplay.
In addition, Braff was awarded Breakthrough Director by the Hollywood Film Festival and Most Promising Filmmaker by the Chicago Film Critics Association.
In other film projects, Zach can be heard as the voice of the title character in Disney’s 3-D animated film Chicken Little, and he played the male lead in DreamWorks- The Last Kiss. More recently he starred in the Weinstein Company’s The Ex.
But Zach’s talents aren’t restricted to TV and film; his stage experience includes New York City’s Public Theatre productions of Twelfth Night and Macbeth with Alec Baldwin (30 Rock) and Angela Bassett.
Most recently Zach was in talks to star in the film Fletch Won, resurrecting the comed detective character made famous in the 80s by Chevy Chase, but dropped out to work on Open Hearts, which he will direct and adapt based on a Danish film.
He has also co-written a film version of Andrew Henry's Meadow, a children's book, with his brother, and is scheduled to direct one of the segments for the film “New York, I Love You.”
Zach Braff portrayal as J.D. ensured he was nominated for a 2005 Emmy Award. He also received three consecutive Golden Globe nominations in 2005, 2006 and 2007.