©Courtesy of Disney Plus
Scrub : JD and Turk scrub in together for the first time in a long time: Medicine has changed; interns have changed; but their bromance has stood the test of time. Characters new and old navigate the waters of Sacred Heart with laughter, heart and some surprises along the way.
The 30-minute revival comedy series stars Zach Braff as John “J.D.” Dorian, Donald Faison as Christopher Turk and Sarah Chalke as Elliot Reid. Original cast Judy Reyes and John C. McGinley will guest star as Carla and Dr. Perry Cox, respectively.
Bill Lawrence of Doozer Productions created the original series and serves as executive producer alongside Jeff Ingold and Liza Katzer also of Doozer Productions. Zach Braff, Donald Faison and Sarah Chalke will star and executive produce. Aseem Batra serves as executive producer and showrunner; Randall Winston also executive produces. The series is produced by 20th Television, a part of Disney Television Studios.
TUNE IN: The first two episodes of “Scrubs” premiere back-to-back Wednesday, February 25 at 8pm ET/PT on ABC. Stream next day on Hulu.
©Courtesy of Disney Plus
Exclusive interview with Actresses Amanda Morrow & Layla Mohammadi
Q : Compared to a serious hospital drama, the original Scrubs series has a more lighthearted tone, which is rare back then. The series also has fantasy sequences and emotional stories and love stories on occasion. What was your interest in the original series that you want to be a part of?
Amanda Morrow : So many different parts of the original series that were fascinating. The fan for sure. That was like the one thing that no other show is doing. Being able to be in scrubs in one second and then to be in a completely other universe in the other second is so much fun. And it was so fun to be a part of, and that was something I was really excited to do. Jumping on this show.
Q : How about you, Layla?
Layla Mohammadi : The fantasy sequences are hard to beat. I think that’s one of the most fun things about this show. It’s a show that does such a good job at blending humor and drama, and sometimes you’d be tearing up and cracking up within the same scene. And I think that’s one really fun thing about the show is the heart that it has.
Q : I’m curious to know that did you ladies take any medical training prior to shooting like any robotic surgery?
Layla Mohammadi : We had medical advisors on set. We had access to them at all times. Whenever we had to do something, we had someone there to guide us and show us how to do it. I was lucky I didn’t have many medical terms I had to say this season. I feel like you had some though.
Amanda Morrow : I was looking through this, I was thinking about it the other day ’cause I was like, what has Dashana(Amanda’s character) had to say? But we did have a couple of fun games where we got to play and learn different medical terms, but thankfully it was all shown in the or. So our two characters didn’t have very many difficult medical terms to say, but I know that the med interns were going crazy with those.
©Courtesy of Disney Plus
Q : Things has been changing in the hospital, how they treat the intern, they can work crazy hours, they even have a workshop called “Sensitivity Workshop.” So, could you tell us the new rules and the teaching strategy applied into the Sacred Heart Hospital?
Amanda Morrow : Yeah. There are a lot of updates, technically speaking. With technology, we now have a monitor that’s on wheels that didn’t use to be a thing a couple of years ago. And that’s been more of a new invention. Being able to work with a robot is a new invention. Treating doctors, especially interns with more humane hours, letting them get rest. Putting an emphasis on mental health is something that has changed within this new series, and highlights the shifts that have happened in the medical field.
Q : Layla, you wanna add anything
Layla Mohammadi : I think she said that’s exactly..
Q : The cost of medicine was a topic discussed by one of the cast members in the series, and it was mentioned that people can’t afford to live in this country if they get sick due to hospitals trying to maximize profit, requiring doctors to examine 5 patients every hour. The series also question about current situation in the hospital. How does it update in this show? I thought that was interesting update on the current situation about this hospital considering out Trump ministration and all that.
Layla Mohammadi : Yeah, the show does such a good job talking about real world issues and people being uninsured and not being able to pay for medicine is something that’s been happening for a very long time and people can’t get the care that they need.
And I think that the show does a great job. Showing it through a comedic lens, but also it talks about sensitive subjects and brings light to things that I think people need to pay attention to.
Q : Did the original cast member give you ladies a bonding time to familiarize with hospital or characters? Could you talk about how you ladies bond with the cast members.
Amanda Morrow : It was definitely an immediate kinship when we got on set. We all spent a lot of time together. We did this thing called Saturday Night Dinners every Saturday. So we would try a new restaurant around Vancouver, which was so lovely because we got to become foodies and really get to see the food scene where we were, but also it was such a beautiful way to facilitate community because those relationships and that bonding, took a place a lot of times on those Saturdays and then also translated to screen and there was a true mentorship. Between us and the original categories…
Layla Mohammadi : Which I think speaks to the generosity of Zach, it was his idea. He hosted them every Saturday night and he really wanted to show us, how important it’s to have that kind of bond and community and family feel offscreen to make it easier to show on screen. It was so much fun.
©Courtesy of Disney Plus
Q : It’s clear that Zach Braff is the main character in this series. How is his leadership treating interns like you, ladies, to help shape it?
Layla Mohammadi : Such a generous leader. He was so open with his time and his advice and experience that he was always a safe person to go to and ask him anything, He set the tone of what the set would be like, and immediately it felt like a warm place where you could do your work, take it seriously, but also have fun while doing it. And yeah, I dunno if you wanna add anything, Amanda.
Amanda Morrow : A hundred percent. He put a real emphasis on community, but also he let us know that we were allowed and more than welcome to come sit in the village every single day, especially if we weren’t filming. And that’s something that both Layla and I took extreme advantage of being there and being able to watch him work and being able to see how the show worked and how it operated from the other side of the camera and kind of be in a grad school of sorts on that other side was very beneficial.
Q : Well, they told me to wrap it up. I had a good time talking to you, Amanda and Layla.. Thank you for your time.
Amanda Morrow : Thank you.
Layla Mohammadi : Thank you.
If you like the interview, share your thoughts below!
Check out more of Nobuhiro’s articles.
Here’s the trailer of the series.