• Zach Braff speaks out in response to criticism of Garden State
• The faults of 2004’s Garden State have lately come to Zach Braff.
• “I just feel lucky that I get to make stuff,” the author said in response.

Zach Braff have lately come to Zach Braff’s attention 20 years after the film’s premiere. The Scrubs veteran addressed the criticisms of the film, which was written and directed by Braff and starred Natalie Portman as Sam, in a recent interview with The Independent.

At the time, movie critic Nathan Rabin dubbed Portman’s portrayal as the original Manic Pixie Dream Girl, which “describes a female love interest with no discernible inner life but for some reason a desperate need to make sad leading men feel better about themselves”.

Braff said, “I was just copying Ruth Gordon in Harold and Maude and Diane Keaton in Annie Hall.” The actress, 47, admitted that she tried to combine the two female leads from her two favorite films as a child into Natalie Portman.

“Of course I’ve heard and accept the criticism,” he said, “but… I had this concept of a dream girl protecting me from myself when I was a very miserable young man. Braff said, “And so I created that character.

During the 2004 film’s writing process, Braff said, “I wasn’t as extreme as my character Andy, but I was definitely battling my own demons.” In his own words, the actor said, “As I was writing it, I was hoping I could survive what became known as the quarter-life crisis, and depression, and fantasizing that the perfect woman would come along and rescue me.”

“I just feel lucky that I get to make stuff,” the author said in response. I shouldn’t truly think about it. However, he continued, “After many years of filmmaking, your skin gets tougher.” A Good Person, the latest film from Braff, will hit theaters on March 24.

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