Joey Magidson
By and large, Zach Braff has been seen in comedies, both in film and on television, throughout his career. There are dramedies, sure, and even the occasional drama, but the latter is few and far between. So, seeing him in Clean Hands, easily the darkest material he’s ever been a part of, was a compelling experience. So too was discovering Esther McGregor, his co-star in the the film. They’re both good in the movie, with McGregor really contributing a breakthrough performance. Recently, I spent some time on Zoom discussing their work in the flick. With Clean Hands now in theaters, I’m thrilled to present my conversation with them to you all. As a reminder, I’ve previously chatted with Braff here and here, so give those a listen as well.
In my review of the film (here), I wrote about Braff and McGregor’s work like so:
Zach Braff gets to stretch with one of the more unique roles of his career, while Esther McGregor gets a breakout showcase. Braff has never really done action before, so while this is largely a drama, watching him pull a gun or chase a perp is a novelty for the actor. He’s also very solid here, emoting and suffering as his daughter goes down a dark rabbit hole. As for McGregor, this is tough material that she aces. This work should put her on the radar of Hollywood in a major way.
Below, you can see my chat with Braff and McGregor. We had limited time together, but I wanted to drill down on how they found humor and levity in this dark material. Truthfully, hearing them talk about it, they also found joy within. The most interesting bit of the conversation, to me, was Braff talking about how he brought some of the character’s early lighter moments to filmmaker Jake Allyn, which pays dividends in the first act. Clean Hands is a tough sit, but worth the investment, so definitely give it a look.
Here now is my interview with Clean Hands stars Zach Braff and Esther McGregor. Enjoy:
Clean Hands is in theaters now!
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