Zach Braff Plays Drug Dealer, Admires Val Kilmer's 'Genius'

Last time most of us saw Zach Braff, he was zipping through his final wacky days on 'Scrubs.' Now, the actor/filmmaker gets serious in Canadian filmmaker Deborah Chow's award-winning debut feature, 'The High Cost of Living.'

In 'Living,' Braff plays an American in Montreal who deals prescription drugs. After accidentally hitting a pregnant woman with his car, he panics and flees. Wracked with guilt, he befriends his victim, though she doesn't know who he is.

The actor, 36, sat down with our friends at Moviefone to talk about his new role, his enthusiastic fans, and his love for 'Real Genius.'

Can you describe your 'High Cost of Living' character?
He's a horrible person...That's not true. He's a guy who has sort of painted himself into a corner. He's tangled and he needs to hit rock bottom in order to realize it's time to change.

He seems to focus on trying to help those in need with pharmaceuticals, like he's trying to be a "good" drug dealer.
I don't think he's a bad person; he's just in a bad spot. He can rationalize, "Alright, I'm selling meds, I'm not selling crack"....A lot of that stuff, I think, is bull---t. It's just his way of rationalizing, of making himself feel better about what he does. But....there's a good person who's trying to get out.

Many of your characters suffer numbness. In 'Garden State,' for example, your character actually talks about feeling numb. What is it that draws you to these roles?
I don't know, maybe it's me! I like them because they're varying degrees of that, but if there was a theme, it would be people waking up. In my own life, I feel that I get numb to a lot of things, and then a new life experience wakes me up.

'Garden State' won you a Grammy for your song choices. If you were compiling a mix to help people understand your character in this film, what music would be on it?
That's a tough question. We had some good music at the [Toronto Film] festival, but a lot of it got cut because we couldn't afford it. I don't know if people know that, but you can get festival rights to music cheaper, because it's only going to be at the festival. When you go to distribute your movie, they want so much money, so a lot of good music gets cut. But I don't know...I'll have to think. Something sorrowful.

Is there a dream role you'd like to tackle?
I want to do a big action movie, one that has me rappelling down a mountain, or shooting an uzi. I'm kind of kidding, but I'm kind of not. I would love to do something smart. You know, a thriller or action film, like 'Inception,' or 'Adjustment Bureau,' which I really liked. I want to do something that isn't just pure action, but has a smart adrenaline to it. It's not the first thing people think of me for, but I'd love to do it.

You've written for the screen and stage, acted, directed. Do you find these skill sets transferable, or is each a unique experience?
You learn something from every one. Ideally, you take what you learn and go on to the next thing. The play I wrote ['All New People'], which is now going into production, has many parts of my experiences, screenwriting, music supervisor, actor, photographer....It's a hokey analogy, but pretty accurate: It's like being a conductor of an orchestra. You get to bring all of these amazingly talented people together and then bring out their best.

Do you ever find it difficult to then go back and be just an actor?
Sometimes. I really noticed it on 'Scrubs.' I would direct an episode, and directing and starring in an episode was a colossal amount of work. And then, the next week, I would just be acting and feel bored. If you can handle the amount of stress and information that needs to be in your brain, then it's kind of addictive.

Your play, 'All New People,' opens this summer. Anything else fans can look forward to, if they can't get to New York?
I'm trying. I was very close to making another film. A lot of people who like my work have been asking me [online] when my next movie is coming out, and some are indignant. They're like, "What's wrong with you? Get off Twitter and make a movie!" But I'm trying. I was very close to making another.

'Swingles'?
'Swingles' was about to happen, and then we had some casting issues. It's more challenging than ever to get movies made, so I'm thinking about going the Tyler Perry route soon and just making something super-low budget myself.

Finally, if you had to share one film you think is the pinnacle of filmmaking, and one absolute guilty pleasure, what would they be?

Great question. I could say a classic, but I'll pick something relatively recent: 'American Beauty.' I think I watched that at the right time in my education. I thought the tone, style and talent showed the kind of film I wanted to make. It's funny and beautiful to look at, but at the same time, it's also social commentary while being a love story. I thought Sam Mendes' work on that movie was pretty damn amazing. That's the first thing that came to mind that was inspirational.

Something that's cheesy and awful, but I love? God, there's so many. First one that comes to mind is probably 'Real Genius.' Val Kilmer's finest work. I met him once and told him that. I don't know if he was too thrilled when I said, "Oh my God, you were in one of my favourite movies of all time!" I'm sure he thought I was going to say something like 'The Doors,' but I said 'Real Genius!' I love that movie; I grew up on that movie. I think it's really funny.

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