Zach Braff worked long shifts as a waiter before landing the role that would define his career.
In a new conversation with Variety magazineBraff recalled his life just before his career breakthrough.
For those unfamiliar, Braff was first cast as John Michael “JD” Dorian in the hit medical sitcom Scrubs in 2001.
The actor said at the time that he was serving customers at a restaurant while hunting for auditions. The series became one of the most beloved medical comedies on television.
“I was wearing a beige tunic and serving French-Vietnamese food and I got yelled at a lot because we didn’t serve bread, and so I was lucky enough to audition six times and get this show and it changed my life.”
Braff’s co-star Donald Faison also remembered where he was when he found out he had been given the role of surgeon Christopher Turk.
He said: “I remember I was in a restaurant when my agent called me and told me I was getting it. “I remember the wait in between when I heard I was starting until we started filming and it was such a long wait and I didn’t have that much money at the time and I was like, ‘I need this thing to get started.'”
For those unfamiliar, the series created by Bill Lawrence revolved around the lives of employees of the fictional Sacred Heart Hospital, a teaching hospital.
The title is a play on surgical scrubs and a term for a low-ranking person, because at the start of the series most of the main characters are medical interns.
