Zach Braff Returns

Summary

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Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard

Episode: Zach Braff Returns

Release Date: March 16, 2026

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Main Theme & Overview

This episode welcomes back Zach Braff, actor, filmmaker, and Dax’s well-known "doppelganger." The conversation is rich in personal anecdotes about mistaken identity, aging in Hollywood, the revival of Scrubs, career longevity, creative process, sobriety, and the nature of enduring friendships. Dax, Monica, and Zach delve deep into vulnerability, growth from setbacks, and the joy and awkwardness of being recognized—or mistaken for—someone else. The episode balances humor, heart, and industry insights, celebrating both past and present work.

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Key Discussion Points

1. Doppelganger Antics, Fame, and Mistaken Identity

• The Fassbender Encounter
  • Zach recounts an epic story: At a Las Vegas club, Michael Fassbender greets him effusively, only to reveal a mistaken identity, thinking Zach was Dax and complimenting him on Chips (08:03–12:34).

    "He says, I love you...the shit you make is fucking awesome...I mean, fucking Chips, dude."
    — Zach Braff, 09:49

  • Donald Faison steps in as a “proud wife,” correcting Fassbender and listing Zach’s credits.
  • Dax compares their regularity of mistaken identity and what it feels like in those moments.
• Other Tales of Mistaken Identity
  • Monica tells a story of being confused by Claire Danes (15:12–15:26).
  • Zach admits to mixing up Frank Grillo and Jon Bernthal (15:33–16:14).
  • Dax shares a cringe moment insulting a movie not realizing he’s talking to the director (16:33–17:36).
  • Together they acknowledge everyone makes these mistakes and owning the embarrassment is part of the human condition.

2. Aging, Looks, and Longevity in Hollywood

• Dax and Zach discuss watching themselves age and how their perceptions of their own looks have evolved (06:14–08:13, 69:20–74:59).
• Reflection on feeling “not hot enough” or “too normal” for TV stardom, and how that perception has shifted with time.
• Candid discussion on resisting cosmetic surgery, the prevalence of plastic surgery among peers, and accepting one’s “authentic” face (72:21–74:59).

  “I'm going to be one of the few people that didn't have a facelift and I'm going to look weirdly authentic. And I think that's going to have some weird value.”
  — Dax Shepard, 73:08

3. The Scrubs Reboot: Nostalgia, Making It Work, and Medical TV Accuracy

• Zach directed the new Scrubs pilot, reuniting the original cast and balancing old characters with a new generation of interns (50:22–54:57).
• Dax, a newcomer to Scrubs, is surprised by how easily it recaptures its unique, laughter-tears mix:

  "This show's really good. I mean, it's just a good show. Like, I missed it."
  — Dax Shepard, 51:12

• The challenges of recreating the iconic Sacred Heart hospital on a soundstage after the original building’s demolition (52:30–53:00).
• Discussion of the show's respected medical accuracy and comparison to other medical dramas (59:53–61:23).

  "The AMA...said that Scrubs was the most medically accurate show on TV."
  — Zach Braff, 60:22

4. Collaborative Commercials and the Business of Acting

• In-depth on the process behind T-Mobile ads: shooting “spec” versions in Zach’s backyard, heavy collaboration, and why this works better than traditional ad production (20:06–26:42).
• Dax and Zach contrast fun, creative ads with demoralizing, overly supervised TV spot experiences.
• The importance of “no asshole policies” on sets, fostering collaborative environments where everyone can contribute (28:14–29:09).

5. Directing Mega-Stars: Dealing with Intimidation and Leadership

• Zach shares directing experiences with Harrison Ford, Morgan Freeman, and Michael Caine, emphasizing the need for respectful, brave direction (35:36–39:29).

  “You are not teaching a brilliant actor...you are steering the ship.”
  — Zach Braff, 38:25

• The art of guiding legendary actors while staying out of “fan mode” and remaining an effective leader.
• Harrison Ford later interviews Zach for Interview magazine, leading to insights on actor-director collaboration.

6. Career Ebbs, Flows, and the Deep Joy of Endurance

• Dax and Zach compare their career trajectories—missing "top stardom," riding highs and lows, and finding pride in staying power (46:27–49:04).

  “To be able to make a living in this wacky ass career path for 25 years, I feel so grateful.”
  — Zach Braff, 48:13

• The special challenge and pleasure of switching between directing/producing and purely acting.
• The importance of embracing whatever unexpected opportunities come with longevity.

7. Sobriety, Grief, and Reinvention

• Zach’s journey with alcohol: binge drinking, seeking advice from Dax and Rich Roll, experimenting with abstinence (75:02–81:16).
• The link between antidepressants, depression, and drinking—a period of 13 months without alcohol led to increased well-being.
• Writing A Good Person as a way of processing grief from losing his sister, father, and friends (75:54–76:46).

  “You just start to say, this character’s on my mind...what came out was a good person. It ended up being a story about grief.”
  — Zach Braff, 76:46

• The negative cultural messaging around alcohol, generational differences in drinking trends, and the impact of drugs like Ozempic on substance use (83:40–84:23).

8. Vulnerability, Crying, and Finding Humor in Humanity

• Raw honesty about crying (or not) at movies, with Dax sharing that he didn’t cry for 35 years and now finds it pouring out as a parent (67:57–69:20).
• They agree on the power and necessity of vulnerability—both in life and creative work.

9. Relationships and Personal Growth

• Zach opens up about how his attitude toward relationships, partners, and life partnership has changed with age (87:00–89:05).
• Examining what qualities truly matter, whether he wants children, and the lessons of moving beyond adrenaline and appearance.

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Michael Fassbender’s Mistake:

  “So he goes, chips. And then Donald being like, my wife, wingman is like, no, man, this is Zach. Braff.”
  — Zach Braff (11:10)

• On Directing Legends:

  “I'm the conductor of the orchestra. I'm not the greatest first violinist in the world. You are. But if I ask you to play that note a little bit louder, it's because I'm thinking of the whole thing.”
  — Zach Braff (38:25)

• On Career Ups and Downs:

  "I've had career highs and years where nothing was fucking happening. But I think those ultimately led to me finally then sitting and writing a script I was proud of."
  — Zach Braff (46:27)

• On Sobriety as a Creative and Emotional Breakthrough

  "It was almost the most valuable ingredient of the antidepressant...taking the best antidepressant."
  — Zach Braff (80:25)

• On Returning to Scrubs:

  "So the idea of we're just going to get the band back together...We’re going to see what these people are like now, because Scrubs is about a teaching hospital first and foremost."
  — Zach Braff (54:19)

• On the Emotional Ebb of Nostalgia:

  "Nostalgia is such a weird feeling. I don't like it...I wish she would die."
  — Monica Padman (126:30)

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Important Timestamps

• Doppelganger and Fassbender Story: 07:17–12:34
• Mistaken Identity Tales: 13:05–16:31
• Scrubs Reboot & Directing: 50:22–54:57
• Directing Harrison Ford/Morgan Freeman: 35:36–39:29
• Career Longevity Reflection: 46:27–49:04
• On Sobriety/Alcohol: 75:54–81:44
• On Crying/Vulnerability: 67:57–69:20
• Relationships & Aging: 87:00–89:05

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Episode Flow & Tone

• The conversation is heartfelt, playful, and laced with self-deprecating humor. Dax, Monica, and Zach are candid about embarrassment, vulnerability, and the oddities of fame.
• Banter frequently returns to their doppelganger status, the comedy of being mistaken for one another, and the realities of aging together in the public eye.
• The tone is introspective yet light, finding humor in uncomfortable moments and hope in the slow work of self-betterment.

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For Listeners Who Haven't Heard the Episode

• You’ll learn a lot about the realities (and insecurities) of fame, the grind of show business, and the unique camaraderie in creative partnerships that span decades.
• The episode is full of inside Hollywood stories, but always finds the universal lesson—about ego, resilience, vulnerability, and personal growth.
• Dax and Zach’s honest talk on aging and their “non-leading man” looks is refreshing for anyone who’s ever felt ordinary among the beautiful people.
• The deep-dive on commercial shoots vs. creative collaboration, and what makes a fun job, is great behind-the-scenes listen.
• The episode is a must for Scrubs fans, delivering real insight into the reboot and its emotional impact on both cast and new viewers.

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If you enjoy candid, raw, and funny conversations about the realities of Hollywood, personal transformation, and the peculiar joys of enduring friendship, this is an unmissable episode.

Transcript

[Dax Shepard]

Welcome, welcome, welcome to Armchair Expert. I'm Dan Shepard and I'm joined by Lily Padman.

[Monica Padman]

Hi.

[Dax Shepard]

Do you want to tell people about the housewarming card that Lincoln got you?

[Monica Padman]

Of course.

[Dax Shepard]

She just did. She just brought it up on her bike ride and I did think it was.

[Monica Padman]

Yes, it was the sweetest thing. She got me a card. She had it for like a year.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Which is so sweet. And she was holding it. The card itself says something like congrats on your new pad.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah.

[Monica Padman]

And it has a frog on a lily pad. And she added the lily. She added lily before pad. Very cute.

[Dax Shepard]

And she was explaining it to me on the bike ride. She's like, you know, because her middle name is Lily, I'm like, uhuh. I know. I say her name several times a week. Lily. And then Padman is like pad. So lily pad.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. She also added man to the end.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Very cute. Very, very sweet.

[Dax Shepard]

Today we have returning Doppelganger. It's Doppelganger Month. Zach Braff is an actor and a filmmaker. Scrubs, Garden State. A good person. Chicken Little, Wish I was here. And the reboot of Scrubs, which is. It's a good show.

[Monica Padman]

It's a great show.

[Dax Shepard]

It's a great show. Monica's back.

[Monica Padman]

I'm back in.

[Dax Shepard]

Having nostalgic feelings. It is on Wednesday nights on ABC and then airs on Hulu. Please enjoy Zach Braff. This episode of Armchair Expert is Presented by Apple TV, the new US home of Formula 1. Starting March 7, you can watch complete all access live coverage of every Grand Prix, including practice, qualifying and sprints all in one place. Watch every race live only on Apple tv. We are supported by Quints. There's something to be said for clothes that just work. Not trendy, not flashy, just well made pieces that hold up day after day. That's what Quince gets, right. They make everyday essentials with premium materials. Organic cotton sweaters, polos, lighter jackets. The kind of stuff that looks good season after season. And here's the thing. They cut out the middlemen by working directly with top factories. So you're not paying brand markup, you're just paying for quality.

[Monica Padman]

I really love quint. It's becoming startling. I've been walking around, I ask people if I like their clothes.

[Dax Shepard]

Sure, sure.

[Monica Padman]

You got to put yourself out there nine times out of 10 these days. It's from Quince.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. I just got asked by the fashionista herself, Nicole, what size they work. She's getting her husband something from Quints.

[Monica Padman]

Amazing.

[Dax Shepard]

Quince only partners with factories that meet rigorous standards for craftsmanship and ethical production. These pieces are built for daily wear, the kind of clothing that becomes part of your routine because it's reliable. Refresh your wardrobe with quince. Go to quince.comdax for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. Now available in Canada too. That's Q U I N C. Free shipping and 365 day returns. Quints.comDax we are supported by Alexa. Say hello to the all new Alexa, the smartest, most proactive AI assistant yet. Just chat naturally about anything and watch your to do list disappear. Planning date night. One conversation handles everything from dinner reservations to entertainment recommendations. Need last minute concert tickets? Craving your favorite restaurant? Just sit back, relax and talk naturally. Alexa's on it. Alexa learns your style, remembers what you love, anticipates what's next, and puts thousands of services at your fingertips. Whether you're managing your smart home, booking, travel, or just getting through your day, Alexa is right there with you. Experience AI that's all yours. Ready whenever inspiration strikes. And now Alexa is free with prime on your Amazon devices like echo and Fire TV. Learn more at Amazon.com Alexa that's Amazon.com Alexa he's an upchurcher. Hi, how are you? I had a hunch you would wear a sweater. So I think,

[Monica Padman]

Good to see you.

[Zach Braff]

I haven't seen you guys since we could talk about it. I don't want to waste it. But you didn't have a hedge when I was here last.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, God, no. It was 2000. It was April of 2018, which is crazy because don't you feel like we interviewed him much deeper into the show?

[Zach Braff]

I think I've only been here once and we were joking about how it was smart of you to put down the hedges early because it was going to be a while.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, and it was a while.

[Zach Braff]

I'll bet you were like, I had the idea that we would just start the hedges right at the top and

[Dax Shepard]

save, you know, $700. That's another thing. I could have gotten the 10 gallons, the 15.

[Zach Braff]

I remember you saying that you were like, you know what? I'm gonna get the smaller ones. Roi.

[Dax Shepard]

Wow.

[Zach Braff]

April.

[Monica Padman]

That means.

[Zach Braff]

Wait, what year was it?

[Dax Shepard]

2018. Which is only. This is only three months in. Wow. But I think I've registered that whole thing. I was like, you were going off to do a TV show about podcasting. That's what you were promoting.

[Zach Braff]

Was I promoting that?

[Dax Shepard]

Yes. So the fact that there was already a show being Made about podcasting, but

[Zach Braff]

it was right at the top of things. It was based on startup. There was a podcast about a guy who was starting up a business, and the business happened to be podcasts.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes. It's based on a real story. It's the story of Gimlet. Or one of those.

[Zach Braff]

Exactly.

[Dax Shepard]

Right. Yeah. I can't believe I just remembered.

[Zach Braff]

It's a very good memory. Podcast podcasting was sort of new.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Zach Braff]

But you were at the forefront. I mean, Marc Maron was before you.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes. And Chris Hardwick, Anna Faris.

[Monica Padman]

Yep.

[Dax Shepard]

Anna Faris. And of course, Rogan. There were already some titans, but you really took off.

[Zach Braff]

A lot has happened since I saw you.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Zach Braff]

Yeah, a lot has happened.

[Dax Shepard]

A lot has happened.

[Zach Braff]

Look at this place. It's so fancy.

[Dax Shepard]

I know.

[Zach Braff]

I was upstairs. There was no curtain on the bathroom door.

[Dax Shepard]

Do you remember that? Yes.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. We didn't have a door.

[Dax Shepard]

We didn't have a door. It wasn't even the structure.

[Zach Braff]

Everyone had to look away if someone peed.

[Monica Padman]

That's right. Or step out or stepped out if we were being respectful.

[Zach Braff]

Okay.

[Dax Shepard]

So do you have the same fascination as I do with watching us age? Like, sincerely, you mean you and me. You and I. Specifically, I'm monitoring you more than anyone else in the world.

[Zach Braff]

I know, but you're really fit. So it's hard on me because I go, wow, that's what I would look like if I was ripped. And I see you sometimes and you're really looking good. You're keeping it tight. And I go, okay, well, I should go to the gym. And then I go to the gym, and then I get in shape, and I go, well, if I get in too much shape, this whole Dak Zack thing is gonna be even WOR 2.0, though.

[Dax Shepard]

Maybe we ride out on a whole new wave of it. So at both times, I'm like, yeah, you and I definitely looked a lot more similar when we were younger.

[Zach Braff]

Yeah, I think so too.

[Dax Shepard]

And also, I'm shocked with how different I look. I watch Parenthood with my kids, and I'm like, I look so different. It's crazy.

[Zach Braff]

We do. Still. I don't know how often it comes up in your life, but it comes up in my life once a week at least.

[Dax Shepard]

I think you're out in the world a little more than me because I work in the backyard.

[Zach Braff]

Right. You don't leave your property.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. And you're on sets, directing. You have an opportunity for more of that. You text me, which feels impossible to believe, but please tell me I'll tell you this story.

[Zach Braff]

I have to start off with the story because, you know, I text Dax when this happens, when it's a funny one.

[Monica Padman]

Sure.

[Zach Braff]

Because a lot of times they're just kind of like, dax, love your work. That's not worth texting Dax over. But Donald Faison, my partner in crime, and I were in Las Vegas. We're 50 years old. We don't party much anymore. But we went one night in Vegas. We were throwing a couple back, and we're playing craps, and we were winning, and we're just having the best time. We have enough booze in us to decide we should go to the club.

[Dax Shepard]

The nightclub.

[Zach Braff]

The nightclub at the Wynn. I forgot what it's called, but the chain smokers are playing there. Oh, it's enormous. It's like indoor, outdoor. Thousands of people. Wow. And we go with a group of people, and it's fun, and we're having the best time. And as we work our way to someone's booth, I lose Donald. And I'm like, oh, shit. I don't want to be in this place alone at all.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. You start feeling very self conscious, right?

[Zach Braff]

Self conscious. And I'm also like, I wasn't gonna be here long anyway, but if my boy just left, how long am I really gonna.

[Dax Shepard]

Your age starts hitting you really quick in this situation, right?

[Zach Braff]

I definitely wouldn't do a second night in Vegas. Bill Law. I never had a good second night in Vegas. So we're there, and I'm like, did he leave me? Like, how fucked up would it be if he'd left and I'm here? I don't know any of these people in this booth starting to get insecure. And I look up and in the DJ booth, now, mind you, thousands of people. But the DJ booth of this club is in the center of the thing, and it's indoor. Outdoor. It's enormous. And I squint, and I see Donald in the DJ booth.

[Dax Shepard]

Absolutely.

[Zach Braff]

Just full of the fact that that

[Dax Shepard]

wasn't your where to look first just kind of shocks me with how long you guys have been friends.

[Zach Braff]

I love him, but I don't know if you call it Irish exit or French goodbye or whatever. Whatever you call it, I had a feeling like maybe he did that.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay. I know him very peripherally. My first thought would be, I bet Donald's in the DJ booth.

[Zach Braff]

If I can't believe back in the day he was the guy at the club. Okay. But now he never leaves the house. So this was a big night for us. But I kind of think I talked him into going to the club. I was like, come on, we have a buzz in Vegas. Let's go to the club. So anyway, I see him, and he sees me, and he's gesturing me to come. I work my way up there, and just as I get into the DJ booth, I'm grabbed by the shoulders by Michael Fassbender. Oh, my God.

[Dax Shepard]

Which? Pause right there. I've never met him. I've completely adored him. I love him physically. I think he's so gorgeous, and his body's so beautiful.

[Zach Braff]

He's a beautiful man.

[Dax Shepard]

His penis was nice. In shame.

[Zach Braff]

I don't remember his penis.

[Dax Shepard]

You don't remember him in front of us?

[Zach Braff]

I remember that shame had penis in it. I just don't recall his specific penis. Oh, it's gorgeous.

[Dax Shepard]

It's exactly what you think.

[Monica Padman]

Of course, this is where you two differ. You remember and you don't remember.

[Zach Braff]

Appreciate a beautiful point.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. Male bodies.

[Dax Shepard]

So what does he look like in person?

[Zach Braff]

He's very handsome. And he grabs me, and before I can say anything, he says, I love you. And I go, oh, my God. He goes, I love your work. I love everything that you do. He goes, the shit you make is fucking awesome. I wish we could work together. Oh, my ego is like, here, stop.

[Dax Shepard]

I'm now having the experience you had just now, real time.

[Zach Braff]

I want to give it to you. That's why I texted you. And Donald's looking at me like, proud boy. Like, yeah, boy. Yeah, yeah. And then he goes, I mean, fucking chips, dude.

[Monica Padman]

Stop.

[Zach Braff]

I just felt my heart sink, because now not only is it about Dax, but I don't know how to get out of this encounter.

[Monica Padman]

Exactly.

[Zach Braff]

What do you do?

[Monica Padman]

Cringe.

[Dax Shepard]

I have a pitch real quick.

[Monica Padman]

Fuck.

[Dax Shepard]

It is also incredibly likely he has conflated you and I into one person. He also loves Garden States and Scrubs. And he just happened to land on chips as most recent. I mean, truly.

[Zach Braff]

Maybe. I don't know.

[Dax Shepard]

He might think we're the same person.

[Zach Braff]

I never got that far. What happened was, was. I think he had a few, too, in fairness.

[Dax Shepard]

Sure. Well, everyone's at a nightclub.

[Zach Braff]

Yeah. It's in the middle of night in Vegas. And he's lovely, and I love him still. I love you still. I'm sure he watches your podcast. He's your biggest fan in the world.

[Dax Shepard]

So, anyway, well, Fazbender, my goodness, I'm flattered.

[Zach Braff]

So he goes, chips. And then Donald being like, my wife, wingman is like, no, man, this is Zach. Braff.

[Dax Shepard]

No, no, no.

[Zach Braff]

I would have just walked away. I would have been like, oh, thank you. Chips is the best. But his face dropped, as embarrassing as it was. And then he starts to kind of back away, like, o, you guys had the best night. And Donald goes, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. You come back here like a proud wife.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Zach Braff]

This is Zach Braff. Do you not know? You've never seen Garden Stain, Garden Hood. But Donald starts listing my credits like, you've never seen a good person and you've never seen the Last Kiss and Scrubs and all these things.

[Dax Shepard]

Full IMDb resume.

[Zach Braff]

And he's just nodding and nodding. And then I'm like, donald, let's set him free, please. And he backed away. Even make it out of the club. I was so embarrassed. I kind of just had a moment. And I texted Dax. I was like, it is important for you to know how much Michael Fassbender loves Chips. Wow.

[Monica Padman]

That's such a good story.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, my God.

[Zach Braff]

But it's the worst, though, when it, like, your heart. I mean.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes. Because we both would love his approval, of course. Oh, my God.

[Zach Braff]

Yes. It's one thing when it's someone on the street. Of course we look alike. I go, oh, thank you. No, no, no. That's Dax Shepard. I'm Zach Braffin. That happens all the time in New York. I'm walking around, but this was like an actor I really love to want to work with me.

[Dax Shepard]

Absolutely. I'm rattled right now because I don't know any of those details, but why

[Zach Braff]

don't you make a Chip sequel with Michael Fassbender?

[Dax Shepard]

Still a Michael, but a Fassbender.

[Zach Braff]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, my God.

[Zach Braff]

That's funny.

[Monica Padman]

That's heartbreaking.

[Dax Shepard]

I can't believe Donald corrected him. That's an interesting choice. I wouldn't have gone there.

[Monica Padman]

He's a really good friend.

[Zach Braff]

I never do it. And if I ever do it, I'm always so kind. Oh, no, you're thinking of Dax. We look alike. I'm Zach. I do that little uncomfortable dance. But Donald was like, you get back here, Mr. Fassbe.

[Dax Shepard]

You're gonna be educated in the DJ booth.

[Monica Padman]

You know what sucks is, like, you feel embarrassed in that moment. And you shouldn't feel embarrassed. He should feel embarrassed cause he made the mistake.

[Zach Braff]

No, I feel embarrassed. We do look alike. It's cringe. Because you know what it is? It's solely ego. This man I love. Your ego is I wanted this person to like me, and they don't know

[Dax Shepard]

who I am for Me, the embarrassment would have been, I'm not embarrassed. I get mistaken for you. I'm flattered by it.

[Zach Braff]

Yeah, you're handsome as hell, you're incredibly

[Dax Shepard]

cute, and you're talented, and you've had a great career. I'm not like, don't confuse me.

[Zach Braff]

I once got into an Uber. I had a girlfriend at the time, and we got into an Uber. And the guy, he assumed that she was Kristen. Because he was like, hey, I love both of you guys and love your pot.

[Dax Shepard]

Is it Florence?

[Zach Braff]

I don't think it was Florence. Because my brain would have been like, oh, if he loves both of us, this person wasn't a famous person. Okay, okay. So I remember when he said, I love both your stuff.

[Dax Shepard]

The Carvana commercials.

[Zach Braff]

I knew that it wasn't about this particular gal. I love your car.

[Dax Shepard]

And you were like, no T Mobile. This is where I would have been embarrassed. Same thing happens, right? Fassbender says, I love you. I want to work with you. And then he says, I'm so excited. I heard they're relaunching Scrubs. Right. What would happen for me is I would have been ashamed that I got excited and it wasn't for me. That's what it would be.

[Zach Braff]

That's what I feel, if I'm being fully honest.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. Yeah, right. I would have been like, oh, I feel so good. Now I don't. And I can metacognition my way into knowing that I shouldn't have any of those emotions.

[Zach Braff]

I would like to get over it because it's so silly.

[Monica Padman]

I had this at the Netflix party after the Golden Globes.

[Zach Braff]

Did you get mistaken for somebody?

[Monica Padman]

Well, sort of.

[Zach Braff]

Okay.

[Monica Padman]

I don't know if I should say who it is. Cause she's so nice, but Claire Danes, who we did interview. So this is where things get very tricky. I don't know. But she was like, hi. I was, like, walking by and she was like, hi. She stopped me to say, honey, why wouldn't. Okay, so, yeah, just hold on. So I said, hi. Oh, it's so good to see you. I can't believe you remember me. I said that. Cause I was like, we interviewed her so long ago. And I honestly was like, just very impressed. I was like, good for you for remembering me. And then she was like, yeah, of course. I just talked to blah, blah. I was like, oh, no. I have no idea who you're talking about now.

[Dax Shepard]

But you don't think it was like, Mindy, or do you think it was an Indian confusion?

[Monica Padman]

I mean, I assume Whoever she's thinking about is probably Indian. I don't know who, but I just said, oh, yeah, yeah. It was really good to see you. I'm just heading to the bar. She was like, great.

[Zach Braff]

Have a good night. Other side of it myself.

[Monica Padman]

I mean, of course.

[Dax Shepard]

Can you recall exactly who you did?

[Zach Braff]

Frank Grillo and John Bernthal.

[Dax Shepard]

Sure.

[Monica Padman]

We love John.

[Dax Shepard]

Absolutely.

[Zach Braff]

I love them both. And I made a mistake. To Frank Grillo, who's a lovely actor, this is very cringe. And I said, you're killing it on the bear.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

And did he correct you?

[Zach Braff]

He did the same thing I did with a bit of a wince.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, no, look, it happened.

[Zach Braff]

I've done it, too.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes.

[Zach Braff]

But I'm sure I'm not the first person to confuse those two guys. Super masculine, very talented, tough, great bodies, similar vibes.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. What should be comforting is I too, have fucked up and I beat myself up over the time I misidentify somebody way more than when it happens to me.

[Zach Braff]

I still think about the gorilla thing when I'm in the shower.

[Dax Shepard]

Right. Like, if you're comparing that to Fassbender. Right. We would probably give the Fassbender a 4 and that an 8 or something.

[Zach Braff]

But it became a great story because I'm able to tease myself about it because it was such a funny moment. The fact that Donald was, like, not gonna let him slide. The fact that he was the proud wife that was gonna be, like, listing my credits.

[Dax Shepard]

That is sweet.

[Monica Padman]

You get to know him.

[Dax Shepard]

I can't say any of the names, but I will tell you that I was one time doing a movie. There was an older actor in the movie. It was reshoots. The night before we had gone home, Chris and I, we watched a certain movie. We came to set the next morning. The older actor said, what'd you do last night? I said, we watched this movie. He goes, oh, my God, I watched that movie, too. I then said, oh, my God. I don't know why people are obsessed with that movie. It's such garbage. I don't know why. It's blah, blah, blah. And I can sense from the people around me, this is uncomfortable. I've clearly stepped in it. And then I quickly remember, oh, this person also produces. And I said, oh, my God, did you produce that movie? And he said, no, I directed it.

[Zach Braff]

Why would he say to you, I watched that movie.

[Dax Shepard]

That was a little bit of a trap, but let's leave it. I'll just own my stuff. I tried to make it better. I Buried myself worse. And then at the end, I just said, for what it's worth, you'll probably forget about this in a couple weeks and I'll be thinking about this for the rest of my life. And it is so true. I'll just randomly be lying in bed and be like, I cannot believe I said that directly to someone's face. And it just proves the lesson I hadn't learned yet, which is, I don't need to ever say bad stuff about anything. Like, I can just tell you the things I love. You don't need to hear what I hate.

[Zach Braff]

I don't do that anymore either.

[Dax Shepard]

Do you find when you were younger, like, I did it when I was younger.

[Zach Braff]

Oh, yeah. And Donald and I were doing our own podcast. A rewatch of Scrubs.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes.

[Zach Braff]

We watched every single episode of Scrubs and then would chat about it for an hour and a half.

[Dax Shepard]

How many episodes were there?

[Zach Braff]

I don't know, like 200 something. We should look it up. But 150 at least.

[Dax Shepard]

Because you were doing 20 a year, right?

[Zach Braff]

Back in the day, we were doing like 18 to 20 or so a year. 182. 182 too. He's good.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, he's the best. Wobby wob.

[Zach Braff]

So we watched them all and it was fun. We did it during COVID over Zoom. It was something to do and have a laugh. And then it got really popular and people really liked it. I caught myself early on when you're just chatting with your buddy, I'm sure you guys know this, you're gonna say, oh, I hated that. Or I hated this. And I stopped myself. I was like, I don't want to spread negativity about anyone's creativity. Occasionally, something would slip in. They'd be like, you guys like that movie? But it was mild. I tried to be careful about not. Not talking down on the giant microphone about anybody's work.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes, you're operating under the false illusion that it's not going to get to them. But in modern day, everything gets to everybody. And I try to remember that when I read something shitty about myself, I'm like, oh, that person ate it and think I was going to get it. And they might not even stand by it today because you're just in a mood that day. And I was annoyed last night and this happened. And then two days later, I might be like, I don't even have that opinion.

[Zach Braff]

There's enough people putting negative shit out there in the world.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay, so you and I have now had a bunch of weird, fun overlaps other than just looking similar.

[Zach Braff]

Yes.

[Dax Shepard]

We've both been in the Cheaper by the Dozen franchise.

[Zach Braff]

I didn't think of that one. Yes, yes.

[Dax Shepard]

That's my very first. On a screen in a movie theater experience. Yeah. For 12 years.

[Zach Braff]

Mine was not fancy and in the movie theater.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay. But I'm sure your role was a lot better than mine.

[Zach Braff]

Yeah, I had fun making that. We did a remake of it for Disney with Gabby Union and me having a mixed family. It was fun.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes. So we're in that universe. And then we must talk about Panay for a second.

[Zach Braff]

Yes.

[Dax Shepard]

So you know Andrew Panay is in my top three best friends of my life.

[Zach Braff]

I didn't know that.

[Dax Shepard]

You didn't know that?

[Zach Braff]

No, I know that he mentions you a lot. Your audience. You have to explain who he is because they won't have any clue who he is.

[Dax Shepard]

Well, we did talk about him quite a bit.

[Zach Braff]

So.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, he produced Wedding Crashers originally and then he produced a movie that I was in Employee of the Month, and then we've done four or five other things and then he produced all three of the movies I've directed. And we're like inseparable soulmates.

[Zach Braff]

He's the nicest guy.

[Dax Shepard]

I love him.

[Zach Braff]

In my world, he produces all the T Mobile commercials we do.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes. And I think it's really interesting that he hired you instead of me, his best friend, who seemingly looks identical.

[Zach Braff]

Well, you know what happened with those? It's interesting. There's a guy, his partner, Brian Klugman.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, Klugman.

[Zach Braff]

Who writes all the spots. He's sort of the Don Draper of T Mobile. Those big spots that we make, we shoot full spec versions of them beforehand. T Mobile ads are made in a really unique way. Most people don't know this. So, for example, the Jason Momoa one, which was probably the biggest one with the super bowl ad we did, we don't just, like, submit copy to T Mobile and go, hey, what do you think of these storyboards and this idea? That's the normal way it's done. We shoot full on with iPhones and props and a couple people helping us. We shoot the whole spot in my backyard. Okay, so in that case, we wouldn't have had Jason Momoa, but in post, we'll put like a giant Jason Momoa head on a double whose body it is. And then we'll move the mouth like South Park. But, like, we shoot and edit and do all of the sound effects and everything and fully make a realized iPhone version of it. And then we send that in as here's what it'll be.

[Dax Shepard]

But is that how much work first one came to be?

[Zach Braff]

Actually, the first one I ever did, Donald and I ever did was a Super bowl ad. And they didn't use us. They ended up using famous football players. And I was sort of bummed. These are called for the people who don't know it's a spec ad, meaning no one's bought it. You're doing it as a speculative thing with your own money. In this case Panay's and Brian's company. But it's a great sales tool because the creatives, the people who make the decisions, as long as they can say, okay, this is an iPhone Zero budget version. Let me see what it looks like. If they can use their imaginations, they seeing what it looks like and then imagine it with not a bobblehead. Jason Momoa realty of imagine it with real effects and imagine it lit. So the very first one, sorry I rambled. We did one in my backyard and then they ended up being two famous football players. So I was sort of bummed. Little did I know that it would come back around in such a huge way that now we're their partners.

[Dax Shepard]

How many years ago was that Super

[Zach Braff]

Bowl One we didn't do this year, but we done the last four or five years. Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

I feel like you've been doing it for a good five plus years.

[Zach Braff]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Do you know how many spots off the top of your head that you've done? I don't know of a lot.

[Zach Braff]

But I'll tell you this, they're made in such a collaborative, fun way because Brian Klugman will just be brainstorming. We were on the set of making one of them and he's like, oh, I'm so stressed. I gotta do Christmas spots for these guys. And I haven't really come up with anything yet. And we're just sitting there, a group of us, four people, just Donald Panay, Brian, myself, laughing.

[Dax Shepard]

You know Nate Tuck, of course. Nate Tuck's my oldest friend in la.

[Zach Braff]

I really didn't clock how close you were with this posse.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh yeah, yeah. My kids call Panay Uncle Christmas.

[Zach Braff]

We gotta talk about his outfits.

[Dax Shepard]

We could do three hours on his outfit. Every time I'm with him, I take photos so I can. And bring back and show the girls on your podcast.

[Zach Braff]

Can you put up an image of someone?

[Dax Shepard]

We should. Yes, we will.

[Zach Braff]

I feel like on the video you should put up what he dresses like.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes. Can I just tell you? I met him for a meeting for employee of the month. And I walk into his office, and he didn't have the funds yet, but he still had the style. So he was, like, in True Religion jeans, but they were bedazzled, and he was wearing, like, a half shirt, like a midriff. I had never met him, and I was like, wow, this dude's a lot, huh? But then within four seconds, I'm like, oh, this is the sweetest guy I've ever met. And I got comfortable with it. And then I came to really enjoy how playful he was with his clothes. But now he's got money, and it is the most exciting.

[Zach Braff]

I've never seen anything like it. The closest comp I can give your audience is number three. Sorry, Liberace.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, Liberace.

[Zach Braff]

It is diamonds like I've never seen in real life. Yeah, yeah. It is.

[Monica Padman]

Furs.

[Zach Braff]

Yes. It is a white T shirt that's ripped. It is Louis Vuitton or Gucci boots that make him, like, 6 inches.

[Dax Shepard]

Gene Simmons style.

[Zach Braff]

Gucci or Louis Vuitton boots?

[Dax Shepard]

Yes, a lot of pink. Tons of.

[Zach Braff]

There's an entourage around him.

[Dax Shepard]

Great crew around him.

[Zach Braff]

He has a whole posse that moves like the show entourage. That's not something I've really seen in real life. I mean, I know it exists, but I haven't really been around those people. He's someone who lives that kind of life.

[Dax Shepard]

But it's really important to say with no entourage. Douchiness, just kindness, sweetness.

[Zach Braff]

He's kind and lovely, and he champions. Interesting. We're both examples of it. When he likes someone, he really champions them.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, yeah. He'll die for anyone he loves. Also, I'll add, he's a Greek kid from Sunlight who had a big afro when he graduated and just wanted to play baseball and has never drank in his life. He's so PG and so sweet and so earnest, and he's tried so hard. He runs 16 miles a day and

[Zach Braff]

takes calls while he's running.

[Dax Shepard]

Nate told me the best story. So, yes, anytime you're talking to him, likely he's running up a hill. He's pretty good at not letting you know. He keeps his breathing in check. But Nate was on the phone with him. It's pretty important call. I think he had clients on the call as well. It was a big conference call, and all of a sudden he heard, oh, sorry, but. Sorry, but. Just got into ice bath. So mid conference call, he's ran 16 miles, and now he's entering into an ice bath. I mean, he's the most eccentric, wonderful person and Just the sweetest human I've ever met.

[Zach Braff]

He's the reason he and Brian Klugman. Oh, I wanted to tell you about how we come up with the ads. So we're shooting one and Brian says, oh, I haven't thought of Christmas spots yet. Someone in the group says, oh, you know, it'd be funny to do like a spoof of Love, actually, with the cards at the door.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Zach Braff]

And I go, that could be fun. Funny. Well, why don't we shoot a speck of it right now while we're here?

[Dax Shepard]

Yes.

[Zach Braff]

So he has a P.A. grab the cards. At the end of the day, we do one take, two cameras, cross shooting of the messaging that they want for Christmas on the cards. We never say a word. They love it. We have a proof of concept. We come back a few months later and shoot the real thing with fake snow on the ground. But that's why it's such a fun thing to be doing, because it's very, very collaborative. You know, you hear this thing about the ad market. I think this is most people's experience is like, just do this, do these storyboards, and if it's not funny, you're kind of cringing. Our thing is the opposite. It's like, what would you say? What do you want to say? Riff 10 things.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes. I was going to say, I think where we'll see other actors go wrong in these commercials is probably they're not writers or they're not improv ers or they're not directors. So they're relying on the entire machine that is Madison Avenue. I don't know that they're great at writing to actors in the way, like, we could agree. Great television showrunners, there's not a ton of them. And their gift is they can write to you to make you shine.

[Zach Braff]

Yeah, that's a good way to put it.

[Dax Shepard]

And it's such a rare ability. So I think when Kristen and I have been approached, both campaigns we've done that starts with like, hey, I'll have to write them. We'll get the concept done, but it'll have to go through my fingers so that our voices are correct.

[Zach Braff]

That's smart.

[Dax Shepard]

And it kind of starts with that agreement. And everyone's been cool about it.

[Zach Braff]

I had a friend who was going to do an ad and she sent me the copy and she goes, hey, can you help me? I'm like, shooting this tomorrow. And I was like, oh, no.

[Dax Shepard]

Most of the time it's, oh, no.

[Zach Braff]

I used to direct them too.

[Dax Shepard]

I've done a couple. Did you like? I found it to be terrible. Yeah, I stopped doing it. It's demoraliz.

[Zach Braff]

And unlike my T Mobile experience, which has been awesome, it was not collaborative. They really just wanted me to execute the storyboards. And I was like, well, then why am I here? A lot of people can execute these storyboards. I want to bring something to the table. Yeah, I want to bring something to the table.

[Dax Shepard]

In descending order. Film is the director's medium. Television is writer, then director. The TV spots are the client, the ad agency, the this, the that, before it gets the director.

[Zach Braff]

Earlier on in my career, I loved it because I was not getting any budget for my work. So it was fun to have a big budget and to hire your coolest cinematographers in the world because they all do commercial. So you can hire these badass dps and work with them and hopefully develop friendships with them. And I'm a camera geek, so playing with all the cool camera toys. But then I really got over it because I was like, doing this is not fun. And it's very stressful. There's way too many emails.

[Dax Shepard]

Too many emails. And then on set, there's like 55 people that got to sign off on everything that happens.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. When Tim Dex was directing, as a

[Dax Shepard]

favor, I want to add that as a favor.

[Monica Padman]

And you were getting so mad, and I was like, be nicer. What if these people Listen to the podcast?

[Dax Shepard]

People had joined via Zoom from another

[Monica Padman]

studio, of course, because that's the same.

[Dax Shepard]

And they missed their day. They didn't get their day on their shoot, so they lost their day because of this racket. And then I was asked by my wife, can you save this thing and direct this in our house and get the piece we didn't get? And I go, yeah, yeah, absolutely. Can't wait. Do it. Well, now, this group that already derailed it the first time are now on a Zoom call. And I just very bluntly said, hey, you guys lost your dad, and I'm not here to make you happy. I'm here to give you this thing that you guys lost yesterday. So that was my attitude, and Monica was very upset.

[Zach Braff]

Well, it's good that Monica keeps you in check. It's good to have someone whisper in your ear like, hey, you're being a dick.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, you have to.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Monica Padman]

It's very easy to lose track of that.

[Dax Shepard]

I've never been a dick on a TV show I've directed or a movie.

[Zach Braff]

Aren't you amazed at how many people are. Yeah, you Know Bill Lawrence, who's my mentor. I was a waiter when I got scrubs and he ingrained in the sets I've been on my whole life. That no asshole policy. The Dolly grip might have a better joke than you do. Don't have an ego about it.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Zach Braff]

You know, that's the vibe of the

[Dax Shepard]

sets we run, the insecurity it has sometimes created me as I'm on a set, or more often, I hear a story about a really great director and what they did and how they treated everyone. In the past, I've been like, am I never gonna direct blank because I'm not a fucking asshole? Can you only get this level of movie by being a tyrant? No, I don't think that. But there's been times where I've.

[Zach Braff]

I think it's about having courage, because sometimes I find myself direct somebody huge, and I go, it's take five. We gotta look at the time. Are you gonna have the balls to go, hey, man, we don't have it yet. We gotta keep going?

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Zach Braff]

That's where I have to give myself a pep talk and be like, come on, don't be a wimp. Go have the difficult conversation to push this person. Because a year from now, when this comes out, they're gonna be so stoked that even though it was the middle of the night and they were cranky and everyone's cranky and it's raining, that you pull pushed them.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay, so you did one episode of Ted Lasso.

[Zach Braff]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

And you've done five shrinkings.

[Zach Braff]

I've done five shrinkings. I just did two Roosters, which is the new Carell show with Bill.

[Dax Shepard]

How did those experiences differ?

[Zach Braff]

Lasso was crazy because I was dating Florence at the time, and I was over in London, and Bill said, I've got this new show with Sudeikis, and it's going to be great. And do you want to direct the second one of all time? If you remember, it was one about the biscuits.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah.

[Zach Braff]

And I said, yeah, that should be fun. I like Sudeikis. He's hilarious. And from over here. Anyway, I'd love to work with you. I directed it. It was lot of fun. Not really into sports. So I thought, I bet people who like soccer will like this. I mean, it's cute, and Sudeikis is very funny, and Bill's great. And then I left.

[Dax Shepard]

Right, right.

[Zach Braff]

And then it came out and it was insane what happened.

[Dax Shepard]

It's still insane. If I go to Apple, I'll notice it's still always in the top Three often in the top two. And a new episode hasn't come out in years.

[Zach Braff]

It just became a phenomenon, and all those guys became famous. And what's happened to Brett Goldstein is incredible. And I just met them all when they were all completely unknown.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. Second episode's tr. Tricky.

[Zach Braff]

Second episode's tricky because the pilot of Lasso had a lot of pipe to lay out. It had a lot of story to conquer. And episode two with the biscuits was the one where Bill and Jason were going to show you. Oh, we're also going to break your heart.

[Dax Shepard]

Also just establishing the tone of the show going forward. It's like we established all the characters. Now we're going to show you what the vibe going forward.

[Zach Braff]

Yes. That really was two. And also was the first one with gameplay, which was funny because. Because the greensmen on the field were so protective of the pitch and they wouldn't let us bring equipment on it. So I had to, as someone who's not into sports, figure out how the hell we're gonna shoot soccer without being on the field, without bringing gear on the field. So we've built this rig. Have you ever seen the things they bring on the beach that are the big inflatable tires on sets?

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Zach Braff]

So the key grip and the dolly grip and the DP and myself, we all collaborated on this thing. It had big inflatable tires, almost like something you'd see on the moon, that with a remote head on it. And then it had a pull, and the grips would put cleats on and they would run with it. And those tires they accepted as light enough, and the cleats were, of course, fine. And then the DP would operate the remote head on the sideline. So we kind of came up with this really cool rig, and that's how soccer was shot, the whole show.

[Dax Shepard]

That stayed with the show.

[Zach Braff]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Stay tuned for more Armchair Expert if you dare. Thank you to our presenting sponsor, Apple TV, the new U.S. home of Formula One. You can now watch complete all access live coverage of every Grand Prix, including practice, qualifying, and sprints, all in one place. I will be consuming all of those things, Monica.

[Monica Padman]

I know you will.

[Dax Shepard]

I kill for Friday to start watching practice one following. And then on a sprint weekend. Oh, my gosh, two races. And this season brings a ton of new energy to the sport. New teams like Cadillac and Audi just joining the grid. New drivers stepping into major seats. Lando Norris defending his first World Drivers Championship. And all eyes on Lewis Hamilton in his second season with Ferrari. And a brand new circuit in Madrid plus a new US home for Formula 1. You can watch every race live only on Apple TV. Watch on Apple devices, Android devices, smart TV streaming devices, gaming consoles or on the [e-mail] all part of one Apple TV subscription alongside hundreds of exclusive shows and movies. Watch the Formula One Japanese Grand Prix live on Sunday, March 29 at 1am Eastern, or watch race replays on demand anytime Only on Apple TV, the new US home of F1. We are supported by Allstate checking Allstate first could save you hundreds on car insurance. That's smart. Not checking the pockets of your jeans before doing laundry. Classic oversight. That mystery clunking in the dryer. Yeah, that was your lip balm's final moments. And somehow there's always one random receipt in there to dissolve into confetti. Yeah, checking first is smart, so check Allstate first for a quote that could save you hundreds. You're in good hands with Allstate. Potential savings vary, subject to terms, conditions and availability. Allstate North America Insurance Company affiliates Northbrook, Illinois we are supported by Intuit Turbo Tax April 15th is coming up fast and if you're like most people, you're probably dreading the whole tax thing. You know the old way, sitting in some waiting room for hours or sending over your tax dollar docs and waiting and waiting for any kind of update. You want something modern and tech forward, but you also want that human connection and this year brings a major upgrade. Intuit TurboTax now has in person locations nationwide. You can walk into a tech enabled TurboTax location near you and meet face to face with a real tax expert. Drop off your documents in the store and see them uploaded to your TurboTax app instantly. Just like that, you're done. Your new turbo tax expert stays back and works tirelessly to get you every dollar you deserve while you get real time notifications as you go about your day. Honestly, it feels like someone finally figured out what we've all been wanting. It's not some sterile tax office from 1987 and it's not just an app where you're on your own, it's both. The human expertise was smart. Modern tech. You drop off your stuff, go about your day and get real time updates as your expert works through everything. That's the Upgrade. Head to TurboTax to find a store location near you and get matched with a TurboTax expert with real time updates and iOS app.

[Monica Padman]

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[Dax Shepard]

So when you go into shrinking, when do you appear in shrinking?

[Zach Braff]

Shrinking Season 1, episode 8 was the one for those who know the show, where the centerpiece of the whole show is that Gabby goes to her ex boyfriend's art show. That was my first entry into the shrinking world.

[Dax Shepard]

How was it directing Harrison Ford? Talking about, like the intimidation factor of someone might not be getting in on take five.

[Zach Braff]

Yeah. Him and Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine. Like, I've had a couple experiences with these mega guys. Yeah. And it's scary being Morgan and Harrison. Everyone is weird around them.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes.

[Zach Braff]

You have to understand, everyone is weird around them. I was driving in a golf cart with Harrison around the Warner Brothers lot and there's constant trams of tourists going by. And he just gently turns his head the other way and I go, go. Do you ever wave? And he goes, no, but I do feel bad about it. But you have to understand that no one in their life, except maybe their loved ones, is normal to them.

[Monica Padman]

I know.

[Zach Braff]

So what they long for, I've deduced, is someone to just act like you

[Dax Shepard]

don't give a. Yeah.

[Zach Braff]

Not in a rude way, of course, A respectful way. But that wins them over real quick. I had to give myself pep talks. I had a tricky time with Allan. Rest in peace. Brilliant actor, but he was the trickiest for me. But Morgan and Michael Kane were really, really lovely. And Morgan so much that when I offered him a good person, a movie that was my own script with Florence, he said yes. And we had a really good experience making that. But he is gruff as hell and he really only wants to work in the morning and he really kind of only wants to do one take. Yeah, he said that after you go cut on take one, you go, great, everybody. That was awesome. Let's go again. You hear why?

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah,

[Zach Braff]

I don't know.

[Monica Padman]

I respect it.

[Zach Braff]

Why?

[Dax Shepard]

Why?

[Zach Braff]

For 25 days, every setup, John Doe has the up. Wow.

[Dax Shepard]

And what would you say to him?

[Zach Braff]

I'd be like, morgan, that was take one. You were great. Obviously you're never bad, but, you know, we got to figure some things out. The camera didn't get the right position and there's something going on with the background. And I want to put this lamp over here. And it was take one. And I'm like, okay. And then, you know, throughout the course of the day, after lunch, he was an older man and he was getting tired. So that was the first example of. I was intimidated and I had to give myself a pep talk. It's what we're talking about. I'm not an angry director. I don't yell at anyone. That's not my. But I do have to go. If you're a wimp now and don't have the courage to go, tell Morgan, even though it's three in the morning and we're outside and it's cold, that we gotta go again with the crying scene. He's gonna be mad at you a year from now. And we're showing this movie and the scene doesn't work. So that's my responsibility. And with Harrison, I have that too. People always go, how are you directing them? You're not teaching them. You're not teaching a brilliant actor. What you are is steering the ship and you're going, Harrison. Because the scene before this X, Y and Z happens happened. Should we do one where you're a little more angry? I think maybe we should. Nine times out of 10, he'll be like, absolutely, you're right. That's good. That's good.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Zach Braff]

I'm the conductor of the orchestra. I'm not the greatest first violinist in the world. You are. But if I ask you to play that note a little bit louder, it's because I'm thinking of the whole thing. And we shoot movies out of order and you might not be thinking of the scene. You weren't even in the scene before this. When we shot it. We went to here. So this scene needs to be here. It helps, though, because once you've had the courage to do that with Harrison Ford and Morgan Freeman I feel like I can do with anybody. It's the ultimate swimming with.

[Monica Padman]

We just had Sterling K. Brown on, and he said, you can't be a fan and in the game at the same time. And I was like, that's a perfect way to say it. You can't be like, I love him so much, I can't tell him what to do. It's like, no, you're the coach of

[Zach Braff]

the game, and they don't want that. I just had the really cool experience. Harrison Ford interviewed me for Interview magazine.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, no kidding.

[Zach Braff]

For this Scrubs rollout. And it was very trippy because my interaction with him on Set is chummy, but, you know, he's Harrison Ford. I never thought he would ever say yes. They said, who do you want to interview for Interview magazine? They usually parry with someone. And I said, well, maybe Brett Goldstein will do it, because he's a buddy of mine and he's an actor, director, writer, I thought would be a good match. And I was like, I don't know. Ask Harrison Ford. Kind of sarcastically. And then Harrison said, yes.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, my goodness.

[Zach Braff]

So it was very cool. It turned into more of a conversation. But I got to ask him questions that I'm not asking him when we're sitting around on set in the director's chairs.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Zach Braff]

I asked him, what do you like from a director? What's most helpful to you? He was saying a lot of the same things. Were saying, like, I'm not always keeping track of where we are. I need you to remind me where we've come from and where we're going.

[Dax Shepard]

I personally had wished some people had phrased that to me that way at times. I think it would have been helpful because I take it as like I've done something wrong in this moment, as opposed to, I need your help with this broader story that's just so helpful to me. When I was younger and super insecure on set. And we're going again, but I don't know why. And I'm thinking something I'm doing wrong, and it's like, oh, no, no, it's not that you're doing wrong. It's like, also, we got to service this huge story. I might even be asking to do something that's not as true just to service this bigger story.

[Zach Braff]

And I might also not know yet. That's something that takes being 50 years old is to go, I also might not know what the answer is yet. Would you help me find it by going again and trying one like this? Because then at the monitor, I might go, oh, eureka. That is what I was looking for.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes. Okay. So another thing that happened, and this is a moment when I text you, which is, you popped up on Bad Monkey season one, and I thought you were so great.

[Zach Braff]

Thank you.

[Dax Shepard]

I immediately text you like, oh, my God. I love seeing you as this fucked up, disheveled train wreck.

[Monica Padman]

I feel like everyone was talking about it.

[Zach Braff]

It was really bizarre. I never get parts like that right. I would love to do more drama like that. And Bill, of course, is my biggest champion in my whole career. And he said, hey, do you want to come down and do some scenes with Vince Vaughn in Miami? And I Was like, that sounds great.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. He's been using that pitch.

[Zach Braff]

I think that sounds great. No, I think once he knew you were a fan and he loves you, he was like, that's gonna really fuck people up. When you show up in Bad Monkey, they're gonna be like, he's back.

[Dax Shepard]

But again, it's so similar killer. Because I gotta say, I hadn't seen you act in a while.

[Zach Braff]

You know how this is. I don't get offered parts like that. I don't come to mind for people at a part like that.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. Like a up degenerate, generate drug addict

[Zach Braff]

who's gonna saw somebody's arm off. Do you remember when Albert Brooks was in Drive and he was the bad guy?

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Zach Braff]

And he was brilliant.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes.

[Zach Braff]

Not that I was playing that much of a heavy or that big of a part, but that's what I kind of was thinking of. So Bill gave me this opportunity. I did it. It was fun.

[Dax Shepard]

Did you have any anxiety about it

[Zach Braff]

not doing the part? I felt confident that I could do the role. I was intimidated by Vince just because I never met him. He's a legend in my eyes. Swingers was a pivotal moment in my life.

[Dax Shepard]

We all wanted to be Vince V.

[Zach Braff]

I wanted to be Vince Vaughn. And then there was a movie after called Maid that I don't know if a lot of people saw, but I loved. I just thought he was one of the funniest improvisers. Actually watch if someone listening, hasn't seen. Made the blueprint with him. And Favreau is even funnier than the movie.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes. Talking about the per diem. Yeah.

[Zach Braff]

Because Vince is just riffing and Favreau cannot keep a straight face. It's so funny. I always laugh at people trying to hold.

[Dax Shepard]

Have you seen that movie, Monica?

[Monica Padman]

I haven't. I'm gonna.

[Dax Shepard]

They're both dipshits and they get sent to New York on this mission. Vince does not know what per diem means, but they're trying to act like they've been there, done that. And so the guy's trying to, like, tell him, you're gonna get this perdm. Yeah. Yeah. And they're just trying to bullshit their way into figuring out what the fuck per diem means. It's so brilliant and subtle.

[Zach Braff]

The blooper reel shows you how Vince works. See him in live time, figuring out the best way to. But Favreau keeps ruining the takes. Favreau's the director, end of the scene. But he keeps ruining the takes because Vince is so funny. I had a Funny moment in Bad Monkey, I had to play a corpse in one scene. Sorry, spoiler. They put the makeup on me and I'm lying in a morgue drawer and Vince and his scene partner have a scene over me and he just starts riffing the funniest shit that's not in the script. And Bill is like, bro, we have to fucking do VFX on your body because your shoulders are bopping. The corpse cannot help but laugh. Oh, he's brilliant like that. So anyway, I did it and I. I didn't think about it again. Although it was funny. I did have an experience with Vince where we were all going out to dinner. I was like, oh my God, I'm going to hang out with Vince Vaughn. And Andrew Watt was down there. Andrew Watt is like one of the biggest music producers around and he's Bill's daughter Charlotte's fiance.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, okay.

[Zach Braff]

So he was down there and we all went out and Bill wasn't there, but we were all out going, oh my God, I can't believe we're all hanging out with Vince Vaughn. This is a dream. And then Vince is like, should I come back to your guys place? Cause we were all living in this condo and we were like, yeah, that'll be awesome. Him just throwing him back, you know, I don't drink like that anymore. Him and Andrew were just throwing him back on the balcony.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, big guy. I'm sure he can handle. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Zach Braff]

Like the biggest fucking case of Coronas you ever saw. And I'm like, oh my God.

[Dax Shepard]

Hang out with Vince Vaughan.

[Zach Braff]

Oh my God, I'm hanging out with Vince Vaughan. Oh my God. Are Vince Van and Andrew Watt going to drink all night long on the balcony?

[Dax Shepard]

What are you gonna do? You're just gonna have to suck that one up.

[Zach Braff]

I did. I disappeared.

[Dax Shepard]

Recused yourself?

[Zach Braff]

I recused myself and I put earplugs in. They drank till like four in the morning on the outside my room. But my point is, 25 year old me would have been like, what are you doing? Going to bed.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes. It's really interesting. So I text Bill if I'm allowed to even say I'm on it. He hasn't responded, but let me see if he.

[Monica Padman]

It's time.

[Dax Shepard]

It's. We'll decide for Apple if it's time that people know.

[Monica Padman]

Holding on to this for.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, yes. Have fun. I love that. Okay, so that's Bill.

[Zach Braff]

Okay, great.

[Dax Shepard]

So yes, I too am now on it. So this is what I think is so fun about our overlap. And it's not just overlap. Overlap. Like, oh, we were both on Bad Monkey. We're both on Bad Monkey at a very specific point in our lives, at a very specific age, doing dramatic roles

[Zach Braff]

we don't normally get cast in.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes. Although I'm playing a douchey. I'm pretty much Bad Monkey to the party.

[Zach Braff]

Oh, I actually don't know what character you play. Although he told me some fun anecdotes. I won't say because they're spoilers, but he did tell me that he had some funny stories.

[Dax Shepard]

I'll tell you what the character's name is Rat Daddy. That tells you a lot. I think the name says a lot.

[Zach Braff]

But you can summon that inner Rat Daddy, can't you?

[Monica Padman]

Oh, it's always ready to come.

[Zach Braff]

I bet there was boating involved.

[Dax Shepard]

Boating. Yeah.

[Zach Braff]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Good idea. Yeah, yeah. Smart, smart.

[Zach Braff]

Well, it takes place in the Florida Keys.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes. And so when I talked to Bill, we interviewed Bill in September of last year. He's actually our first video guest. And he was so fun and good. And he said, I'm going to make you act next year. And I said, I don't think so. I'm really busy on this and I'm very content. And he said, what if all your scenes worth Vince Vaugh, same pitch. And I was like, that's how he lures people. Great. And so when we talked on the phone, he's like, how big of a commitment can you make? And I said, I don't know. He said, what would you want to play? And I said, a muscly douchebag. And he goes, oh, buddy, do I have the role? But it's going to be a few episodes and Rat daddies. But I was going to say, I'm making a lot of assumptions about you, but you and I, I would hope, have the pride of, like all else said, 25 years we've been doing this. The longevity. I never hit the points I was trying to hit. I had my eyes set on being Will Ferrell or Vince Vaughn. That didn't happen. I wanted to be Steven Soderber director. That didn't happen. But I have great pride in the longevity. Like, fucking 25 years is hard to do. And I wonder where you sit with this and tell me about the ebbs and flows of those aspirations.

[Zach Braff]

That's a good way to put it. I have thought similarly. I've had my ebbs and flows. I've had career highs and years where nothing was fucking happening. But I think those ultimately led to me finally then sitting and writing A script I was proud of. And then I've had moments where I was like, I cannot believe this is happening to me. I can't believe this is all happening at the same time. This is so crazy. I'm so neurotic. So something awful is about to happen tomorrow. So that's part of doing this job. We're freelance and you just nailed it.

[Dax Shepard]

You either have nothing or you have too much. Nobody has the right amount of it.

[Zach Braff]

Yeah. And it's a wave. And if you ride it wrong, you crash. And if you ride it right, it can keep going and going. In fact, I'll give you an example. That little part I did on Bad Monkey, I got a lot of love for it.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was sending you love letter texts.

[Zach Braff]

You did. And a lot of other actors I respect a lot as well. I would see a celebrity actor that I love. I don't know them that well, but I'm like, hey, man, how are you? And they were like, hey, dude, Bad Monkey, you crushed it. And it would just make me feel so good.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, of course. And it had been a minute, right.

[Zach Braff]

I've been doing a lot of directing. Yeah. It been. And it certainly been a long time since I'd gotten a juicy dramatic part.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. I think a lot of what people were saying was like, I forgot he's so good.

[Zach Braff]

Oh, thank you.

[Dax Shepard]

It's fun. It's like when Edward Norton acts, he acts once a decade. You're like, oh, that's right. He's one of the greatest to ever do it.

[Zach Braff]

But I'll tell you, I got an offer to do in India that was very challenging playing a cop. True story about a cop who was a narcotics cop outside Baltimore and lost his daughter to drug addiction. An amazing script. It's called Clean Hands. It's going to hopefully be on the festival circuit. But I think I got that offer probably I'm imagining because of my work on Bad Monkey.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Zach Braff]

Had the courage to do it because of the feedback I was getting from some actors I really loved and respected and went and had the most incredible experience where I really let myself go to a place where. Place I haven't because I had a little bit of wind at my sails.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, of course.

[Zach Braff]

And it shows in the movie. The movie I'm really proud of. And so, yes, I guess, to answer your question, to be able to make a living in this wacky ass career path for 25 years, I feel so grateful. I know so many talented people that are incredible that aren't working or can't get work or had to move out of la. I never go to sleep a single night without putting my head on my pillow and saying how grateful I am for the things that have happened.

[Dax Shepard]

There were periods where I felt bad for myself that I didn't hit the mark I was going for. And then a lot of weird things happen over time.

[Zach Braff]

Well, what about this?

[Dax Shepard]

This is unexpected. And who would have guessed it?

[Zach Braff]

You mean outside of this podcast world, the goals you set for yourself as a filmmaker.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes. Or as an actor. Like what I was trying to get to. And I now have the vantage point of, like, oh, I got to do a ton of stuff. Stuff multiple times. And I'm still around.

[Zach Braff]

But you also don't know what's around the corner. Bill is a preferred example. He created Spin City when He was, like, 25 years old. And then he makes Scrubs, and then after Scrubs, he does a lot of stuff. Cougar Town and Undateable. But it isn't hitting the zeitgeist like those two first did. Yeah, he, I think, thought, like, okay, I've had a good career. I can't complain. I love what I do. And then all of a sudden, lasso breaks and then shrinking breaks and then bad monkey breaks. And I can guarantee you this Carell show called RO that I directed for HBO is amazing. It's going to break. And now we're doing the Scrubs revival that hopefully will break. So that man is on absolute fire. My point is he didn't expect that at all. He didn't think that's what his 50s were going to be about. You and I also have a unique experience in that we go back and forth from overseeing everything to just being an actor, which is such a mind fuck. It is.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. We'll talk on that.

[Zach Braff]

When you're directing and producing the show, there's so much pressure, and there's always a problem. You open your phone, there's 11 fires being put out, and then everyone is like this all day long. And you're looking at your watch going, we are so for time. What are we going to do? How am I going to shoot that next scene in an hour? And the actor, 180 degrees is like, we got it. All right, I'll be in my trailer. Bye. I'm going to go lay down and read my phone.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah. I'm going to go look at Instagram.

[Zach Braff]

You guys are all sweating because of all those problems. See, I think what's different for me on Scrubs, I directed this pilot of the revival.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay, we'll get right into it. I just watched it.

[Zach Braff]

Did you like it?

[Dax Shepard]

It's so good, dude.

[Monica Padman]

I'm so excited.

[Dax Shepard]

You know, I didn't watch Scrubs, not because I had anything against it. I was 25 and I was an addict. I didn't watch any TV. I totally miss Scrubs. I've seen an episode or two, but I'm watching this and I'm remembering, oh, it has that same thing that I saw the first time, which, again, you would think would be easy to capture, but I think would be really hard.

[Zach Braff]

It is.

[Dax Shepard]

So it's got that thing, but I must have said five times. My wife was getting ready and that the bathroom. I'm like, this show's good. This is how I'm saying it. And then five minutes, like, this show's really good. I mean, it's just a good show. Like, I missed it. This is a great show.

[Monica Padman]

Start the first with the kids. With the kids. I love that original Scrub.

[Zach Braff]

So, you know, it'll be really trippy for people like yourself who didn't watch the show and watch it now and get into it, and hopefully they love it. There is eight good seasons of the OG that they can go back and watch how we became who we became. And that's a unique thing.

[Dax Shepard]

But you do. You are very clean and effortless. It's not laborious. Catch up to what's going on. We meet you.

[Zach Braff]

I'm working as a concierge doctor, and I've been separated from my friend group. I haven't worked there for 17 years. Donald's character, Turk and myself, we were best friends. The whole bromance thing. We really have both kind of fallen into melancholia because we're lacking the community and friendship. This show's theme song says, I can't do this all on my own. It's what helped us get through, what these men and women who work in hospitals deal with. The ups and downs, the highs and lows of being one of these superheroes that work in a hospital.

[Dax Shepard]

You have a patient who returns to

[Zach Braff]

a grandmother who collapsed at her grandson's soccer game, and I live an hour away because my patient ended up back at Sacred Heart. I have to come. So I'm reentered into the world. I haven't been there in a very long time.

[Monica Padman]

I can't wait.

[Dax Shepard]

It's very meta. It's like returning to high school after you've left, and you're returning to high school after you left.

[Zach Braff]

And what's really Trippy. I'm getting goosebumps talking about it, which is funny because I've lived it. We used to shoot scrubs in an abandoned hospital in the valley, Riverside in witsit. And that building got torn down in order to do Return to Sacred Heart, the hospital we had to build, recreate the entire thing to perfection on a soundstage. And so now I enter the soundstage fully dressed and fully recreated and down to, like, the dusty murals on the wall.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Zach Braff]

And it's a place I haven't been in 17 years, but it's a place I spent my 20s.

[Dax Shepard]

Is that the real gap between when the show went off and now 17

[Zach Braff]

years is when the show ended. Yeah, but we started in 2000. There is a few young people playing interns on the show that were born the year we started airing because they're 25 years old. That's how old interns are.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah. First air, 25 years.

[Zach Braff]

Isn't that crazy?

[Dax Shepard]

It's bonkers. Now, I can't put too fine a point on it. It's. Fuck. Thank you, man. Yeah. John C. McGinley looks incredible. I don't know what his protocol is.

[Zach Braff]

He's a beast like you. He works out like a motherfucker.

[Dax Shepard]

He's looking great.

[Zach Braff]

He's very into the sonic. Cold plunge.

[Dax Shepard]

Donald's looking fit.

[Zach Braff]

Donald does not age. We're posting all this stuff because we're promoting it. And anytime I post a picture of Donald and myself, every third comment is, wow, Donald didn't age.

[Dax Shepard]

Sure.

[Zach Braff]

But no, everybody came back.

[Monica Padman]

Was it emotional?

[Zach Braff]

Yeah, it was my 20s.

[Dax Shepard]

This is what I need you to answer. Because the sweetest chunk of my life as an actor was parenthood. It was just beautiful from day one till the end. And there are many times where it's like, if I ever wanted to act again, that's what I would want to do. And then I have this great fear of, like, but is it returning to high school? Would I go and then just be brokenhearted? That, no, it can't be that thing.

[Zach Braff]

Are you still close with all those people? Yeah, yeah. Absolutely can be.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. So tell me that part of it.

[Zach Braff]

What was unique for our cast is we're all very close. We love each other, we text, we do things together. Bill and I are best friends. Donald and I are best friends. I go out to Johnny's house. He lives out in Malibu. He's the one who got me into sauna and cold plunge and taught me the benefits of it all. Sarah lives in Vancouver. Krista Miller Bill's wife. We're all very close. We go on vacations together. And so the idea of we're just going to get the band back together, it isn't like going back to high school in a sense that you're going to feel misplaced. It's. We're going to see what these people are like now. Because Scrubs is about a teaching hospital first and foremost. And when we entered the world in 2000, we were young, wide eyed newbies

[Dax Shepard]

in all the ways.

[Zach Braff]

Yeah, we were living it. I had just come from waiting tables. Didn't take much to play a guy wide eyed in over his head.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Zach Braff]

And now in the same meta way as I come back, I'm directing the pilot, we're coming back and now we're the teachers for the young kids. The story's still about us. But you can't tell the story of a teaching hospital without students.

[Dax Shepard]

Right. First question. How much did the success of the pit play into this coming back? And how much did you and Donald being in the T mobile commercial? What is the recipe that leads to the relaunch?

[Zach Braff]

I think it was our podcast, first of all, did real.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Zach Braff]

I mean, not Armchair Expert.

[Dax Shepard]

Well, we don't know. Maybe it was bigger. You just ran out of episodes to watch.

[Zach Braff]

No, you guys, it certainly was not on the level of your show, but it had a big following. Enough so that we could feel it. We could feel that it was popular and it did sort of suffer when we ran on episodes. Because you're both very good at interviewing people. That's not a skill set Donald and I really have. We were good at telling jokes and laughing and we can kibitz all day long.

[Dax Shepard]

You get interviewed forever, right?

[Zach Braff]

And we can just chat.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Zach Braff]

And I can imagine the audience enjoyed some of that. We also would go on long ass tangents. Tangents. We were also very candid. His wife would come on and they were very candid. We had a sex therapist on and it was hilarious because him and his wife just started going to a session with the sex therapist and it was so fun. And they are both very open, like there's no secrets. It was just great. We're interviewing the sex therapist. We're being boys. We're asking all the questions. You can't flap this woman. Just ask her whatever the fuck you want to ask her. And she's an amazing guest. And Donald starts to talk about how him and his wife have an issue. And I can say this because they already brought it out. It's on the podcast, he has a much bigger libido than she does. His libido. He's 50 years old and he has the libido of a 16 year old.

[Dax Shepard]

That's why he looks so youthful.

[Zach Braff]

Casey comes on and she's like, all right, I'm ready to talk about it. She's got a southern accent, she's from Texas. And it starts kind of funny as a joke. And then the woman starts giving them genuine counseling. This is a very common problem. Let's talk about it. And it was so candid and interesting and funny that I was like, oh, this I enjoy.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, of course.

[Zach Braff]

But my point is, outside of that rare exception, we were best when we were shooting this shit about an episode of the show.

[Dax Shepard]

Right, right.

[Zach Braff]

So that's why it sort of faded out. Maybe we'll doing it again now that there's more episodes to talk about.

[Dax Shepard]

So that was encouraging.

[Zach Braff]

The podcast was one big thing. Then the T mobile campaign became really successful. And then they kept re upping us. And then I think Bill just being on fire. We always joked because Bill loves a panel. If you're listening to this and you're orchestrating a TV panel, invite Bill. He'll come. And every panel the man's ever been on, he's like, yeah, we're gonna do something with Scrubs we haven't figured out yet, but we're doing something. So in my mind, you know, the show Psych, whatever channel they're on, they had done some psych movies. I. I thought, oh, maybe we'll do that. Or we'll do six episodes. We'll do something. How could we not? We're all available. There's interest. Bill wants to do it. Bill's on fire. I think it was being negotiated long before the Pit because it took a long time to negotiate. This is a businessy thing that most people won't care about. But Bill's deal is a huge Warner Brothers deal. One of the biggest of all time.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. Good for him.

[Zach Braff]

Good for him.

[Dax Shepard]

Almost T mobile money.

[Zach Braff]

This is a Disney property. So it took like two years for them to all talk.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Zach Braff]

Figure out how they'll all make lawyers. So literally, once we said yes, it was like two years of negotiations just with those two guys.

[Dax Shepard]

Wow. So you've known this was looming.

[Zach Braff]

I know something was, but it was never revealed until the end. Oh, it's prime time. ABC, 8 o', clock, Wednesday nights. Hulu the next day, the full push.

[Dax Shepard]

February 23rd, February 25th. 5th.

[Monica Padman]

February 25th, February.

[Zach Braff]

Do you want to say that again?

[Dax Shepard]

25th, February 25th, February 25th, 8 o'.

[Zach Braff]

Clock. Was showing both episodes one and two back to back.

[Dax Shepard]

Brilliant.

[Zach Braff]

And then it's on who's the next day. And then if you're listening to this anywhere around the world, it's most likely on Disney.

[Dax Shepard]

Episode two. Also great. I watched one and two prior to this. It's a good show. It's a good show.

[Zach Braff]

I just like that while your wife's getting ready, you yell, it's a good show.

[Dax Shepard]

My tone is like, there's no way you can say anything but this.

[Zach Braff]

Well, Bill and I had a mantra and I put it on a whiteboard because I'm very into whiteboarding.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Zach Braff]

We said, you know, a lot of people are going to come at this show like this with their arms crossed because the show is meaningful to a lot of people.

[Dax Shepard]

Where is it streaming? On Hulu.

[Zach Braff]

Hulu.

[Dax Shepard]

I imagine it's still huge.

[Zach Braff]

It is. I think it's gotten a bump because of the push. And so we said we have to make the pilot undeniable. And when you say that, you're yelling to Kristen. It's good. That makes me feel like we did our job because we just knew that the show was important. A lot of people, we didn't want to do them wrong. You know, it takes place in 2026. We had to make a modern day version of it and we're 50 years old. But we wanted to honor the tone of the show that they loved.

[Dax Shepard]

What about having to say the medical jargon? Has it been a while?

[Zach Braff]

It's just like if you've ever had to memorize a little piece of another language for a part.

[Dax Shepard]

I haven't. I do have anxiety when I'm watching

[Zach Braff]

There's a woman on set or a man sometimes. And first of all, you can say, when you read the script, send me the nurse who's on set saying how you say this.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay, okay.

[Zach Braff]

So then you kind of get it in your head and then she's on set. So you can be like, am I that? Right after it takes. Whenever I do a procedure, even when I did the cop movie, I did a little police training, but there was a detective on set. And after every take I'd be like, I don't know how you did it on chips, but ours wasn't a comedy. And I certainly didn't want to anything up. After every take I'd be like, please tell me I want to go again. If that didn't look right, he's like, that looked Great. So I have the same relationship with the nurse who's on set on Scrubs. The AMA people be surprised to hear is said that Scrubs was the most medically accurate show on tv.

[Dax Shepard]

I have heard that.

[Monica Padman]

I know, but they're saying that about the Pit.

[Dax Shepard]

Probably surpassed the pin.

[Zach Braff]

Is taking the mantle. In fact, I slid into Noah Wy's dm.

[Monica Padman]

We love him.

[Zach Braff]

I love the Pit.

[Dax Shepard]

It's fucking.

[Zach Braff]

And I always thought no Wylie never got the flowers he deserved. As an actor, I love actors. So when I see an actor who's finally having their moment, I feel this thing in my heart for them. Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Zach Braff]

So I never met no Wylie, I don't think. But I DM'd him. And I said, I just gotta say the show's wonderful and you're just a phenomenal actor. And he wrote back, thank you so much, Zach. That means a lot. Paraphrasing, but it was something to the effect of. We knew going into this that Scrubs was known as the most medically accurate. And we really wanted to achieve that level of success. Oh, boy. Wow.

[Dax Shepard]

That was kind to us.

[Zach Braff]

So that was very sweet.

[Dax Shepard]

They also had Wells on their side who had done ER right. Was er.

[Zach Braff]

Was.

[Monica Padman]

Er. Was already out by the time Scott.

[Zach Braff]

But I think that a lot of the shows that are dramatic take dramatic license. Because look at Grey's Anatomy, the things that have happened. Or, er, the things that have happened.

[Dax Shepard]

Well, she was telling me she's on er. Ben. It's like six or seven little kids have gotten aids.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. I watched the ER again after the Picus. I needed more. Mainly more Noah Wy. Every two episodes, someone has aids. And it's often like a kid or a way that probably they're.

[Zach Braff]

The thing about it is the dramas have to keep the drama going.

[Monica Padman]

Yes.

[Zach Braff]

And when you're on a comedy, maybe you have the license to keep it more realistic because there is a mix of comedy and drama. You don't always have to have someone on their deathbed and you're doing cpr. Also, the Pit and ER are both ER shows. It's interesting about Scrubs. We do have emergency situations, but we never deal with the world of the er. Right.

[Monica Padman]

That's true.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay. There's a feather in your cap. So sorry. This is a spoiler. Coldplay is in this episode.

[Monica Padman]

Song or the people?

[Dax Shepard]

The song.

[Zach Braff]

But don't tell what song.

[Dax Shepard]

I'm not going to. But a Coldplay song is in. It's used masterfully.

[Monica Padman]

Is it Fix you Don't.

[Dax Shepard]

Don't talk.

[Zach Braff]

Don't talk about it. But I will say it's not fix you.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay. And it's not magic. That's all you get to work with. So now Kristen's towards the end of her thing. Have you screamed? It's good. It's good. And then the Coldplay song hits, and then the last couple lines, and she can hear me. I have, like, some predictable sounds I make as if I'm approaching crying. And a nervous laugh is kind of a part of it too. So I think she's in there and she hears like, I'm all by myself in the bed. She's in the bathroom. She goes, are you crying in there? And I go, no. Fighting my hardest not to, but I definitely want to.

[Monica Padman]

That's scrubs. That's the tone. That's the whole show.

[Dax Shepard]

I didn't know we went there in the show. It caught me by surprise.

[Zach Braff]

We also break her, but it's not sexual.

[Dax Shepard]

It was like John C. McGinley says to you. I'm just saying he says something. He says, come on. He's gonna say lots of things.

[Zach Braff]

By the way, I love to hear that you and Kristen have the relationship that I imagine in my mind that

[Dax Shepard]

it's like a Samsung commercial.

[Zach Braff]

Yeah, it feels like a Samsung commercial. Her yelling from the bathroom, you crying in there. Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. That's pretty much what's going on.

[Zach Braff]

Thank you. That means a lot to me. Yes. The show. Part of the brilliance of the show, Bill Lawrence universe, is that we make you laugh and then all of a sudden, we catch your heart. And I should give credit to Asim Batra, who is the current showrunner of the show, and her team of writers. We then catch you when you're not expecting it and hopefully break your heart a little bit.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. You did it. Congratulations, yo.

[Zach Braff]

You reminded me we have too much in common. Not just our looks. I used to watch Extreme Makeover Home Edition. Do you remember this show? Sure, sure, sure, man. Could they pull on your hearts too

[Dax Shepard]

when the reveal happens?

[Zach Braff]

When they would say, bus driver, move that bus. Uh, I remember just sometimes they would have a special needs child and they would have built a special thing for the child. And I just remember not just crying, but making, like, making noises. They were involuntary.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. You never think to do them in a scene where you're supposed to cry.

[Zach Braff]

No. But you know when you're. You're just. There's a tear falling, but that doesn't stop there. Your body goes and you didn't plan.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. Yeah. Stay tuned for more armchair expert if you dare. This message is brought to you by Apple Card. Apple Card members can earn unlimited daily cash back on everyday purchases wherever they shop. This means you could be earning daily cash on just about anything, like a slice of pizza from your local pizza place or a latte from the corner coffee shop. Apply for Apple Card in the Wallet app to see your credit limit off offer in minutes. Subject to credit approval. Apple Card issued by Goldman Sachs Bank USA Salt Lake City Branch terms and more at applecard.com being a serious business owner takes hard work, patience and a

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[Dax Shepard]

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. So we're in March, which means it's a moment to celebrate women. And I want to take a second to acknowledge some incredible women in my life. My family, of course, and Monica obviously, who I get to work with every day. The women on our team, the women in this industry who are constantly juggling a million things at once, they carry so much. They're managing work, relationship, family dynamics, and about a thousand invisible responsibilities that nobody sees or acknowledges. And here's what I've learned. Taking care of everyone else is exhausting. Setting boundaries, creating balance, making space for yourself. That's not selfish, that's necessary. And therapy can be a really powerful tool for that. It's a space to work through the pressures, the expectations, the roles we all play. Betterhelp makes it easier to get started. They match you with a licensed therapist based on your needs and if it's not the right fit, you can switch anytime your emotional well being matters. Find support. Support and feel lighter in therapy. Sign up and get 10 [e-mail] Dax that's better. H E L P.com Dax we are supported by ZipRecruiter. Oh get recruiting. Hiring people is one of those things that sounds straightforward until you actually have to do it. Like when we've needed to bring people onto the team. You post a job. You wait for resumes to roll in. You sort through a hundred applications hoping someone's qualified. You try to track contact info for people who might be a good fit but haven't applied yet. It eats up so much time. Well, the future of hiring looks much brighter because ZipRecruiter's latest tools and features help speed up finding the right person for your roles so you save valuable time. And now you can try ZipRecruiter for [e-mail] Dax you can search for qualified candidates and connect with them in minutes. Over 320,000 new resumes are added every month, so you're reaching more potential hires faster. Use ZipRecruiter and save time. Hiring 4 out of 5 employers who post on ZipRecruiter get a quality candidate within the first day. Go to ZipRecruiter.com Dax right now to try it for free. Again, that's ZipRecruiter.com DAX ZipRecruiter the smartest way to hire.

[Monica Padman]

Do you cry a lot in life?

[Zach Braff]

Not in life, but I love more than anything when a movie or a TV show moves me to tears.

[Monica Padman]

I. I love that feeling because maybe that's why you guys make all these gurgles.

[Dax Shepard]

I hadn't cried from, I think, nine years old. So when my best friend went to the hospital seven years ago. So whatever that is. 35 years.

[Zach Braff]

Wow.

[Dax Shepard]

And now I have these little beautiful girls and they sing songs on stage and I cry. I'm now starting to cry more and more and more to the point where it's almost untenable. I have had a couple big cries here when we're interviewing people. Monica's like, okay, we've hit the limit.

[Monica Padman]

I'm kidding.

[Dax Shepard]

No, shut up.

[Zach Braff]

Down is crying. No.

[Monica Padman]

But sometimes I'm like, again, the line you worry about is that it doesn't seem genuine. It is genuine. I'm here to tell everyone it is genuine. But sometimes you're like, well, you can't cry at this because this isn't a big enough thing.

[Zach Braff]

It's kind of like when you're making a movie, the character can really only have two crying moments max.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, exactly.

[Zach Braff]

You're starting to exceed your crying moments. That's right.

[Dax Shepard]

If you're talking about a daughter. Anyone who's got a daughter story or it's a daughter telling me about how she feels about her dad. That's a guess. I'm done. I have two little girls. That's all I think about. It's just a fast pass to me.

[Zach Braff]

Cried from the horrible things that have happened. But I don't, in my daily life cry much. But I love the feeling, whether it's a play, if it's a TV show, if it's a movie where I feel it coming, it's wonderful.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay, I have some now personal questions. What is your relationship with your looks? I don't want to compare it to where mine have evolved.

[Zach Braff]

When I was younger, there was no one calling me hot. And I was very insecure about how I was going to make it in Hollywood because I would go on these auditions and I would sit in the waiting room and I would look at all of these beautiful men who were hot and they were reading for the part and I was like, I'm not going to get this part. I don't look like that. And that made me very insecure.

[Dax Shepard]

I think there's two sides of that coin. I had that experience and then also I'd be at the commercial audition for Arby's and I was like, I don't look character enough either. I'm not goofy enough looking to get all these funny, goofy roles and I'm not handsome enough. I feel like I'm just caught in this purgatory, doldrums of I'm not goofy looking and I'm not attractive.

[Zach Braff]

I felt the same way right out of school. I got. Well, even before school, I got cast as Woody Allen and Diane Keaton's son in Manhattan Murder Mystery. Even though it was a small part, I knew I'd beaten everyone in town out for it. Yeah, because who wouldn't have wanted that part? So I got a little bit of confidence at 18. Then I went to school and learned filmmaking and studied acting and I got out of school and the first, first thing I got was a very high profile production of Macbeth in New York starring Alec Baldwin, Angela Bassett, Lieb Schreiber, Michael C. Hall. George C. Wolf directed it. Huge theater director. I was the young guy who played two different young roles. And so that kind of gave me like a whoa. I just got a really big part for a young guy created out of college. So I did start to have a little bit of confidence that I could act. But when I came out here and I saw how pretty everybody was, I was concerned that I wasn't going to book tv. And I didn't really. I would never make it very far. Never for a love interest kind of thing. I just wasn't getting that. It was frustrating. When I was waiting tables out here in 99, I was thinking, like, gosh, I don't know, maybe I should have stayed in New York. The cool indies were at that point coming out of New York.

[Dax Shepard]

In theater, there's not that same bar.

[Zach Braff]

No A theater is going to choose the best actor.

[Dax Shepard]

That's right. Yeah. Yeah. It's a meritocracy.

[Zach Braff]

And then Scrubs happened, which is though Bill knew me and studied me and wrote a part for me, it was so tailor made for me. And then, of course, it goes without saying that Bill and I ended up having the exact same sense of humor. That's what gets. Gave me my big break. But the first thought I had was, oh, this is gonna help me get my movie Garden State made. Because no one was gonna fucking cast me in Garden State if I hadn't written it.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes. Yes.

[Zach Braff]

So I knew maybe you had felt the same way. That I'm gonna have to create stuff for myself.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes. So my journey is like, hated how I looked, was bummed. I've gotten older and older and older. I like how I look now, especially at 51, and then even crazier. And I wonder if you're having this experience without naming names. There was a whole legion region of our peers that objectively, for sure, in our 30s and 40s. I'm like, that guy's so much better looking than me. It's insane. A bunch of those dudes. And now, because of this war of attrition in the longevity, a lot of these guys, I'm looking around like, I don't think that anymore. That's my journey with it. Some of my peers have fallen off. And it's crazy to know when you should wish for what I don't know

[Zach Braff]

that I feel that I do see people getting plastic surgery, which I think is crazy.

[Dax Shepard]

Nothing I want to talk about is you. And I clearly haven't had face lifts. But I want to know.

[Zach Braff]

I do this in the mirror, though. I tell you before, I've seen. Seen a bunch go awry. I might have. But I do this, you know, we both have this thing down to this. They're called festoons.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, we know. He knows all about.

[Zach Braff]

And it's genetic. So I, of course, in the mirror sometimes on Scrubs, and I'm like in the makeup trailer going like, can you do this? And they're like, no, we can't do that. That's plastic surgery.

[Monica Padman]

Also don't do that. You looked crazy. That did not.

[Zach Braff]

But my point is, of course, it had crossed my mind, being vain and insecurity. But I've seen enough people go awry that I'm not going anywhere near it.

[Dax Shepard]

Well, yeah, that's what I want to talk about. So I have zero judgment if someone does it. I don't give a Fuck. If anyone gets, like, a fan, that's great.

[Zach Braff]

Cut to me, like, being on the show in five years.

[Monica Padman]

I know.

[Dax Shepard]

Remember when I said to I go to the dentist, I whiten my teeth. There's a lot of things I do and I work out like crazy because I want my body to look a certain way. Like, I'm vain. I just wonder if you're caught in this cycle of thought most of the time, I'd say a good 80% of the time I'm like, this is actually kind of cool. I'm going to be one of the few people that didn't have a facelift and I'm going to look weirdly authentic. And I think that's going to have some weird value. Like, I think I'm choosing the right path. 20% of the time I'm like, this is crazy. Why wouldn't I? I have the money and I am vain. I also.

[Zach Braff]

But aren't you worried to me, the fact that it can go awry? Like, I never got Lasik because I don't know what minuscule percentage of cases of Lasik go awry, but I never got Lasik because, like, my eyes are my whole life. That might be totally neurotic and craz, but I feel like, oh, my gosh, your face. And also, if you and I, all

[Dax Shepard]

of a sudden we had tiny button noses.

[Zach Braff]

If we had little cute noses and a fucking pronounced chin and a jawline, wouldn't people be like, what the fuck did you do?

[Monica Padman]

Yes, they would. They would.

[Zach Braff]

And we had no festoons.

[Monica Padman]

Don't you think? I mean, you say this all the time. Like, what's attractive about people is the differences. It's not for some people, obviously it is, but it's like the classic looking cookie cutter is not what's interest.

[Dax Shepard]

No.

[Monica Padman]

And everyone's starting to meld into one look.

[Zach Braff]

I think it helps us that we're the age we are. Because I'm playing a grizzled cop, a dad. The parts are different. You're not trying to be the leading man who gets the girl. I was never competing for those roles. Really. I did one or two of those, but I was never going to be the Glen Powell of the moment.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. Okay, now I'm going to put you on the spot. And this is to answer my own curiosity because I'm so interested in all the parallels. But when you directed a good person, you had reached out to me a couple of times about, like, aa.

[Zach Braff]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

And I don't know if what I said was helpful or not very helpful.

[Zach Braff]

Thank you. You were the first person I reached out to because I started writing this movie about recovery. As I was just brainstorming and getting the story right, I didn't want to go down any wrong paths. And you helped me right off the bat, clear up some questions I had.

[Dax Shepard]

My main complaint about when I see it in movies is everything's so heavy and so important, and when someone's sharing, it's like they're about to die. And I'm like, everyone has the biggest sense of humor about all the wreckage they've had. That is not. Not the vibe ever.

[Zach Braff]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Even when it's tragic, that's just not our vibe. But at any rate, I have come to learn that a good person was really you kind of processing through this movie. Both your sister, one of your best friends who was living with you during COVID who died of COVID which is insane, at 41. He's got to be one of the very few young people that went down like that. And although those aren't directly the storylines, they're you dealing with that.

[Zach Braff]

Yeah. I wrote, quote, a good person during COVID My sister died of an aneurysm. My best friend was living in my guest house. And he got coveted at 41 in March.

[Dax Shepard]

the very beginning.

[Zach Braff]

Right at the beginning, yeah. His wife, Amanda Kloots, is unknown influencer and actress and performer. And she was very public about it because she wanted to share with people that this could happen to a 41 year old. And he never came out of the hospital again. It was very early on and they didn't know a lot of things. I can't help but think if it had been today, it would have been a very different outcome.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. And your dad also.

[Zach Braff]

My father died of cancer. My manager. I don't know if you ever knew Chris Euvane. Did you ever know?

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, yeah, I knew. He. He died by suicide.

[Zach Braff]

He took his own life. So all of this happened. I didn't know what to do with at all. When you start to write something, I don't know if you feel this way. I don't always know what it's going to be about.

[Dax Shepard]

Right.

[Zach Braff]

You just start to say, this character's on my mind, this scene's on my mind, this image is on my mind. And so what came out was a good person. It ended up being a story about grief. There is recovery as a character in the story, but it's really about grief.

[Dax Shepard]

So the thing I've been curious about you for 25 years is what's your relationship with alcohol and drugs or was there ever dicey periods?

[Zach Braff]

That's a good question. No one's ever asked me that. Maybe Rich Roll, who actually helped me a lot. I don't know if you're friends with Rich.

[Dax Shepard]

I'm not. I keep hearing his name and I've never watched the show. I watched it because you were on it.

[Zach Braff]

Oh, my God. You would be best friends with the guy.

[Dax Shepard]

I feel like it from what I've

[Zach Braff]

seen so much in common.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, we'd either hate each other or love each other. You know, it can go either way when you're.

[Zach Braff]

No, you have a lot in common. You know, he's a fitness nut.

[Dax Shepard]

He's a marathoner.

[Zach Braff]

He's one of those extreme guys. He was an addict and completely changed his life around, and now he is a very successful podcast. You have a lot in common. And he loves his wife and kids. Yeah, I definitely have had binge drinking problems in my life. My problem with alcohol was never, oh, I want to drink at noon. And so I rationalized that just drinking a ton on a Saturday night until you blacked out was. And an alcohol problem.

[Dax Shepard]

Right, right, right. Also, you have depression and anxiety.

[Zach Braff]

Depression, anxiety, the works.

[Dax Shepard]

Do you have adhd, do you think?

[Zach Braff]

No, I definitely had panic attacks and OCD and all that stuff.

[Dax Shepard]

What about cocaine? Did you ever powder your nose? Because that's a very good drug. Are you afraid to say that in public?

[Zach Braff]

No, I never got into cocaine. I used to smoke a lot of weed, but ultimately that wasn't for me. College age, me and older. But then I got sick of it.

[Dax Shepard]

So was there ever a point where you're like, oh, I gotta kind of get this on the rail?

[Zach Braff]

Yeah, I think I had some embarra experiences where I was just drinking too much. They accumulated. And so I reached out to Rich Roll, actually, because he had had a guy on his podcast that if anyone's listening to this, this is speaking to you. I would watch this episode. The program was called One Year no Beer. And it was a English guy who was just in the business world, and his whole career was drinking was pints every day. He had to go for pints at lunch and pints after, and he did blow. And I believe in all sorts of things. And his episode of Rich Roll really spoke to me. Not because I had that kind of relationship with alcohol, but because he said, go on this journey and see what your life is like without it. I think it's worth your time to see. Out of curiosity, a can you not drink, because that's something you should know. And B, you should be curious to see how you feel without it.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Zach Braff]

And I had never done that. Rich is the one who I reached out to because he was a big inspiration to me. And I watched that guy's podcast and we eventually had him on our podcast. And I did a month with actually no alcohol in my body. And then I did another month and everything he was saying started to come to fruition, that I was feeling better overall, less depression. Part of his whole thing is you are taking an antidepressant and pounding a depressant at the same time.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah.

[Zach Braff]

Which is nuts if you think about it.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah.

[Zach Braff]

And he said if you drink a couple times a week, the alcohol never fully leaves your system, so you always have this low grade chemical in your body. A depressant. And so I started to feel everything that he was talking about. Once I flushed the depressant out of my body, I was feeling lighter, I was having more energy, I was feeling happier.

[Dax Shepard]

For me, I was like, oh, mornings are nice. Mornings hadn't been nice for 12 years.

[Zach Braff]

Well, also a hangover at 50. I mean, you haven't experienced this.

[Dax Shepard]

I mean, I know what they were at the dog days of my 29th year, they were insurmountable, which is why I had to start drinking in the morning. They were too much.

[Zach Braff]

Yeah. So anyway, I, out of curiosity, ended up doing 13 months, never touching booze. Yeah. And totally reset my relationship to it.

[Dax Shepard]

What were the downriver result? Did you start looking at your romantic relationships differently in that period? Do you know if there was any kind of ancillary effects?

[Zach Braff]

I know that I had a lot more energy and I wasn't this depressed. And I Overall, 100% felt better. It was almost the most valuable ingredient of the antidepressant. It was almost like in not taking it. It was like taking. Taking the best antidepressant.

[Dax Shepard]

Right, right. Just omitting.

[Zach Braff]

So if you're listening to this and you're taking antidepressant and you're drinking several times a week, I'm here to tell you you're listening.

[Monica Padman]

If you happen to be listening, you

[Dax Shepard]

happen to be sitting within four feet of. You should try.

[Zach Braff]

Oh, is this your story? You should watch this podcast. I'm telling you, it really made me want to try. And by the way, it isn't about you're going to give up alcohol forever. I drink wine maybe once a week at dinner with friends, socially. I don't get drunk anymore. It's About a. Seeing what it feels like when it's fully out of your system. At least try two months and you'll notice it. I kept feeling so good. I did 13 months, but then I went back to a place. Okay, I don't have a problem. I don't want to binge drink anymore.

[Dax Shepard]

So you've broken the habitual nature of it. So it's like now. Now it has a different.

[Zach Braff]

Also, no more booze. I don't do spirits at all. I'll sip wine at dinner. I'll have a mimosa at brunch. I don't get hammered anymore because I just didn't like myself like that. But my point is, since we're pointing at you.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Zach Braff]

It is an interesting experiment to just see what you feel like a month and then do two months. Then you kind of get excited. And also another ancillary thing. Not that you have this problem at all, but as a fitness person, the weight just falls off of you.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, yeah. I lost like £20 in the first four months.

[Zach Braff]

I got lean in a way I had never seen my body. That was kind of exciting.

[Dax Shepard]

Take any photos? I would love to see.

[Zach Braff]

I sent them to my girlfriend. At the time.

[Monica Padman]

You said sometimes people can gain weight because they're feeling the sugar loss with sugar. Sugar.

[Dax Shepard]

It is very common. Yeah. For people to get out of treatment who are, like hardcore alcoholics.

[Monica Padman]

Right, right.

[Zach Braff]

I also want to say. And Dax, you should help me say this correctly. This is for someone who was not drinking any amount of alcohol. No one should go cold turkey if they have a serious alcohol problem.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You might want to be medically supervised if you experience the DTS when you don't drink. Right.

[Zach Braff]

I just want to be careful. I was just binge drinking. Not just. I was binge drinking. Not drinking every day. I was just.

[Dax Shepard]

I'm just binge drinking.

[Monica Padman]

There's so many ways for alcohol to be a problem. Either you're binge drinking or you're drinking moderately. But every day, you know, you've seen

[Zach Braff]

the trends of next generation drinking are way down.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Zach Braff]

And isn't it insane to think how alcohol was marketed to us our whole lives? Talk about successful marketing. Our whole lives. Fun is alcohol. Yeah, yeah, yeah. All those ads. You are not going to the beach. You are not going to the game. You are not hanging out with friends unless you're drinking absolute vodka. Had such a success, successful campaign because they did really cool variations of their ad and magazines and stuff.

[Dax Shepard]

The swimming pools.

[Zach Braff]

Yeah. And I had A whole wall. My parents didn't care because they thought, oh, he's into graphic design. But I had a whole wall in my bedroom that was absolute vodka out. And in hindsight I think, God, it was brilliant marketing. We were just fed that. If you're a human and you want to have a good time, alcohol needs to be a part of it. That was never a question.

[Dax Shepard]

And we all have some varying degrees of social anxiety and it helps with that. So either the young people who don't do it as much that on a downward trend and then the increase in GLP1 users. So even people that are older now, so many people are in GLP1s and that reduces your drinking like crazy. What's GOP1 mano tirzepatide. Ozempic.

[Zach Braff]

I know it is Ozempic. That makes people not want to drink.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh my God. Yeah. Like people who were three glass a night. Wine drinkers are a half a glass and they don't even really want it.

[Zach Braff]

Oh, that's interesting.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, that's almost like across the board. Yours went down. Right. Your frequency is the same but you, your intake is less.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Zach Braff]

Is there talk that it could be helpful for people in recovery?

[Dax Shepard]

There is talk, yeah. Yeah. I don't know who's launching the study or funding it, but it's being observed nonstop. There's all these off label effects of this drug. We've had 30 doctors on here to say like it is the most miracle drug we've had in the last 60 years.

[Zach Braff]

Not just for weight loss.

[Dax Shepard]

No. Because once you're on it, all your metabolic conditions start getting better. So Alzheimer's, heart disease, it just reduces

[Monica Padman]

inflammation kind of in total.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. And you're satiated, so you don't desire alcohol. It's insane. How many positive effects.

[Zach Braff]

Wow. I feel like I should go on OIC.

[Dax Shepard]

Let's get you on. I'm on GLP1.

[Zach Braff]

Why are you on it? You're very thin.

[Monica Padman]

Thank you. It's not for weight loss. So originally I was like, I want to see what it does to my cholesterol. I have high cholesterol, so it's supposed to be good for that. And then. Yeah, we just had so many people on that are like, it's great for your brain markers, it's great for this if you have dementia in your family.

[Dax Shepard]

We're in an Alzheimer's study with one of the premier Alzheimer's experts in the world and he's a thin guy who's on it and he's like, yeah, it Has a lot of beneficial effects on a lot of these markers we look at for Alzheimer's.

[Zach Braff]

Wow.

[Monica Padman]

If you don't have the food chatter, I will say, which I don't. You do have to remind yourself to eat. You do have to be like, I need to eat breakfast now.

[Dax Shepard]

If you start. Yeah. Without food chatter.

[Zach Braff]

Because you'll get too thin.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. And you gotta eat food. You know, you gotta eat the things you're supposed to eat.

[Zach Braff]

Some people get too thin.

[Monica Padman]

It can be slippery, so you have to monitor it.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, yeah. Like anything. It's going to be a beautiful.

[Zach Braff]

You must have to eat a lot to maintain. Maintain muscle mass. Or do you do protein shakes?

[Dax Shepard]

I do protein scoops in my oatmeal every morning. I have the most boring diet in the world. I am such a creature of habit. I eat the same exact thing almost every meal.

[Zach Braff]

That helps you not have to think about it.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes. And I am very adhd, so routines work great for me. So I do the same thing every morning, from the meditation to the journal to the when I get my coffee to when I'm allowed to look at my phone. Then when I get to have my oatmeal, I'm like Rain man in some ways. And I'm happiest.

[Zach Braff]

Can you count cards?

[Dax Shepard]

Yes. Well, Zach, I adore you. I'm probably more interested in you. That's what I'm sensing. I enjoy watching our, like, parallel journeys. When I see you in a T Mobile commercial, it's not like when I see Faison in the T Mobile commercial or any other actor. I go like, oh, yeah, there I am in this commercial.

[Zach Braff]

Where's my.

[Dax Shepard]

How are we aging? Oh, we both haven't had facelifts yet. I was watching Scrubs, the reboot, and I'm like, guys, fucking hair is still gorgeous. I battled to keep mine.

[Zach Braff]

Do you? Oh, really?

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, I have a topical eyedropper I have to use twice a day and makes my hair greasy.

[Zach Braff]

I see the receding now.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Zach Braff]

You know, I don't normally rock this clean cut fade. The Dax shepherd clean close fade. So we're a little closer now.

[Dax Shepard]

We're graying in a similar way. The sides are gray, but the top's still hanging in there a bit. You don't do anything to maintain your hair?

[Zach Braff]

Nothing.

[Dax Shepard]

Nothing. You're so lucky.

[Zach Braff]

I just have to meet my Kristen Bell.

[Dax Shepard]

Well, how has that evolved? Because if I can be critical, I've bumped into you over the years, and you've often been with very attractive, slightly younger girls or often that's been the case.

[Zach Braff]

Not always.

[Dax Shepard]

Not always.

[Zach Braff]

Of course that's been a critique, but not always.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, is that a popular critique? I haven't heard that as a popular critique.

[Dax Shepard]

You don't make those lists of like, no, no.

[Zach Braff]

But with Florence, of course I did because we had an age gap. But that's not been the rule for me. I have a crush on someone.

[Dax Shepard]

Have you evolved in relationships? What were you doing wrong that you know that you're going to try to do right?

[Zach Braff]

Not just looking for adrenaline of the moment, looking for something that could be. Be long term and a life partnership,

[Dax Shepard]

like reorganizing the top five attributes we're attracted to type of thing.

[Zach Braff]

Perhaps Also because I'm 50 years old, I don't know if I'm past the age of having children or not.

[Dax Shepard]

I don't think so. A lot of people your age have kids.

[Zach Braff]

I guess I'm open to the idea.

[Dax Shepard]

I mean, not that you should if you don't want to.

[Zach Braff]

No. But I'm saying I think it took me reaching this age to be like, I'm open to either way. I would fall in love with whomever the universe puts in front of me without being attacked, attached to the notion that I should have children or not, which something that I've pivoted on.

[Monica Padman]

Do you think you used to potentially pick partners that when you walked into a room, you felt proud to have them on your arm?

[Zach Braff]

Oh, I think I've always had that. But that might not be just their looks. I wouldn't be in with someone that I wasn't so proud to have as my girlfriend, whether it be her sense of humor.

[Monica Padman]

Do you think that's changed, though, into more personality over time or have settled always been the case?

[Zach Braff]

I don't know.

[Dax Shepard]

Well, in your first interview, we did talk about your schooling experience and then going away to camp and that you were the king of camp and then you would return to school.

[Zach Braff]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

And so I think when someone's had that experience and they have a lot more options at their disposal, I've yet to meet the person who doesn't want to explore those options. Yeah, I did too, for a while,

[Zach Braff]

but you did that?

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Everyone.

[Zach Braff]

And I've definitely did that. Now I'm ready to settle down.

[Monica Padman]

50, you had a great run.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, it's never too late. You can also be like, there's these dudes, they're 85 and they never decided to do that. And I guess that's fine for them.

[Zach Braff]

That's just remember that Line in this is 40, where I think it's Jason Siegel. He says, I'm gonna Clooney it.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, but look at what Clooney did.

[Zach Braff]

I know, but at the time, he goes, not Clooney it. And then what's her name? I forgot the actress. She says he has sad eyes. What's Tread Apatow's wife's name?

[Monica Padman]

Leslie Mann.

[Zach Braff]

I think it's Leslie Mann.

[Dax Shepard]

I was in the Growlings with her.

[Zach Braff]

I'm gonna Clooney it. He has sad eyes.

[Dax Shepard]

He has very happy eyes and great at selling tequila.

[Zach Braff]

Thank you for having me.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah.

[Zach Braff]

Thank you, most importantly for liking my show. It means a lot.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, it's a good show. It's a good show.

[Zach Braff]

It's good. Kristen. Good show.

[Dax Shepard]

I don't know what to say. It's good. You can't say anything else about it. It's really good. Oh, you're gonna love it, Monica. It has the same spirit.

[Zach Braff]

If you like to laugh and then all of a sudden wonder why there's tears in your eyes. We got a show for you.

[Dax Shepard]

All right. I wish you well. Everyone. Check out Scrubs, airing on ABC February 25 and Hulu the day after.

[Zach Braff]

Thank you.

[Dax Shepard]

You're welcome. I sure hope there weren't any mistakes in that episode. But we'll find out when my mom, Mrs. Monica, comes in and tells us what was wrong.

[Monica Padman]

Jumping right in.

[Dax Shepard]

Let's pop in.

[Monica Padman]

Rape.

[Dax Shepard]

Whoa.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Zach Braff]

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

[Monica Padman]

I know that's a big pivot.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Monica Padman]

But I do want to talk about it.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Monica Padman]

Because I toured the rape treatment center, which is here in. In Los Angeles. Ucla.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, okay. In Westwood.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. It's connected to UCLA hospital. Like, it's right there by the hospital. That hospital is really nice, by the way.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. I visited some friends there.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, I didn't realize how nice it was. But, you know, it's one of those things where I went to the gala last year and I was like, oh, I didn't know anything about it. And I was sort of taken. You know, I was like, oh, that's like a beautiful. The services they provide, which basically, if you go there, if you've been raped or law enforcement brings you there, you go. Not to the er. You go to this separate area and they talk to you. They do an exam.

[Dax Shepard]

Is it not called the rape kit? You're not sure?

[Monica Padman]

I think they don't really call it that anymore. The rape kit is the actual. There is a kit and it has your barcode on it, has all the samples and stuff. Like that. But yeah, we walked through the whole thing, like what it's like. And then it's beautiful. Like, it's really, like, nicely done.

[Dax Shepard]

Warm instead of sterile.

[Monica Padman]

Exactly. It makes you feel like you have some choice in the matter and dignity. And then. So it's the rape treatment center. And then next to it is the Stewart House, which is for children.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Monica Padman]

And that also, like.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, sexual abuse.

[Monica Padman]

Yes.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Monica Padman]

And there's like a beautiful waiting room. And there are volunteers, volunteers that go and like to hang out with the kids and. And then there's like a pretend courtroom in there that they like, fully make to look like a courtroom so they can practice. They can practice and understand, like, where everyone's sitting and you know, because often, like, you know, the. It's their, like, stepdad or something sitting, you know, and helping them process all that anyway. And then they offer free therapy. Free legal. There's a free legal team. I mean, it's really incredible.

[Dax Shepard]

Tell you what kind of volume they have.

[Monica Padman]

Too much.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay, they said too much.

[Monica Padman]

No, they. There are real numbers that I don't really remember, but I will say that day, just while we were there, for

[Dax Shepard]

how long were you there?

[Monica Padman]

The whole thing? Probably an hour, hour and a half. Three different kids were using the courtroom.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Monica Padman]

So, you know, and it's 24. 7 open. 24 7. It's very. It's very remarkable. It's only 10% funded federally, so 90 donation.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, lovely.

[Monica Padman]

And that's why they're really able to, like, do all of this. And a lot of other places that are fully funded, federally funded are like, closing or are a lot. There's a lot of now spillover here, which is great. I just want people to know that that's an option if they live in Los Angeles.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah.

[Monica Padman]

It's. It's a really cool thing they're they're doing there. And I was very moved by it. And of course I was saddened, but I was also like. But it's hopeful.

[Dax Shepard]

This is positive.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Now. Okay, now for tricky questions.

[Monica Padman]

Okay.

[Dax Shepard]

It's. It was a gala of sense. Right. It's to raise money.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

So did you feel at all a little weird, like, being super dress up and looking nice and being there?

[Monica Padman]

Were you, like, for the actual gala? Yeah, it was. It was daytime cocktail.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Monica Padman]

So it wasn't like, you know what

[Dax Shepard]

I'm saying, though, like, to be like, dolled up at a place like that. Do you feel. Is it like.

[Monica Padman]

Well, the gala wasn't there.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay, okay, okay. Okay. All Right, I see. So you went to a gala and then you went and toured it.

[Monica Padman]

Exactly.

[Dax Shepard]

Much different.

[Monica Padman]

Yes.

[Dax Shepard]

You see what I'm saying, though? If you were like, the red carpet was in front of the entrance, it would feel.

[Monica Padman]

It wasn't there. That was. It was at the Skirball Center.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay. Okay.

[Monica Padman]

So the. Yeah, the gala happened, and then, because I was like, oh, wow. I was learning about it and I thought it was so special what they do. And, you know, there were people telling their stories and I was like, I want to learn more about this. So that's when we scheduled the tour.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay. Okay.

[Monica Padman]

And anyone can take a tour they're very, like, open to having because it's very hard to just like, talk about and tell people what they do. But when you're there and you really see it is like, it's very moving. So I left my parents at home

[Dax Shepard]

for that event to.

[Monica Padman]

To go. To go do.

[Dax Shepard]

Were they invited or you just thought, this isn't for them?

[Monica Padman]

I didn't invite them. I told them what I was doing.

[Dax Shepard]

Could have brought them, probably. Yeah, yeah.

[Monica Padman]

I'm sure I could have. Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Right. But then I didn't want. Yeah, yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Plus, I didn't want.

[Dax Shepard]

I don't know. They're on vacation. Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

They just got in. And I was like, I'm going to go to do this rape treatment center.

[Dax Shepard]

So how is your visit going? You're on probably, what, day? Six of them?

[Monica Padman]

Yes. They leave tomorrow.

[Dax Shepard]

Huh?

[Monica Padman]

They leave tomorrow? Yeah. They've been staying at my house with me for a week. And you know, that can get tricked.

[Dax Shepard]

Well, I stopped by to hang out with them yesterday. I hadn't had a chance to sit with them, and we had a great 90 minute. What's fun is you and I know. We don't ever talk about politics, you and I.

[Monica Padman]

Right. Well, if we do, it ends up badly.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. So we really don't. I have a hunch of what your opinions are on a lot of things, but I really don't know. And I don't think you know, and I think we've agreed that's for the best for us, but your parents are political hounds, so I knew, like, oh, good. Like, I was actually excited. Like, oh, I bet we're going to argue about politics, which is fun.

[Monica Padman]

I know. Which I. I know. I felt. I was like, what's. How's this going to play out? Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Because I thought it was. I knew it was going to go good or I felt like it was going to. I was like, oh, this will Be a fun way for you and I to talk about politics, which is so dicey, but somehow they're going to neutralize buffers, something. They're going to neutralize it.

[Monica Padman]

Right.

[Dax Shepard]

Which I think they did.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. Because we got into all of it.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

And I haven't really. I avoid it in general, not just with you. I really don't care what anyone's political opinion is. And. And no one needs to hear mine, really. I have, of course, an opinion on every single thing. But. Yeah, we just. We got into it. It's been a while, but we weren't fighting. No, no, we weren't.

[Monica Padman]

Which was good.

[Dax Shepard]

I mean, we didn't agree on much stuff, but we weren't fighting.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, I thought we agreed.

[Dax Shepard]

We also agreed on a lot of stuff, I should say. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Monica Padman]

But.

[Dax Shepard]

But your parents are incredibly well informed.

[Monica Padman]

Yes.

[Dax Shepard]

And they. This is a topic they talk about a lot. And it's interesting too, because I think Indians in general are really political. Like we saw that in the Husson thing, which was interesting. Your dad was just telling us yesterday that, like, Kerala is one of the only places in India where they're not divided up into ethnic groups or religions as much as they're. They're divided up politically.

[Monica Padman]

Yes.

[Dax Shepard]

So it's like there'll be 10 Christians and three Muslims and nine this and that. But they're. They're politically aligned.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. Because in other parts of India there's big rifts in religion.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. And they mostly are congregated over religion or probably some ethnicity.

[Monica Padman]

Yes.

[Dax Shepard]

But not in Kerala. So it's like also he comes from a place that's clearly quite political.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, yeah. And my grandpa. Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

So they're just very political by nature.

[Monica Padman]

They are. I think also part of that has to do with the generation, like the generations that come here. They need to know what's going on in America as people that immigrated. You know what I mean? They feel like they need to be pretty informed.

[Dax Shepard]

Sure. But I am around a lot of first generation Latinos and I don't hear them talking politics as much.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, that's probably. That might be true. Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

But anyways, we covered it all, man. We had Epstein, we had the war, we had the election, we ran through all the hot button topics and when I left, no one was mad at each other. That was fun.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. So it's been. It's been good. They love the house, which is really nice. And it's been a way different kind of trip than normal because of the house. Because I've had a place for them to be where they can, like, just watch TV and hang out.

[Dax Shepard]

When I came in, your dad was on the patio doing. God knows what he's doing. And your mom's watching tv. Valley. Yeah. Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

She's been binging some shows that I told her to binge. So, yeah, it's been more relaxed, which has been nice. Of course, there's. There's little things, but that's life. That's family. You know, Jess taught them spades. Now, this was funny, so I have to admit that I made a bad stereotype judgment.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Monica Padman]

I had it in my head that I was like, oh, it would be really fun if, like, we were playing cards. I wish they knew spades. And I said to Jess, oh, I wish my parents knew spades. And he said, oh, I can't. Can teach them. And in my head, I was like, no, that's not gonna work out.

[Dax Shepard]

They don't play cards.

[Monica Padman]

They don't play cards. They don't know what cards are.

[Dax Shepard]

Right. They're like seahorses.

[Monica Padman]

Exactly. Exactly. And then the four of us were having a drink, and I was like, oh, I wonder if you guys would want to play spade. Do you ever play cards? And my mom's like, no, no, I don't play cards. Not. No, I wouldn't want to learn.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

And then my dad was like, yeah, like, I. I play cards. And he said, there's a game in Kerala called 56, which is kind of. He was like, if you grew up there, you know how to play it. It's like basically the state game, the

[Dax Shepard]

official game of the state.

[Monica Padman]

That's basically what he said. Yeah. And he said. And it's like. Like bridge, and there's betting and there's all. And he was saying. And I was like, oh, it sounds spades. Ish. So.

[Dax Shepard]

Because spades is bridges as well.

[Monica Padman]

Exactly. And he said, my grandpa used to play. And I was like, man, like, I wish I knew all of this.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Anywho. So my mom's like, yeah, let's learn. So Jess teaches us. And it's so. It is so funny what happens immediately. Their personalities come out so quickly, where my dad is like, oh, yeah, and I know. And then you do this, and then you do this, and. And I already know. Oh, and then you're gonna like.

[Dax Shepard]

He's.

[Zach Braff]

No.

[Dax Shepard]

At all.

[Monica Padman]

He is. He's such a.

[Dax Shepard]

Know it all to remind you of the first time you played with me.

[Monica Padman]

I mean, I don't want to make the comparison comparisons, but he Is such a know it all. And then what is annoying is he. He's a know it all, but he does know he's good. He is good at it. Like, I was impressed. I was like, oh, my God. Yeah, he. And he. Because he already knew strategy. He was already counting the cards. He was like, that's already been played. I was like, oh, my God.

[Dax Shepard]

Like, yeah, yeah.

[Monica Padman]

And my mom is like, I'm not gonna. I don't know. I'm. This is gonna take so long for me to learn. We're gonna have to do a lot of practice. Like, she's, like, nervous.

[Dax Shepard]

Y.

[Monica Padman]

The rest of us already know, and she doesn't know. And we're all like, it's fine. You're learning. And she just keeps saying it over and over again, which was getting annoying.

[Dax Shepard]

Sure, sure, sure. You would also want for her.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

To be in her 60s, had an incredibly impressive career as a computer programmer. Programmer. She shouldn't feel like, oh, they think I'm dumb. If anyone's earned. Like, she should be able to stumble through it and just go like, well, yeah, they know I'm fucking smart.

[Monica Padman]

Exactly.

[Dax Shepard]

And that is a bummer. And. And you. I think we all have a fantasy we're going to transcend our insecurities, but I don't know that you do.

[Zach Braff]

Well.

[Monica Padman]

And she is so smart. Like, I've never. And I've never heard her not think that about herself. Like, it was. It was weird. I was like, yeah. Why is she. What's she doing? Like, it's fine. But she literally didn't even know, like, the suits and stuff. She's never.

[Dax Shepard]

She more was seahors.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. She was seahorse.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Even though she grew up here. So that was my stereotype. Not, you know, not at its best.

[Dax Shepard]

Really backfired on both fronts.

[Monica Padman]

It did.

[Dax Shepard]

If one of the two of them should have known cards, it would have been her, according to your stereotype. And it was reversed.

[Monica Padman]

It was reversed.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

So anyway, she learned, and. And then we finished that. We started a game, and my dad and I were on the same team. And then Neil. And. I mean, Neil. My mom and Jess.

[Dax Shepard]

Freud and Freudian.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. We're on the same team. And it was really fun. And then we finished our game yesterday.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, you did? You resumed?

[Monica Padman]

Yes.

[Dax Shepard]

So how did it conclude?

[Monica Padman]

My dad and I won, but kind of close. Very close, actually. And then it was also fun because my mom started doing moves, you know, and my dad was like, oh, that's a good move. Like, he was like. And getting Impressed?

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. Nice.

[Monica Padman]

The whole thing was very. They're getting flirty if we're gonna call it that. I suppose so.

[Dax Shepard]

You hear footsteps to the next bedroom? No.

[Monica Padman]

Ew. Do not.

[Dax Shepard]

I the verge. When we were hanging out yesterday, there was a tiny lull in the political conversation, and I was like. It was on the tip of my tongue. It almost came out of my mouth, like, three times. I was going to say exactly this. Well, I keep asking Monica if you guys had any boyfriends or girlfriends before you got married, and she has no idea. I was going to get it out of him while we were all together. And I was like, I don't. Monica might be upset by this, so I resisted. I'm glad you resisted, but it was in the chamber. Well, then I made the right call.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, you did. And anyway, so that was fun.

[Dax Shepard]

I also got to say, what was really funny is, so Saturday I had a burst of ambition.

[Monica Padman]

You did.

[Dax Shepard]

And I was like, I'm going to handle everything that's been driving me crazy about my house for the last six months that I've been ignoring. There was a palm frond that was sitting in the bay laurel hedges that I've been staring at when I'm in the sauna for six months, angry about, can't walk over there and do it. It was that. It was. I got a new rug for upstairs in the bathroom.

[Monica Padman]

Right.

[Dax Shepard]

And the door wouldn't clear it.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

I'm sure, Rob, you experienced that. Did you notice today? It clears just fine?

[Zach Braff]

I noticed you cut the door because we're dealing with the same thing with our basement door right now.

[Dax Shepard]

So I took the door off the hinges, I cut down the door, rehung the door. Wow. Clears like a fucking. Also, I had got a new nightstand to match my other nightstand I had from 15, 20 years ago.

[Monica Padman]

Okay.

[Dax Shepard]

These were chat rocks.

[Monica Padman]

Oh.

[Dax Shepard]

So I have this furniture I got at HD Buttercup. I don't know what it is, but I still love it. Right. We still have some of the pieces. My mom has a lot of them. I gave her, like, my bed and stuff. And so one of them now is in my clubhouse, that little nightstand that sits on the right of the couch. And I love it. And then I took a picture of it and said to chat. Hey, I bought this in, like, 2006 at HD Buttercup.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

And it's like, oh, this is environment furniture. It was sold in these years at that store.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, that's cool.

[Dax Shepard]

What you have have is this exact thing. Let me scour the Internet and Find out if there are any for resale.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

I'm like, that's insane. I could have never figured this out.

[Monica Padman]

So I found it.

[Dax Shepard]

I didn't find that one, but I found another piece of their furniture, a different nightstand. So at least it's in the same vein. It's like this certain kind of wood that's reclaimed and then lacquered black. So I ordered one secondhand. So excited. It arrives. It's tomorrow taller than the other one. So I've been sitting in my clubhouse staring at it on either side of the couch, and it just wasn't right. So then I cut down the legs of that and made that the same.

[Monica Padman]

Okay, great.

[Dax Shepard]

I was banging them out. You know, I'm infamous for underestimating how long things are going to take me, as you know.

[Monica Padman]

Yes.

[Dax Shepard]

Like, I think I can power wash the driveway in, like, 45 minutes and six hours.

[Monica Padman]

Yep.

[Dax Shepard]

That wasn't happening today. I was boogieing. I got through all those things in probably, like, an hour and a half.

[Monica Padman]

Okay. You love to do things.

[Dax Shepard]

So then my next thing was. My gate has been getting hung up for six months on the cobblestone. The gate is very heavy, and over the two years since it's been installed, it's sagged enough that it's hung up on the very jagged cobblestone.

[Monica Padman]

Okay.

[Dax Shepard]

So I ordered a stone chiseling kit.

[Monica Padman]

Wow.

[Dax Shepard]

And I'm like, I'm gonna go chisel out these raised areas of the cobblestone so that the gate will close effortlessly. And this one, I was like, yeah, I'll do that in 20 minutes. And I was out there hammering. Listen, we've all heard the expression, I've been breaking rocks all day. That meant nothing to me. That's usually used to, like. It's the worst thing you can do is break rocks all day. I'm here to say that is a great analogy. So I was on probably hour two, laying on my ground, hammering Kabul, and all of a sudden, I heard a car pull up, and it was in your family pulling into the neighborhood.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, we were. We're pulling right in the neighborhood. And you were. You were right there on the edge of the street working on your. On your rocks.

[Dax Shepard]

Banging the rocks.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

And so I ducked my head in the car, and your mom was up front, and she looked cute. And then your dad looked six years old. He was sitting in the back seat with his seatbelt on, and he was holding a 12 pack of Michelob.

[Monica Padman]

Well, like, on the side, right?

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Like, it was, like, on the seat,

[Dax Shepard]

like he had a baby next to him or something.

[Monica Padman]

And he was probably wearing his hat.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, he just looked really cute. It's like, oh, he got his 12 pack of Michelo. He has his arm around it, you know, it was really.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, he didn't want it to fall over.

[Dax Shepard]

You were parked, you know.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, my God.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. We had stopped to get him his. His beer.

[Dax Shepard]

And that's his brand.

[Monica Padman]

That's his brand because of. Of blood sugar.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay. That's a low glycemic index beer.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay, good.

[Monica Padman]

I have a question because. And this isn' relation to your projects.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Monica Padman]

Okay.

[Dax Shepard]

It is or isn't?

[Monica Padman]

It is.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Monica Padman]

Do you replace the filters on your furnace?

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, I do, but not nearly enough.

[Monica Padman]

Okay.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, I've been. I've been shamed a couple times. Gordon Keith famously stayed at our house and he went and replaced all of them. Yes. But now we're on a schedule and Carly does it.

[Monica Padman]

Okay. So.

[Dax Shepard]

Because they in la, they get dirty way quicker. Quicker than you'd imagine. I think that's probably part of my problem is growing up, I had to replace them for my mom.

[Monica Padman]

You did?

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Okay.

[Dax Shepard]

But rarely, they didn't get filthy. Like, humidity keeps dust down for many, many reasons. Just LA's way dustier.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. It's very dusty.

[Dax Shepard]

And so. Yeah, when I was living that house, it was like, I'd be sitting on the couch, and all of a sudden I'd look up there, I'm like, oh, that motherfucker's black. And how long has it been black? And I just hadn't seen it.

[Monica Padman]

Okay. Yeah. So this is part of having an engineer father, right? Like, so Course, you know, I come down in the morning and he's like, so you have three. Like, he's like, done his investigations, his

[Dax Shepard]

analysis of the home.

[Monica Padman]

Exactly.

[Dax Shepard]

His inspection.

[Monica Padman]

Huh? And he was like, do you know where your panel is? I was like, yes. Like, I already know. I knew kinda. I kind of knew. But yesterday he was like, so, you know, you remember you're gonna have to replace the filters in the furnace every three months. Months? And I was like, no, I don't. And I said that to him.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Monica Padman]

And he was like, yes, you have to do that. I was like, well, I've never heard of that. I've never heard of that before. And I. I mean, are you. Are you doing that? And he was like, yes.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. Dads are obsessed with my Martin. My stepdad thought about furnace filters more than anything else.

[Zach Braff]

Oh, my God.

[Dax Shepard]

It's a very dad thing to think about.

[Monica Padman]

I, of course, course was like, oh, like, I have a different kind. Like, I have an upgraded kind that won't need a replacement or something, or else I would have known about this. I was like, I mean, how would I not know about this? If it's that. If it's that, like, important. Exactly. And then he was like, no, it is. And so he was like, you know, running around looking for where they were. And. And he was showing.

[Dax Shepard]

Well, there's the hygienic aspect, but then they also start running way less efficiently because they're trying to suck air. Aaron, through all this clogged.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Filter.

[Monica Padman]

So he was looking, he showed. He found the two. And he was showing me. And I was like, I still. I'm, like, pretty skeptical about this. I think he's being extreme, because he is extreme. Like, you know, he's an engineer, so he's gonna be very. On top of all of this extra. And. And then, though, I started panicking. I was like, oh, my God. Like, I can't.

[Dax Shepard]

There's so much stuff.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, I can't have a house. I don't. I don'. Know all these things. If he hadn't said that, I would never know that.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, you would have noticed at some point, way too late, you'd have noticed, like, oh, my God, there's a black box behind that grill. What is that? And you'd realize, oh, that that's a filter and it's filthy.

[Monica Padman]

So I was like, there's too many things now to consider that. I don't know. To think about. I don't even know.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

And then. Because then my mom kind of overheard. Overheard. She was upstairs watching tv. She said, what are you telling me her to do? And he said, she has to replace those filters. And she said, she doesn't have to do that. And you know, you do. You do. And I live by myself and I'm a homeowner and I'm going to have to do these things, luckily. So, of course I texted Bill, my contractor best friend, another dad of mine. And I said, my dad. And I don't know if he's just being like, extra, but he says I have to replace the filters in this. And he said, you do have to, but I'm going to give you basically how to run this house.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, great. Now, this is. You've wandered into what is sometimes the domestic conflict between men and women. Because let's just say in my circle, what was universal is the moms are so mad at the dads. Around Christmas time because they don't do a lot of the Christmas present shopping or wrapping, and that is a fact.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

And then the dads are kind of mad because the dads. Dads do this kind of stuff, but the moms don't even know it needs to be done. So, like, a lot of times I'm like, yeah, I know you're mad about the laundry. I do the dishes. I feel like that. But even beyond that, I don't think you know what I do. Because you're not thinking about the air filters or the cobblestone or all the little dumb things I do that are, like, mechanical. But you guys don't even know that that stuff.

[Monica Padman]

Well, I'm about to happen.

[Dax Shepard]

So you have no kind of appreciation for it?

[Monica Padman]

Listen, don't.

[Dax Shepard]

You're mad at.

[Monica Padman]

Don't include. I don't have a husband. I'm not. I'm not nagging a husband about anything. Yeah. Yeah. But I. I did think. At first I was like, oh, my God, I can't do this. And then I thought, you know what? Wow. I'm gonna be, like, very competent at. At running a house, because I have to. I have no choice. There's no partner there to handle things.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, you can't.

[Monica Padman]

I can't. I mean, I can hire people to help me, but I have to know what to hire them for. Like. So I decided to look at a glass half full.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, you'll become. You'll be very competent.

[Monica Padman]

I'll be competent at.

[Dax Shepard]

You can do all.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, it's. I. I can. I just need to know what it is I need to do. But Bill's gonna help me with that. And of course, Bill was like. And I'm not going anywhere. You know, he's so nice to me.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, he loves you.

[Monica Padman]

He's so nice.

[Dax Shepard]

Daughter. Does he have a children of his own or. You're his only child.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, I think he has many because he. He has all these other cl. I'm not special. He has other clients. He's so nice. So my dad was right about that, I guess. I. I was like, I gotta ask Dax. I bet he doesn't do it, but you do.

[Zach Braff]

I do it.

[Dax Shepard]

And I'm aware of the fact that I should be doing it more, but we've hacked it because now it's just on the calendar.

[Monica Padman]

Right.

[Dax Shepard]

And Carly does it. Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

It is like.

[Dax Shepard]

I guess I can't really be too proud of myself, you know?

[Monica Padman]

Okay, well, that's honest, but it is. There is some obvious domestic differences in Running households. Classically, obviously. There's a lot of chain differences. And my dad does a lot of domestic stuff. He does the dishes, like, he does a lot.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

But, yeah, because when my mom was like, she doesn't have to do that. He was like, yes, she does have to. And. And she said. She said something like. Something like, she's a. That made me mad.

[Dax Shepard]

That mobilized you.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, it did.

[Monica Padman]

Because also, I said, well, no, I am. It's just me.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

So, yes, I do not do the

[Dax Shepard]

things that need doing. Because you're a woman.

[Monica Padman]

Exactly.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

So I'm gonna be so competent soon. I need to take a nap.

[Zach Braff]

Oh.

[Dax Shepard]

I know what I want to say, and I don't know why I want to say. I think I want to encourage people to show their kids movies.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, all right, Great.

[Dax Shepard]

And I'm always struggling to, like, what movie should I show? I know. I want to watch a mov movie with generally Lincoln. Lincoln's now of an age where she can watch pretty much everything. So Moulin Rouge, a great movie, had been forever. Like, my daughter loves singing and musicals, and all of a sudden I'm like, oh, my God. Moulin Rouge. How haven't I shown you that? So I showed her that. That was a big hit.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

And then the one that I. I just had a hunch she was gonna love. And I bet you haven't seen this. Have you ever seen First Blood?

[Monica Padman]

No.

[Dax Shepard]

The original Rambo?

[Monica Padman]

No.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay. Now, I bet you're put off immediately by hearing Rambo, but when I want to compare to. And it's a perfect comp. Rocky, the first one, was nominated for Best pitcher. Might have even won. Might have won that year. The subsequent Rockies are more cartoonish. They're more like superhero movies. He's. He's less of a real person and whatever, but the first one is a legit masterpiece.

[Monica Padman]

Okay.

[Zach Braff]

He did win Best Picture for that.

[Dax Shepard]

It won best picture.

[Zach Braff]

Yep. 1976.

[Dax Shepard]

There you go. None of the other Rockies were going to even get nominated, Right. The original Rambo. First Blood is a incredible movie, and it's poignant, and it's really dealing with the issue of the times, which are like these kind of wayward Vietnam vets who are just back in America, and everyone hated them, and they had no role anymore. And it's a great movie, but he's immediately. He wants to stop in this town to visit an old friend of his from Delta Force. He finds out that guy's dead, he's really sad. He wants to stop in this tiny little town in the Cascade Mountains in Washington and have a meal. But the sheriff does not want him there because he's clearly a Vietnam vet. And this escalates. They arrest him. He's having flashbacks. Anyways, it turns into a manhunt in the mountains.

[Monica Padman]

Okay.

[Dax Shepard]

And not only did she love it, what I loved was like, she loved it for the same reason I did as a kid. And even watching it again is like she wants to know if she could survive.

[Monica Padman]

Oh.

[Dax Shepard]

She was like, I want to be chased and see if I could get away too. I'm like, yes, me too.

[Monica Padman]

Okay. Wow.

[Dax Shepard]

Stay tuned for more armchair Expert if you dare. He has a knife and in the knife he's got matches and a kit to sew up, suture himself as he needs. He's a one stop shop for survival.

[Monica Padman]

Wow.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. And it's a really appealing tale if you have. Linking a nice personality type.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

To the degree that she's like, I want to figure out how to have a birthday party. That's like a survival.

[Monica Padman]

That's fun.

[Dax Shepard]

It sounds like a lot of moving parts for me.

[Monica Padman]

Sounds like you need a liability waiver for her friends.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes. We all those knives. You got to have a knife.

[Zach Braff]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

And who are we going to?

[Monica Padman]

I bet there are. Defend ourselves or something. That's kind of fun. Like a survivor birthday party I took her to.

[Dax Shepard]

Charlie's son had a birthday party at paintball.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

You may recall this ace.

[Monica Padman]

Yes.

[Dax Shepard]

And the whole way she was like nervous, was afraid. It's all boys shooting paintballs at each other. And I just was like, honey, I just have a hunch you're gonna love this actually. And she loved it the most. She was so into it. So paintball's kind of. That you get to see if you can survive and outfox the other people

[Monica Padman]

or what's that called? Laser tag.

[Dax Shepard]

Laser tag.

[Zach Braff]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

That's a. Like a more G rate. That's fun.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. I mainly just kind of hid. I was in defensive mode. That's how I.

[Dax Shepard]

That's a good strategy.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, that's my strategy. I don't know that that movie is going to be for me.

[Dax Shepard]

No, it's a great movie.

[Monica Padman]

Okay.

[Dax Shepard]

Kristen was watching it too, and she was like, oh, my God, this. I can't believe this is such a great movie. I would have never thought Rambo, John Rambo is a good movie. To the point where she went to bed early and we finished it and then she woke up in the morning and finished it. I think that's A test. Estimate how good it was. Okay.

[Monica Padman]

It was good.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

One other thing. Now that we're talking about things you've. We've watched.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

I started DTF St. Louis.

[Zach Braff]

It's fun.

[Monica Padman]

Are you. You're watching it?

[Zach Braff]

Yep.

[Monica Padman]

I mean, I only watched the first episode. I started the second episode. It's so good.

[Dax Shepard]

Of course. Steven Conrad.

[Monica Padman]

Stephen Conrad, the Patriot. Your favorite show four times. It's Bateman. It's David Harbour. And it is so good.

[Dax Shepard]

I can't wait.

[Monica Padman]

It is so funny and weird and very him. Very Steven Conrad, where it's like, what is this? Like, tonally? But, oh, my God, I was like dying laughing.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, I can't wait.

[Monica Padman]

They're.

[Dax Shepard]

Kristen has gone back to work, so it's kind of tricky to be. And I. That's a show I'm not allowed to watch.

[Monica Padman]

Sure. On your own.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Well, it's fantastic.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. That's the only reason I haven't seen it yet. I want to be clear, because I'm ultimate Stephen Conrad fan.

[Monica Padman]

Highly recommend.

[Zach Braff]

Has a pey's disease.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, it does.

[Dax Shepard]

Yay. Ding, ding, ding. Which seems like it was written after you. Oh, wow.

[Monica Padman]

It does feel very.

[Dax Shepard]

I don't have it anymore. I have.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, let's be clear. You don't have have it.

[Dax Shepard]

I don't have it. I had it.

[Monica Padman]

Sure.

[Dax Shepard]

But you can heal from it, which I did, luckily.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, it's. You know, it's. That's. Was also seeing David harbor since all of the drama. At first I was like. It was like all I could think about.

[Dax Shepard]

You were distracted.

[Monica Padman]

I was distracted by the drama. I was like, oh, yeah, David Harbor. I mean, he's so good. It's crazy.

[Dax Shepard]

He's a beast.

[Monica Padman]

He's so talented. It just made me think. I mean, I already think this isn't some. This isn't new for me. But I'm like, h. Just like, celebrity gossip is so annoying. Like, just let people do their jobs. Unless they're. Of course, if they're hurting people, like abusing people. Yes, that's bad. Clearly. And people need to go to jail. But.

[Dax Shepard]

But I'm just saying, bad girlfriends and boyfriends.

[Monica Padman]

I don't need to hear about it anymore. I just want to be able to watch these people entertain. That's their job.

[Dax Shepard]

I guess if I'm trying to be like third person observer of it. I'm an alien. I would imagine there's something comforting about knowing people that you feel like have too much good luck or good fortune, are suffering and flawed is somehow Comforting,

[Monica Padman]

I know, but, like. Yeah, schadenfreude. But it's annoying because. Okay, so what if he didn't get that? Obviously, they had already shot. I'm sure they had already shot that show by the time all this happened. What if he didn't get it because of that? Like, we'd all miss out.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah. Performance.

[Monica Padman]

Like, he's. I don't know. It's just. I'm just. I'm sick of celebrity talk. Okay. Anyway.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, I have an update that leads right into to facts.

[Monica Padman]

Great. Love it.

[Dax Shepard]

So the Amanda Pete episode was so fun in that I have now connected those two.

[Monica Padman]

Lake and Amanda.

[Dax Shepard]

Lake and Amanda are now friends, and they're chatting, and I'm on a text thread with them, and I said, you know what? I have a concept already I had come up with for Zach and I. It's yours.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, wow. You handed that over.

[Dax Shepard]

So now it may come from them. Nature versus nurture. May come from us. We'll see. But I've gifted that concept up to them if they want to explore it. Oh. So are you identical twins separated?

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

In hijinks and zoos.

[Zach Braff]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Is it like a race to see who.

[Dax Shepard]

No, I. I wish them well. I'm not ready to go make a movie, so.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, I mean, I guess we are. It is, like, two episodes back to back that are doppelganger heavy.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Which is kind of fun.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. Oh, other updates are from Amanda Pete. Amanda Anka.

[Monica Padman]

Ding, ding, ding.

[Dax Shepard]

Said.

[Monica Padman]

Right. She's married to Bateman. Right.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, and she's married to Bateman.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

But she came up.

[Zach Braff]

She did.

[Dax Shepard]

Amanda was suggesting that she probably had done all this New Moon stuff, and she told me that. Well, let me see. Exactly. She participated in some. Okay, okay. She wants.

[Monica Padman]

I hope she didn't cut her hair.

[Dax Shepard]

Funny you would say that. No cinnamon or salt, but I would not wash my hair. Good. That was her text.

[Monica Padman]

Good for her. Did she wear red?

[Dax Shepard]

I said. And did you wear red? She said socks. I usually sneak the red.

[Monica Padman]

Okay. Yeah, that's fine.

[Dax Shepard]

That'll work.

[Monica Padman]

I was told you can do even your underwear as long as it's something

[Dax Shepard]

that'll prevent the jinxing.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. Speaking of that, my mom. I just forget. Like, she is so superstitious. And every time we're at a restaurant, we have a drink, she has to cheat.

[Zach Braff]

She.

[Monica Padman]

We cheer. We always have to cheers. And she always says to good luck and good fortune. I think something like that. Good health and good fortune. I forget it. But she has to say, It. Every time. And if she does, it's like, you know, it's a panic. We got to say it.

[Dax Shepard]

Who knocks on wood first when you guys are together?

[Monica Padman]

Her.

[Dax Shepard]

Her. She's beating you to the knock on wood. I think maybe. Probably same time, perfectly synchronized.

[Zach Braff]

Probably.

[Monica Padman]

But it was funny because we were talking about the. Some. Which. About these superstitions and, like, cracks. Cracks in the sidewalk. You know, not walking on cracks in the sidewalk and stuff. And my dad was like, cracks? And what are what. Cracks in the sidewalk. There aren't any cracks in the sidewalk. And she was like, yeah. And I said, yeah. You know, when they. The two. The two pieces meet? He said, oh, the joints. You know, he knows all this verbiage. He's like, oh, the joints. No, those are there to prevent cracks.

[Zach Braff]

It's true.

[Monica Padman]

I was like, oh, wow. He was like, so you can step on those.

[Dax Shepard]

They're crack prevention.

[Monica Padman]

Exactly. Okay. This is also ding, ding. Because we're talking about shows. I started the new Scrubs since.

[Dax Shepard]

Since.

[Monica Padman]

And as I think I mentioned, I loved the original Scrubs.

[Dax Shepard]

So tell me. I hadn't watched the first, but to me, it seems like they did it. That's the exact same show.

[Monica Padman]

They nailed it. It's so good. And that tone is so specific. Those jokes are so specific. The writing, like, is all. I can't believe they're able to do it again and recreate it and have them all be older and it still work. And it is. It's spectacular.

[Dax Shepard]

That has to be quite a challenge.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. They really. They. Hats off.

[Dax Shepard]

Congrats, guys, to good luck and good fortune.

[Monica Padman]

It did make good health. It did make me. I cried, of course, because, like, that's what they do.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

But also. Also, I was like. I was feeling so nostalgic watching it. I was right back to being in college when Callie and I would watch it.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. And talk about J.D.

[Monica Padman]

well, we didn't.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay. Is that his name in the show?

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, that's his name.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Monica Padman]

John Dorian. What's his name? And like. Yeah. It made me happy.

[Dax Shepard]

It made you sad.

[Monica Padman]

It made me happy. Sad.

[Dax Shepard]

Just bittersweet.

[Monica Padman]

Nostalgia is such a weird feeling. I don't like it.

[Dax Shepard]

She's a weird mistress.

[Monica Padman]

She is. I wish she would. I wish you would die.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, no, no. I love nostalgia.

[Monica Padman]

No, it makes me feel too many things.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, I like it.

[Monica Padman]

I don't want to feel those things.

[Zach Braff]

Okay.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, my God. Huge sim.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Monica Padman]

Huge sim. So he told us a story about how they were in. Him and Donald Faison were in Vegas. They saw the chainsaw smokers at this club.

[Dax Shepard]

Y.

[Monica Padman]

And I was gonna look up the club.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Also. But when we had the chain smokers on, they were telling us about the

[Dax Shepard]

residency at the Win. I think it is.

[Monica Padman]

Well, hold.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Monica Padman]

So then I edited this episode, you know, and I write down my facts, and then I go to pee. Minutes later. Yeah, I go to pee. I'm looking at Instagram during my pee. Nicole. Our friend, Nicole Stylist Chavez. Nicole Chavez had a post. She was in Vegas.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Monica Padman]

The D day. That day.

[Dax Shepard]

Uhhuh.

[Monica Padman]

With Donald and Casey.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Monica Padman]

At the Chain Stokers. At the. I guess the opening of Zero Bond.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay. I don't know what that is.

[Monica Padman]

So that's a club and it's. And. And there was an opening.

[Dax Shepard]

And what hotel's it in?

[Monica Padman]

I thought the Win, but.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, well, that's what I think.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Zach Braff]

It's at the Win.

[Monica Padman]

Win.

[Dax Shepard]

R, W, Y, N, N. Right.

[Monica Padman]

So that was wild.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. That's a dingles.

[Monica Padman]

Anyway, so a lot of people were at that opening. It was like a place to be.

[Dax Shepard]

Sure. They probably sent jets for people.

[Monica Padman]

They sent.

[Dax Shepard]

Who sent jets for people? Kind of thing. They'll say, hey, if you want to come to this nightclub, we'll send a jet.

[Monica Padman]

Okay. How. What percentage of LASIK eye surgeries go awry? Oh, I think it's very rare.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Infamous occurring in less than 1 of cases.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, they've got it nailed.

[Monica Padman]

Often cited around 0.3% to 0.7. Oh. However, temporary manageable side effects like dry eye halos or glare affect. Up to 30% to 45% of patients in the months following surgery.

[Dax Shepard]

That's temp.

[Monica Padman]

That's temp. Yep.

[Dax Shepard]

I got new sunglasses. I've been wearing the exact same pair of sunglasses for 12 years. I found a pair I loved and I never deviated.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Leisure Society. They're great.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, you love those.

[Dax Shepard]

Well, they got me with an Instagram, grandma. Leisure Society. Whole new frames, and I got three new pair. And my family's been making fun of me so much.

[Monica Padman]

Why?

[Dax Shepard]

Just because dad got new sunglasses. You know, Dad's just the resident dork. Oh, that's the role you play.

[Monica Padman]

But are they cute?

[Dax Shepard]

I love them. Yeah, I think they're great. Yeah, they think they look great, too. They're just laughing at the fact that I got a new. After 12 years, I have a new sunglasses, and I was wearing them a lot.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

And so that's just stupid, you know?

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Like, what if your dad was wearing new Sunglasses. You and Neil would probably be like, oh, my God, dad in his new sunglasses.

[Monica Padman]

I don't know if we would, but yeah. Okay. He said on their podcast for one of them, one of the episodes they had a sex therapist on, and I was like, I bet. I bet it's Vanessa.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Monica Padman]

We had on.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Monica Padman]

And I looked it up, and sure is.

[Dax Shepard]

It was. Yeah, that makes sense.

[Monica Padman]

Yes. Vanessa, great episode. Great gal. Oh, one thing I wanted to remind everyone, if they forgot, which they definitely did. The first episode with Zach Braff was the original Monica Loves Boys. How it started. So there was a picture of me looking at Zach.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Monica Padman]

That, you know, Rob would take pictures during the episode. He took a picture, and I'm smiling in such a way.

[Dax Shepard]

You look like you're in love with him.

[Monica Padman]

Yes. And then that's when. When we came up with Monica Loves Boys. Just the name Monica Loves Boys. I think Rob wrote it on the picture and then really took off.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Who's the One Year no Beer guy? Co founders Ruari Fairbairns and Andy Ramage. Or Ramage. Those are them. They do One Year no Beer. Seems like maybe it's Andy Ramaj mainly.

[Dax Shepard]

That's who he was talking about, right?

[Monica Padman]

I think so.

[Dax Shepard]

So that's who he heard Interviewed.

[Monica Padman]

I believe so. That's it.

[Dax Shepard]

That's all.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, that's it for Zach Braff, number two.

[Dax Shepard]

Thanks. Zach Braff, number two. Good job on the Scrubs doppelganger. I wonder if people start telling me they like neon scrubs.

[Monica Padman]

They might.

[Dax Shepard]

They like the reboot.

[Monica Padman]

I know, but we established you guys are.

[Dax Shepard]

We don't really look, like, different, but you.

[Monica Padman]

It's. There is something weird.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, yeah. It's like the mouth, eyes. There's something going on. On for sure.

[Monica Padman]

It's the whole phase.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. But it's also much different than it was.

[Monica Padman]

It is different. It is definitely different than it was, but also quite. Quite similar.

[Dax Shepard]

Not as similar, but still similar. Yeah, that's what we would.

[Monica Padman]

It's just so weird because I don't

[Dax Shepard]

have one that we've met yet. Well, the gal from season three.

[Monica Padman]

No, your friend on Stranger Things.

[Zach Braff]

She came back in the new season.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, of course. By popular demand.

[Monica Padman]

She is not my doppelganger. Yeah, no.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Monica Padman]

What's her name again?

[Dax Shepard]

No one ever thinks she's your friend. No one ever thinks they're doppelgangers. They're doppelgangers.

[Monica Padman]

You think it. You know it.

[Dax Shepard]

Well, because I'm exceedingly honest.

[Monica Padman]

What? Mine's not about being honest.

[Dax Shepard]

That girl's beautiful, you know, but you would agree that.

[Monica Padman]

Rob, I want you to be very honest.

[Dax Shepard]

Why don't you show one from season.

[Monica Padman]

Season? That's probably what she looks like now,

[Dax Shepard]

but that's her on a red carpet with her hair slicked back and short. Like, that's.

[Monica Padman]

Maybe. Robbie, you should pull up. Okay, now pull up a picture of me.

[Dax Shepard]

I mean, it's not a doppelganger.

[Monica Padman]

It's not, but it's not.

[Zach Braff]

One more.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Monica Padman]

She has a much cuter nose than me. She's.

[Dax Shepard]

There we go.

[Zach Braff]

Look at that.

[Dax Shepard]

I love. With the eyeshadow and the shave. Yeah, that could be you. We shave your sides and put some dark eyeshadow on, and she can give mean eyes like you can, but she's probably just on the verge of rolling her eyes, which is going to send him to the ground.

[Monica Padman]

That's a really old picture.

[Dax Shepard]

Look at that.

[Monica Padman]

I don't. Do we. Maybe I can't be object. Do you really think those look the same?

[Dax Shepard]

I can see it, but I was,

[Monica Padman]

like, 20 in that picture.

[Dax Shepard]

She's probably 24 in that picture.

[Monica Padman]

I was actually probably, like, 24 in that picture. That was my first head.

[Dax Shepard]

Wait, I don't know who's. Wait, which one's her?

[Zach Braff]

Yeah, I love her.

[Dax Shepard]

I think she's great. She was also in Debs.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, she was. Yeah. She's your friend on Instagram.

[Dax Shepard]

Yep. I have a lot of friends.

[Monica Padman]

Your best friend.

[Dax Shepard]

I have a lot of friends on Instagram.

[Monica Padman]

She's my friend. I follow her on Instagram. That's your friend?

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, that's my friend.

[Monica Padman]

That's your friend?

[Dax Shepard]

I follow her on Instagram. Oh, there's my other friend I follow on Instagram. Oh, there's one, too.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, my God.

[Dax Shepard]

All right, well, you're not. You're not buying it.

[Monica Padman]

But listen, by the way, I wish that's. I wish that she was my doppelganger.

[Dax Shepard]

This is where your own, like, body and face dysmorphia get in your way. Like, you wouldn't be able to see. As soon as you identify someone else as pretty, then they're no longer your doppelganger. That's, like, literally what's happening right now. You're like, oh, she's really pretty. She's not my nose.

[Monica Padman]

Nose is different than mine.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes. And Zach has many different. Different aspects of his face than I do. He's got black hair. We have different chins. I know we have a lot of different stuff, but there's some thing that is eerily similar.

[Monica Padman]

Her nose is nice. Maybe I should take that into the plastic surgeon and say, make me look like that. All right.

[Dax Shepard]

Anyways, it's good to see my friend. It's good to check in.

[Monica Padman]

Fuck.

[Dax Shepard]

Bye.

[Monica Padman]

Love you.

[Dax Shepard]

Bye. Love you.