Zach Braff Discusses Stepping Behind the Camera for Apple TV+’s ‘Shrinking’

Zach Braff earned an Emmy nomination in 2021 for directing an episode of Ted Lasso. Now he’s reunited with his Scrubs showrunner and longtime friend Bill Lawrence to step behind the camera of another hit Apple TV+ comedy, Shrinking.

The show follows Jimmy (Jason Segel), a recently widowed father whose grief has upended his life and his work as a psychiatrist. “Boop,” the season’s eighth episode, directed by Braff, divides the cast into two groups; Jimmy, Paul (Harrison Ford), and Brian (Michael Urie) go searching for a missing Alice (Lukita Maxwell); and Gaby (Jessica Williams) Sean (Luke Tennie), and Liz (Christa Miller) attend a gallery exhibition featuring some surprising art from Gaby’s ex. The episode ends in a series of blowups and, in Braff’s words, some much-needed “catharsis.”

Here in an interview with Awards Daily, the 2000s comedy icon turned beloved indie film director discusses his relationship with Lawrence, shaking up the Shrinking formula, working with Harrison Ford, and the joy of returning to his TV roots.

Read more from Zach Braff below:

Awards Daily: My first and most obvious question is, having worked with Bill for so long, isn’t there a part of you that wants to come on Shrinking and be a patient of Jimmy’s for two episodes, hang out with them for a bit, and leave?

Zach Braff:  I would absolutely love to do that. If I’m ever invited to do that, I would be so honored. But really, I get such a thrill out of directing this incredible cast. It’s one of the most fun jobs I’ve ever had. Not just because of Harrison for obvious reasons, but Christa Miller is an old friend, Jason is the sweetest, and Jessica’s hilarious. I love the cast, and the scripts are wonderful. It’s a very special show. 

AD: So why direct episode eight, ‘Boop’? Was it random, or was there something about that episode that drew you in? 

ZB: Well, Bill usually gives me a really juicy episode. That was true back in the Scrubs days. On Ted Lasso, I think that was the case. I mean, the “Biscuits” episode of season one was a really special one. And I think that “Boop” is a really special one. And it’s different. It takes the cast outside the usual confines of their worlds and puts them in two groups on different little quests—one to find Alice and the other to go to this art gallery. It was a different episode of Shrinking. It’s funny, but it also has this climactic ending where Jimmy finally stands up and parents Alice in a really powerful, moving way. And it introduces the idea of “Boop,” which will come back at the end of the season.

AD: First of all, “Biscuits” is my favorite episode of the Ted Lasso period.

ZB: That’s good to hear; thank you!

AD: Does it make things harder or easier to come in with an outsider’s perspective? Is the ability to come in and mess with things part of the appeal? 

ZB: When I did Ted Lasso, it was so early on. Coming in for episode eight of Shrinking, even to do a particularly special episode, is always odd. For TV directors, it’s always bizarre because you’re coming in and saying, Hi, nice to meet you all. I’m the boss for the week.’ It’s such a weird thing. I remember that feeling as an actor on Scrubs—meeting a new director and then they take control of the whole set. 

For Shrinking, I’m so lucky they trusted me with their story to tell something unique and a bit different than the other episodes. I like that Bill trusts me to hand me an episode that’s going to be a little bit outside the box.

AD: How has your experience as an actor shaped your vision as a director?

ZB: I feel like Scrubs was such a grad school for me. I got to work with so many outstanding comedy directors. And, of course, I got to learn from Bill, who’s always been a mentor to me. I learned so many things over nine years as an actor and a director. I learned plenty of things I didn’t like, and I began to hone my own style of directing.

It was a unique experience for an aspiring director to get the experience of being directed by so many different directors in a short time. I was directed by so many different and mostly brilliant single-camera comedy directors. I got to learn so much from them and then bring that to what I’m doing now on these shows.

As a director, you just want it to be great. You want it to be the funniest. If you’re going to operate in Bill’s world, you want it to be funny and heartbreaking. And also, I like to bring a bit of my own style to it in a way that fits within the world. Sometimes that’s music, sometimes that’s camera position, lens choices, and blocking choices. I know what Bill will like because we have such a history of working together. I can picture when I read the script how he will want it shot and how best to execute that quickly. 

Keep in mind; you only have a limited amount of time with single-camera comedy, you’ve got to get it all, and you’ve got to get it all fast because you only have six days. 

AD: Having directed things you’ve written, is there a draw in directing something that’s not your own script? How much room does that then give you to play around, knowing Bill’s taste?

ZB: Yeah, that’s a great question. I think because we have such a history and because I’m also a comedy writer, Bill really lets me contribute in more ways than a traditional director. I always get what’s written because it’s brilliant. But then, as a comedy writer and a comedy performer, I can pitch things; I can say, ‘Hey, why don’t we try this?’ Or, ‘Do you want to try one take like this? It’s the most fun for me because it’s just like going back to the Scrubs days for me and Bill, where we’re just sitting there like two kids giggling at some idea we came up with. I love to surprise him too. The showrunner leaves the set after rehearsal. So, when I can get to the editing room and show him my cut, there are extra jokes that he didn’t even know about. And watching him laugh at those is the best feeling ever.

AD: There are a couple of elements from the episode that I wanted to ask you about, in particular, with Gaby; I feel like this episode takes her on such an interesting turn, bringing her face-to-face with her ex at the art gallery.

ZB: Well, I think she has so much pent-up confusion about this ex. She was keeping him afloat. And now that they’ve finally broken up, he’s released all this brilliant art. She’s so torn because she’s like, ‘I’m happy for him, but what the fuck?’ How come none of this happened when we were together? She’s trying to keep it down. She’s trying to be a good person, and then she just explodes, which is, of course, hilarious. And Christa Miller with her laser pointer and Luke interacting with these hoity-toity people. The three of them were such a funny dynamic to watch. There’s so much humor there. 

AD: Throughout Shrinking, there’s this thread of the father-daughter relationship and how weird and delicate it could be. That’s certainly in play in this episode. 

ZB: I knew this would be a big episode because it’s the one where Jimmy finally steps up to be an actual parent at the end. And it’s this moment that’s built up with so much tension. Harrison’s character gives him a pep talk. ‘Come on, man. Enough is enough. You got to show up and parent this child.’ And then he summons the courage to do it, even though she screams at him. 

There’s this wonderful moment where after it happens, Jimmy looks to the heavens to check in with his wife, and it’s just so moving.

One of the reasons why the episode was really special was because t has so much humor in it, but it’s all building up to this release of Jimmy finally parenting and Gaby finally saying to her ex all the things she wants to say. It’s a catharsis, if you will.

AD: Harrison Ford, the icon of everyone’s childhood, what was he like?

ZB: What’s fun is that you see the little boy in him, the child in all of us that just wants to make people laugh. Harrison’s no different. Even though he is a living legend and he’s Harrison Ford, you see his joy when he makes the crew laugh or the cast laugh. He’s really enjoying doing this comedy. I can see that in him. No one knew if Harrison was going to like single-camera comedy television or not because he’s never done it before. But I can tell you that he’s having a blast. He just loves it. He loves being funny, and he loves the cast, and he’s just such a sweet man. 

AD: What I love about Shrinking is that it plays with the idea of what therapy could be. Watching it, I’m like, ‘What would it be like to have a therapist like Jimmy?’ I wondered if that feeling came into play for you at all.

ZB: I grew up with psychologists as parents, so it’s always been in my life, but if Shrinking is pushing anyone or convincing anyone to try therapy, I’m so happy. I think it does, through comedy, make therapy seem a little bit more accessible. Obviously, it’s a heightened reality with what’s happening with Jimmy. But, I think it shows, ‘ Wait a minute, there’s a world where my therapist doesn’t sound stiff and intimidating. We can have a fun banter. I can learn from them, and they could also be cool.’ If that idea exists, if that’s pushing anyone over the edge to try therapy, I think that’s wonderful.

AD: Zach, any final thoughts before I let you go?

ZB: I’m so loving directing the show, and once the [writer’s] strike’s over and we go back, I’m hoping to direct two or three more episodes.

AD: So, more Zach Braff in season two of Shrinking? 

ZB: Yes. A lot more!