The Making of 'Garden State'

Zach Braff:
The dog's code to f*** a leg is "Who's your b*tch? Who's your b*tch? Love him up. Love him up."

Zach Braff:
Somebody really did tell me that their buddy was writing a movie about snowboarders.

Natalie Portman:
But wait, aren't you writing a movie about surfers?

Natalie Portman:
How do you feel about the example you're setting for young people without the helmet?

Zach Braff:
Well, I think that my character quickly learns that he needs to wear a helmet.

Natalie Portman:
Somehow I didn't get written into this scene. It was very upsetting.

Zach Braff:
That's not real weed. That's movie weed.

Natalie Portman:
Damn!

Natalie Portman:
All my friends, after they saw the movie, they were like, "The main thing that we learned was that Jersey has *really* hot girls!"

Zach Braff:
There are people who really speak Klingon, you know that, Natalie?

Natalie Portman:
Uhm, no; I'm in Star Wars, not Star Trek. I know it's confusing.

Zach Braff:
We had to teach Jean Smart how to smoke a bong. That was really fun, giving Jean Smart bong-smoking lessons.

Zach Braff:
And here's the reveal of our gorgeous leading lady.

Natalie Portman:
Aw.

Zach Braff:
Look at that dog, I mean he's unstoppable.

Natalie Portman:
I like how he goes from one foot to the other.

Zach Braff:
He shakes it up.

Natalie Portman:
Here comes the Jersey accent.

Zach Braff, Natalie Portman:
Bawls!

Natalie Portman:
I wanted Natalie to have like a subtle Jersey accent, but it comes out in words like "balls".

Zach Braff:
Now I hear you don't like this upcoming shot of yourself.

Natalie Portman:
This really embarrasses me.

Zach Braff:
I think it's pretty. Ha ha!

Natalie Portman:
Ha ha! I can never watch this shot at all.

Zach Braff:
Every time we're at a screening and this shot comes on, I get to sit there and watch you cringe.

Natalie Portman:
It's so embarrassing.

Zach Braff:
I think it's adorable.

Zach Braff:
I love this because it's sort of that awkward older brother moments like, " Are you trying to kiss on my sister or what?"

Natalie Portman:
Yeah. I love that I invite you up to my bedroom right away.

Zach Braff:
There's something really sexy about a girl who collects vinyl.

Natalie Portman:
Although you guys totally had to teach me how to put a record on.

Zach Braff:
Ha ha, I know. Natalie's like never put a record on in her life.

Natalie Portman:
I grew up with tapes, bud.

Zach Braff:
I know, I think it's really cute though.

Natalie Portman:
People saw this in the trailer and they were like "Wow, she *really* can't dance." Little do they know.

Zach Braff:
Little do they know you're a break dancer.

Zach Braff:
I don't know if you get to do much of that in the "Star Wars" stuff, just dance really silly.

Natalie Portman:
Just wait for Episode 3.

Zach Braff:
I told my cinematographer for this scene I wanted that really warm, romantic light.

Natalie Portman:
Where you can't help but fall in love.

Zach Braff:
Yeah. Most of those leaves are fake by the way, I should mention.

Zach Braff:
You're so amazing here. I mean when you pulled this out on you're first day, I was like "Holy sh*t."

Natalie Portman:
My mom always pulls this sh*t on me.

Zach Braff:
Really? She gets out the old video tapes?

Natalie Portman:
Yeah, for like friends or boyfriends. It's very embarrassing.

Zach Braff:
Can I just say, without making you feel uncomfortable, how beautiful you look in this scene.

Natalie Portman:
Thanks.

Zach Braff:
You look hot. Hot, hot, hot.

Natalie Portman:
It's like 'Wild Things', the Indie version.

Natalie Portman:
And the woman who owned the house was mad because everyone used her bathroom.

Zach Braff:
Yeah, and the toilets were all clogged up and she was like "There's doodie everywhwere!"

Natalie Portman:
And we were like so much more preoccupied with why she was using the word "doodie" instead of helping her.

Zach Braff:
Remember how I couldn't swallow that thing? Oh, that's right, you weren't there.

Natalie Portman:
You're such an a**hole.

Zach Braff:
No, I didn't mean it like that.

Natalie Portman:
Rub it in.

Zach Braff:
No, I totally thought you were there, you were there every other day.

Natalie Portman:
My dishwasher wouldn't close yesterday, something was wrong with it, and I was like flipping out. I was like, "Oh, my God something bad's going to happen, something ironic and horrible."

Zach Braff:
You're like "You stupid latch!" It would be a great article though, if you tripped over it.

Natalie Portman:
Make our movie millions.

Zach Braff:
This is really cute here. When you actually have the balls to tell a girl that you like her, you want this kind of reaction to it.

Natalie Portman:
It's awesome when you can write it for yourself, huh? How things pan out. I remember in the script, it said "She's so cute." Like, that was the stage direction. I was like, "Hmmmm."

Zach Braff:
Yeah and you know what, when I look at that shot I think "She's so f***in' cute."

Zach Braff:
Actually, I take it back, the scene of these two having sex was the very first shot. And I really have to give it up for these two actors; they really just went for it as uncomfortable as it was. I mean, they don't know each other obviously.

Natalie Portman:
Uncomfortable or *AWESOME. Like "Hi, nice to meet you, lets bang!"

Natalie Portman:
Yeah, someone actually just told me that he was nervous to say "titties" in front of me; which I was so excited about. Like he thought I was all sweet and innocent.

Zach Braff:
Little did he know.

Zach Braff:
This is one of two green screen shots in the movie; so Natalie could feel right at home.

Natalie Portman:
This is so mean; if anyone uses these lines on a girl they should go to hell. It's like the meanest thing ever.

Zach Braff:
What?

Natalie Portman:
To be like, "You changed my life. See ya later. You're the best girl. Bye." It's a shitty thing to do.

Zach Braff:
I think it's sweet that they're sort of like sweet innocent lip kisses. You know, it's not like we're...

Natalie Portman:
Tonguing.

Zach Braff:
Yeah, it's not like we're jamming tongues down each other's throats. It's more just like the... innocent lips.

Natalie Portman:
Well, that was only because of the deal we made.

Zach Braff:
What? Oh, the tongue -

Natalie Portman:
The "no tongue" rule.

Zach Braff:
You jammed it in there a couple times, come on.

Natalie Portman:
You liked it.

Zach Braff:
Yeah, I loved it. It distracted me from my direction.