Growing up in a nice Jewish family in South Orange, New Jersey, Zach Braff knew his parents had set a high bar for him. With his father an attorney and his mother a clinical psychologist, it only took twenty-six years for him to fulfill his familial destiny when he became a doctor. Well, actually a medical intern at the fictional Sacred Hearts Hospital on the hit television comedy Scrubs. Although he had appeared in Woody Allen’s Manhattan Murder Mystery and Greg Berlanti’s The Broken Hearts Club, it was the sitcom that propelled the actor to industry recognition, garnering three Golden Globe nominations for his portrayal of John Dorian.

After directing a few of those episodes, Braff turned his creativity to the film Garden State, which he directed, wrote, produced and starred in and for which he received a Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for a Motion Picture or Television Program.

Braff has continued to direct feature films, music videos and most recently, an episode of the Apple TV+ show Ted Lasso. But he returns to the big screen in the satirical comedy The Comeback Trail, where he plays an ambitious producer trying to get a movie made. Little does he know his business partner uncle (Robert De Niro) has concocted a nefarious plan to kill the lead actor during production to collect the insurance money.

The Comeback Trail showcases the insanity of making a movie. As one who has been in this business for a few decades, how closely does this correlate to how crazy it is making a movie?

Anytime I am on set, whether I am an actor or a director, you cannot believe that anything actually happens. There is so much chaos. There is so much money. There are so many egos. There is so much drama. I always say that you never can believe anything until the trucks are on the street and they are rolling the gear into the location. Obviously, in this movie, we take it to the extreme. You create this tiny corporation and over a period of 25 to 50 days, a bunch of strangers come together and make something. So, with the possibility of something to go wrong, there is plenty of drama to be had.

This film derives its DNA from a 1982 film. Did you want to go back and watch or steer clear?

I think that film was just the jumping-off point. It was just a 16mm film and might have only been a short. I didn’t see it but George (Gallo) had seen it at a festival. He loved the seed of the idea. It is similar to the theme of The Producers where you need to sabotage your work to make money and then the work turns out great. I am not even sure if my character is in that version. I am still surprised that George even wanted me for this. This is not false modesty. He gave me the second lead behind Robert De Niro, alongside Morgan Freeman and Tommy Lee Jones. I was just thrilled that he felt I had the talent to go head-to-head with De Niro.

Movies are sometimes a dance between actors. Talk about working with De Niro. Do you let someone like that just lead the whole time?

Sometimes my character had to lead. It is not a joke and I would be in my trailer giving myself a pep talk. ‘You can’t be intimidated. You can’t be intimidated.’ There is one scene we have in a hospital where I am berating and screaming at him and even slap him across the face. I just remember thinking that I cannot be afraid that this is Robert De Niro. The scene won’t work. He is such a sweet man that he never made me feel less than. He never made me feel like I was anything less than his peer.

He plays your Uncle in the film. Taking a step back from the movie, is there any interesting relative that you have ever worked with?

My brother and I wrote a film together called Wish I Was Here. I also did community theater with my dad when I was a kid. That’s about it (laugh).

I want to ask you about one of your unheralded co-stars in the movie. How interesting is it to work with a horse?

These horses were so smart and so well trained. They never mess up. And with the horses, Tommy Lee Jones did all of his own horse riding. He is such a skilled rider.

When your character first goes on set, he encounters an actor named Frank Pierce. You get very excited and want to get his autograph. Do you recall the first actor that excited you like that?

Probably Alec Baldwin. My very first play was Macbeth at the Public Theater in Manhattan. He played Macbeth and I was playing two younger parts. I was fresh out of college and he walked into the room and I was thinking, “oh my God, that is Alec Baldwin.” He was the first celebrity that I had ever met in person. He sat down next to me and introduced himself. He said he was playing Macbeth and who was I playing. I said Young Siward and Fleance. He then looked and said, “So, I kill you twice.” I just thought that was so funny.