Zach Braff jumped at the chance to star in a drama film, because he’s constantly offered comedic roles.
The Scrubs star appears alongside Esther McGregor in new movie Clean Hands, in which his narcotics officer character is left devastated when his daughter becomes addicted to painkillers, before moving on to heroin.
The film is based on a true story, and Zach told Moviefone he was “honoured” to even be considered for the role.
He said: “I would love to do more drama. It's just not something that often gets offered to me. People know me more as a comic actor, and I love it.
“I was so honoured when I read this. I was like, ‘Are you sure this is for me? This is amazing. Was this email supposed to go to somebody else?’
“I just thought the script was amazing.”
When it came to preparing for the role, Zach had the “unique” experience of getting to know the person he was playing in the film.
He mused: “It was such a unique situation where we got to know the real people. I mean, they were on set, they were around. We could ask them questions about each scene.
“We could be like, ‘How did this really happen? What did you say?’ I don't think I'll ever have an experience like that again. It was so emotional. You're always worried when you're doing something like this, ‘Am I doing it right? Am I telling their story right?’
“We would quite literally go back to the monitors, and they'd be there crying, and be like, ‘Yeah, that's exactly what happened.’
“So it was a very special experience, and I'm just so honoured I got to be a part of it.”
Esther, who plays Zach’s daughter in the film, had a similar response to playing a real life person on the silver screen.
She said: “Learning that it was a true story, I was just so eager and ready to do everything I could to get the role. I think it's a really important story.
“I think Brooke is a really fascinating human being. I was lucky enough to be able to represent her, and I hope that I did her justice and made her proud.”
Clean Hands is due for release on October 16.