Born and raised in New Jersey. Attended Columbia High School in Maplewood, New Jersey. Graduated from Northwestern University with a BA in film.


Attended the same high school and graduated the same year (1993) as R&B singer and hip-hop MC Lauryn Hill. He has gained praise at film festivals for his directorial debut, Garden State (2004). Brother, novelist Josh Braff, wrote "The Unthinkable Thoughts of Jacob Green." Also attending Columbia High School at the same time was Ahmed Best, better known as the voice of Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)'s Jar Jar Binks. The youngest of four children: Adam J. Braff, Joshua Braff (wife, Jill; children, Henry and Ella), and Shoshanna Braff. Parents are divorced, each is remarried, and all get along with one another. Zach's "four parents" are all at Thanksgiving dinner together every year, with the four children, and the grandchildren. According to an article in The Chicago Sun-Times, when Braff won his Best First Feature Independent Spirit Award for Garden State (2004), his father jumped up from a back table in the room and yelled, "That's my kid!". Auditioned for the role of Drue Valentine on "Dawson's Creek" (1998), which eventually went to Mark Matkevich. Graduated from Northwestern University with a B.A. in film Is a die-hard fan of the show "Lost" (2004). His father is of Russian heritage. Directed the music video "Chariot" for singer Gavin DeGraw. Zach Braff's real-life friend and "Scrubs" (2001) cast mate, Donald Faison, also made a cameo in the video. His right leg is an eighth of an inch longer than his left, which led to a herniated disk in late 2006. The actor has cut a one-year deal with "Scrubs" (2001) producer ABC TV Studio that will pay him about $350,000 per episode for the 2007-08 season. When he sent the script for Garden State (2004) to people, he would also send them a copy of the songs (which he handpicked) that would eventually be the soundtrack. This was in the order in which they appeared. Went to film school with Janae Bakken; they now work together on "Scrubs" (2001). Close friend of "Scrubs" (2001) co-star Sarah Chalke.