Zach Braff’s newest film features a pair of Hollywood heavyweights—and two New Jersey towns.
A Good Person, written and directed by Braff, filmed in South Orange and Maplewood in 2021. Braff, 47, grew up in South Orange, and his movie’s new trailer spotlights locales such as the South Orange train station and Columbia High School, the Scrubs star’s alma mater.
The trailer, released by MGM, highlights performances from Florence Pugh and Morgan Freeman. Pugh, Braff’s real-life former girlfriend, plays Allison, whose life veers off-course when a fatal accident claims her soon-to-be sister-in-law. Freeman plays Daniel, a model train enthusiast and Allison’s would-be father-in-law. The two develop an unlikely and healing connection in the aftermath of their shared tragedy.
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Pugh, 26, produced the movie with Braff. Freeman, 85, previously starred in Braff’s 2017 remake of Going in Style.
“This is the first time I’ve had the pleasure and the privilege of watching how the art is made from the very beginning to the very end,” Pugh wrote in an Instagram post accompanied by the trailer. “I am so proud of this creation, I’m so grateful to all those who jumped on board this crazy journey with us.”
A Good Person also stars Molly Shannon, Celeste O’Connor, Chinaza Uche and Zoe Lister-Jones.
Zach Braff (left) and Morgan Freeman on the set of Braff’s 2017 film Going in Style. Photo: Warner Bros./Photofest
Braff first made a name for himself as an actor by playing J.D. on Scrubs, the medical comedy TV series that debuted in 2001.
A Good Person is not Braff’s first movie to include his home turf. His directorial debut, Garden State, took place, naturally, in New Jersey. The 2004 flick earned a Grammy for best soundtrack.
“I love New Jersey and I’ll keep setting my films in New Jersey as long as they let me,” Braff told New Jersey Monthly in an interview a few years back.
A Good Person, which will be rated R, hits theaters March 24.
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