Former Scrubs star Zach Braff is a flying talking monkey in the new Oz movie. He talks to Russell Baillie.
Firstly, your [2004] movie Garden State seemed like the start of something for you outside Scrubs. But you haven't directed a movie since ...
That's the flattering question I'm getting asked. I'm trying to do so much. I'm trying to be an actor, a writer, a director, a playwright. I had a couple that almost got going and then they fell apart for one reason or another, and I would take an acting gig. So years pass. I am really committed to doing it this year. I have a new script I have written with my brother and I am hoping to make my second one this year.
In Oz: The Great and Powerful, you are a talking monkey named Finley. How are you coping with that?
It's fun. I am sort of the comic relief, the monkey sidekick. It was a lot of fun to be a part of. It was an amazing cast and beautiful, stunning movie. It really was a no-brainer for me to do it.
Was it doing animated film Chicken Little that suggested you could voice a flying primate?
No, I think it was actually director Sam Raimi's wife, who was a fan of mine, and she suggested me. I went in and met him and he started showing me some rough animation of what it was going to look like. He said, "I need someone who can improvise and riff with James Franco, who plays Oz". So I started watching the animation and started making up lines for the character and he started laughing. And I got the part soon after.
In the original The Wizard of Oz, the winged monkeys are scary. Is Finley any relation?
We must differentiate between the flying baboons. Those are the evil ones. I am sort of a friendly valet bellhop. I also play Frank, a human in Kansas. Just like in the original, people are different creatures in Oz and I become this flying monkey.
