Dark-haired with boyish good looks and a gentle, endearing screen presence, Zach Braff made his feature debut briefly seen as the son of Woody Allen and Diane Keaton in 1993's "Manhattan Murder Mystery", but was better remembered for his turn as a crush-prone troubled young member of "The Broken Hearts Club" (2000). As the bleached-blond Benji in the acclaimed ensemble comedy, Braff capably handled the character's hapless attempts at romance and drug-induced tailspin and brought remarkable charm to lighter moments as well. Fresh out of college, Braff won a role in the Public Theater production of "Macbeth", playing Fleance alongside Alec Baldwinand Angela Bassett as the Scottish warrior and his Lady. Subsequent film roles included a co-starring part in 1999's "Getting To Know You" which featured the actor as the brainy, protective brother of Heather Matarazzo's chatty Judith. In 2000 he racked up more independent feature credits with appearances in the romantic fantasy "Blue Moon" and the mockumentary "Endsville". Though playing a cute teen who poses as a girl in order to land a summer job in the 1994 "CBS Schoolbreak Special" presentation "My Summer As a Girl" was his only prior television credit, Braff won a leading regular role on the NBC series "Scrubs" (2001- ). A one-camera sitcom without the usual laugh-track trappings, "Scrubs" chronicles the experiences of John "J.D." Dorian (Braff), an eager young intern given to fantasy-sequence musings navigating the oft-wacky, oft-sobering goings-on in a city hospital. A graduate of Northwestern, Braff directed the 20-minute short "Lionel on a Sunday" while attending film school. The film subsequently was screened at various competitive festivals. After his "Scrubs" breakthrough, he then embarked an an even more ambitious project, writing, directing and starring in the full-length indie feature "Garden State" (2004), in which he played a perscription drug-taking, L.A. wannabe actor/waiter who returns home to New Jersey for his mother's funeral and gradually awakens from his long life-sedation. Written just after his "Scrubs" casting, Braff resisted changes in tone to earn financing and eventually gathered enough funds to shoot the film during his sit-com hiatus after Natalie Portman his first choice as the love interest, agreed to appear (Braff also snared first-choices Ian Holm and Peter Sarsgaardto co-star). After a strong reception at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival, where it was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize, the film was picked up for distribution and became a critical darling, landing Braff an Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature, a Best New Director Nod from the Chicago Film Critics Association Awards, a Writers Guild of America nomination for Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen and even a Grammy as the compliation producer for Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media. After receiving his first Emmy nomination for "Scrubs" in 2005, Braff was heard on the big screen as the voice of the titular doomsaying fowl who turns out to discover that the ski really is falling in Disney's CGI-animated "Chicken Little" (2005).