Zach Braff Talks Directing Florence Pugh & Morgan Freeman in 'A Good Person' – & it Might Make You Cry

Zach Braff Talks Directing Florence Pugh & Morgan Freeman in 'A Good Person' – & it Might Make You Cry

03/28/2023

Whether you’re working a 9-to-5 job at the office, or are an actor on a movie set, having coworkers you admire and respect makes any job undeniably better. On the set of A Good Person, directed by Scrubs alum Zach Braff, that couldn’t be more true. Talking to SheKnows’ Reshma Gopaldas, Braff talked about working with the two stars of the upcoming movie, Morgan Freeman and Florence Pugh, and shared just how amazed he is by them.

“I had directed [Freeman] in a studio heist comedy called Going in Style – he and Michael Caine and Alan Arkin – and so I knew him, we had a relationship, and I just didn’t think he’d ever say yes to this,” Braff says about his initial thought of asking Freeman to do this project. “He doesn’t do a lot of tiny, independent movies that shoot in 26 days, he certainly doesn’t attach himself to movies that don’t have financing and we didn’t yet.”

But, while Braff rationalized how unlikely it would be for the legendary actor to join the production, he was reminded of his late dad Harold, who passed away in 2018. “My late father always used to say ‘It can’t hurt to ever ask’ so I asked him,” Braff recalls.

Braff then described the moment Freeman said yes, while he and Pugh were coincidentally in his living room. “The phone rang and she held up the iPhone and it said “Morgan Freeman” across the face of my phone and I answered I was like, ‘Hello?’ because he doesn’t ever call me,” Braff recalls, adding that Freeman didn’t even say “Hi.” “He said, ‘I see myself on every page of this script,’ and I was like ‘Does that mean yes?’ and he was like ‘That means yes.’”

As for how filming with Freeman went, the experience exceeded Braff’s expectations. “We had to move incredibly fast and he’s 84 years old, and we had a bunch of night shoots, and some of the hardest scenes happen in the middle of the night and he was just incredible,” he says. “Because we had that friendship, he really allowed me to push him I think, and trusted me to get a performance out of him like he hasn’t given in a few years.”

When talking about Don’t Worry Darling star Pugh, Braff seemed equally as impressed. “Every single moment she blew me away,” Braff says of Pugh, who also happens to be his ex-girlfriend. “I mean, I suppose people might think I’m biased, but everybody knows she’s the most exciting actress of her generation. She’s just on another level. And this is a very hard part, this is not a part for a mediocre actor or actress and she just blew me away every moment, there’s not a scene that has an off-note.”

As for a scene that stood out to him the most, Braff spoke about a specific moment while keeping spoilers to a minimum. “There’s a moment where she finally opens and shares her truth that is just really just dropped-jaw-holy-s***-amazing,” Braff says.

To watch Freeman and Pugh’s jaw-dropping performances, and, of course, Braff’s equally as impressive directing, check out A Good Person, out in theaters on March 24.

Before you go, click here to see our favorite movies and TV shows about imperfect, complicated women. 

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