26 February 2026
Zach Braff felt anxious directing the Scrubs revival episode.
Zach Braff and Donald Faison have reunited
The 50-year-old actor reprised the role of John ‘J.D.’ Dorian for the long-awaited pilot episode – but Zach felt much more nervous about directing the show.
Speaking to People, he shared: “I was nervous directing the pilot. I really wanted to get it right.
“I think that it was important to set the tone, the back-to-reality basics. We’re going to have our fantasies, there’s definitely comedy, there’s definitely drama, but I felt a lot of pressure to make sure that we nailed the tone for the fans, most importantly, and for ourselves, because that was going to really set us on the right course.
“When we finally locked the pilot and everyone was so excited about it, I felt a big exhale of relief because I knew we at least had a good base as a jumping off point.”
Zach also relished the experience of reuniting with Donald Faison and Sarah Chalke, who starred in the show’s original run.
The actor-turned-director shared: “I just feel so lucky. It’s the best job. I love laughing with these two.
“I love revisiting these characters. I love finding a new way to tell the story in 2026, sort of re-grounding it, but based back in reality. We got a little crazy and surreal towards the end of the run of Scrubs.”
Judy Reyes and John C. McGinley have also returned to star in the TV show’s revival, and Zach is convinced that he was right to bide his time before committing to a reboot of the hit series.
The actor – who made his debut on Scrubs back in 2001 – explained: “There were so many people that were asking for this, and I really feel like it took enough time for us to figure out how to do it right and get the right team on board, because it really was assembling the dream team.”
