Zach Braff was working as a waiter when he landed his Scrubs role.
The 50-year-old actor first played John Michael 'JD' Dorian in the beloved hospital sitcom back in 2001, and he has recalled the job coming at a time when he was frequently spending his days being shouted at over the amount of bread the restaurant served.
Speaking to Variety, her recalled: “I wore a beige tunic and served French Vietnamese food and was often yelled at that we didn’t serve bread, and so I was lucky enough to audition six times and get this show and it changed my life."
Donald Faison, who plays JD's best friend and surgeon Christopher Turk on the show, was also in a restaurant when he got the call for what he described as "the hottest pilot of that season".
He said: "I remember being in a restaurant when my agent called me and told me I got it. “I remember the wait in between when I heard I got until when we started filming and it was such a long wait and I didn’t have that much money at the time and I was like, ‘I need this thing to start going.’
"But once it started going, this has been such an amazing ride and I can’t believe we’re back here.”
Meanwhile, Sarah Chalke (Elliot Reid) was on her way back from a concert with her best friend when the audition script arrived at her home.
She said: "I remember opening the envelope and being like, ‘Oh no, oh no, this is the best thing I’ve ever read, and my audition’s in nine hours'.
“I remember reading that script and thinking like it was so groundbreaking and so different. I love the combination that [series creator] Bill Lawrence does with all of his shows.
"There’s heart and comedy and pathos and hope, and I just remember it was so unique and different than anything I’ve read and I just wanted to be a part of it."
She can still remember going through "the series of auditions at the time", which included call-backs with creator Bill Lawrence, the studio and the network.
She added: "I remember Bill called me and said, ‘You got the job,’ and I just thought, ‘Oh, my God, I’m so lucky. This is going to be incredible.’ It was life changing.”
The sitcom returned this week for a revival series with the original cast back for the ride, with the trio joined by Judy Reyes and John C. McGinley as Carla and Dr. Cox respectively.
