Zach Braff scuffs up his nice-guy image

A graduate of Northwestern University's film program, Braff began writing and making short films while growing up in New Jersey. His father was a film buff, running 16-millimeter prints of movies projected on the family's living room wall, so Braff developed an early love for cinema.

"Garden State" drew on elements of his Jersey upbringing, though the subdued, depressed lead character and his torn-asunder family was not based on Braff's own experiences.

After Braff was cast in "Scrubs," he quit the job he'd had waiting tables, then learned there would be a five-month lull before the show began shooting. Braff said he had been through a rough patch in his life and felt a bit depressed, so he used the time off to examine where he was at.

"When I got `Scrubs,' which was like my dream come true, and that depression didn't really subside, I thought, OK, there's something going on here if my dream just came true and I'm still bummed out," Braff said. "Let me sit down and write about it. Really, what came out of that five months was the first draft of `Garden State.'"

The film showed a darker, dramatic side that fans had not seen in the lovable character Braff plays on "Scrubs." Braff is counting on "The Last Kiss" to further stretch audience expectations.

"I hope so," said Jacinda Barrett, who co-stars as Braff's pregnant girlfriend in "The Last Kiss." "He's incredibly witty and intelligent in it and still likable considering the despicable acts he commits in this movie. I hope people see what he's capable of."

Other TV actors often find their movie careers fall flat. But Braff has chosen wisely so far, saying he deliberately avoided the easy path of romantic comedies that came his way after the success of "Scrubs."

"I think I had enough knowledge of the business to know the importance of what that first movie is," Braff said. "I want to have a long career, and I don't want to always be doing broad comedy, physical comedy, slapstick.

"I think it's also wise that it be a very small movie and not something that can get written about as a box-office disaster. `Garden State' cost two-and-a-half million dollars. It would have been pretty damn hard for it to be a box-office disaster. I didn't think of it as the ultimate strategy. I think I was just aware the dumb thing to do would be to take a big romantic comedy payday."

MORE FROM MOVIES

Movies Section Front

‘Up in the Air’ leads with 6 Golden Globe nods Nominees for 67th annual Golden Globes Golden Globe nods don’t ensure Oscar love Globe picks help sort out Oscar prospects 70 years on, ‘Gone With the Wind’ still holds up Quiz: Take our ‘Gone With the Wind’ trivia quiz Cameron aims for ‘Titanic’ results with ‘Avatar’ From ‘Aliens’ to ‘Avatar’ for Cameron, Weaver ‘Avatar’ joins tradition of Hollywood colossus ‘Hurt Locker’ is New York critics’ best film Movies Section Front   Add Movies headlines to your news reader: