Scrubs: Where are they now?

Since its debut in 2001, Scrubs set a new standard for ensemble comedy. Anchored by Zach Braff as medical student J.D., and supported by a fantastic cast boasting Donald Faison and Sarah Chalke, as well as veteran actors like John C. McGinley and Ken Jenkins, the series is effortlessly rewatchable — goofy and loaded with gags, but also full of heart and life lessons. And while we wish they were still (fake) practicing medicine at Sacred Heart Hospital, the cast has gone on to other worthy endeavors after the show ended in 2010. Some have focused on directorial pursuits as well as acting, like Braff and Dave Franco, while Eliza Coupe and Christa Miller have starred in other beloved projects such as Happy Endings and Cougar Town (the latter of which was co-created by Scrubs creator-writer Bill Lawrence). Through it all, Braff and Faison have remained besties IRL, just like J.D. and Turk, and their friendship may be the best thing to come out of the show. Ahead, see where they and the rest of the Scrubs Sacred Heart gang are now.

Before his breakout role on Scrubs, Zach Braff had only been cast in a few small parts, most notably 1993's Manhattan Murder Mystery and a CBS Schoolbreak Special in 1994, and immediately quit his job as a waiter after booking the part of J.D. However, he told Uncut he didn't realize the show wouldn't start filming until four months later, and it was during this time he would set the tracks for the next part of his career; writing the first draft of 2004's Garden State. Braff would go on to direct and costar in the film with Natalie Portman, for which he received an Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature in 2005, the same year he earned his first Emmy nomination for his acting work Scrubs and the first of three Golden Globe nominations. After Scrubs ended in 2010, he continued in his multi-hyphenate acting-directing-writing role, releasing 2014's Wish I Was Here with Kate Hudson, and 2017's Going in Style with Morgan Freeman. In 2018, Braff starred in the ABC comedy Alex, Inc., on which he also served as executive producer and director. The actor played himself in 2017's The Disaster Artist, and starred with Gabrielle Union in the Disney+ remake of Cheaper by the Dozen. He earned his second Emmy nomination for directing a season 1 episode of Ted Lasso (an Apple TV+ series co-created by Lawrence). If you're like all of us and miss Scrubs in your life, follow Braff's Instagram for frequent photos with Faison and his former Sacred Heart crew, funny throwback pics, and of course, appearances from girlfriend Florence Pugh.

Donald Faison was already a fixture in pop culture before Scrubs, with parts in the classic '90s film Clueless, its television adaptation, and on Felicity. Post-Scrubs, Faison has done extensive work on the small screen. The actor starred in the TV Land comedy The Exes from 2011 to 2015 and appeared in multiple episodes of shows like Drunk History, House of Lies, Ray Donovan, and Undateable, which reunited him with Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence, who was an executive producer on the show. He's featured in ABC's Emergence as Jo Evans' (Allison Tolman) ex-husband Alex. Faison is also a prolific voice actor, having lent his voice to Robot Chicken, TRON: Uprising, Star Wars Resistance, and more. On the film side, Faison had roles in Pitch Perfect, Kick-Ass 2, Little Evil, and appeared in Braff's Wish I Was Here. The married father of six also provided an update on his friendship with Braff in 2019, telling AOL's BUILD that they're still BFFs and that he even gets jealous when Braff posts pictures with other celebs, like Ed Sheeran. "So for Ed out there, just know that your friendship that you have with him is false," Faison joked (we think). But come on, Sheeran knows better than to interfere in guy love … between two guys.

Sarah Chalke played another doctor after Scrubs, as Stella Zinman, a dermatologist and Ted Mosby's (Josh Radnor) love interest on How I Met Your Mother. She also starred in short-lived series like Mad Love and How to Live with Your Parents (For the Rest of Your Life), as well as Netflix's Friends From College. Chalke reunited with Scrubs costar Christa Miller in a recurring role on Cougar Town. You might also recognize her voice from animated projects like Rick and Morty and Paradise PD. Having stepped in to play Becky during Roseanne's original run, Chalke returned when the series was rebooted in 2018, this time playing the character Andrea. She also appeared in one episode of the spin-off The Conners later that year. You can see Chalke in Netflix's drama series Firefly Lane alongside Katherine Heigl.

Judy Reyes had been working in Hollywood for a decade before landing Scrubs, doing guest spots on Nothing Sacred, Oz, and more. Unfortunately, she was the only main cast member not to return for Scrubs' ninth season, so we didn't get to see more of the hilarious and no-nonsense nurse Carla. But you've probably seen Reyes all over your TV, as she's had recurring roles on a variety of shows since Scrubs. She was a series regular on Lifetime's Devious Maids from 2013 to 2016, and then had roles on Jane the Virgin, Fresh Off the Boat, Blue Bloods, Search Party, Succession, and more. She was a series regular onClaws and reprised her role as flirty Ramona on One Day at a Time's season 4 premiere. Reyes can also be seen in the Netflix drama film All Together Now, starring Auli'i Cravalho, Carol Burnett, Fred Armisen, and her ODAAT costar Justina Machado.

John C. McGinley was already an established actor before he made J.D.'s life a nightmare as the witty, tough-talking Dr. Cox on Scrubs. The actor had parts in classic movies like Platoon, Wall Street, and Office Space. After the show, he appeared in the films 42 and Battle of the Sexes, and had recurring roles on Burn Notice and Chicago P.D. He even starred in his own show, Stan Against Evil, on IFC, which saw him battle angry demons. McGinley's also a well-known member of the "Malibu Mob," a group of celebrity friends in the Southern California city that also includes John Cusack, Tony Danza, and tennis player John McEnroe. The distinction even made it to McGinley's Twitter bio.

An accomplished actress on her own, with stints on Seinfeld and The Drew Carey Show, Christa Miller became known for portraying Jordan Sullivan, Dr. Cox's ice queen of an ex-wife on Scrubs, created by her husband Bill Lawrence. She's also appeared in Lawrence's other projects. From 2009 to 2015, she played Ellie, Jules' (Courteney Cox) sarcastic best friend on Cougar Town. She also had roles on Clone High, Undateable and Whiskey Cavalier, all of which Lawrence either co-created or executive produced.

A seasoned actor whose credits included Rookie of the Year and The Fugitive, Neil Flynn was Scrubs' secret weapon throughout the show's run, with Lawrence telling EW, "We would literally write in the script 'JANITOR: Hey, Neil, say something funny.'" After the series ended, Flynn found another comedy crew, portraying patriarch Mike Heck on ABC's family comedy The Middle opposite Patricia Heaton. From 2018-2019, he also starred on the NBC sitcom Abby's, which marked the actor's 18th consecutive season on TV.

With Jenkins' career spanning decades and films like The Abyss and Psycho, Lawrence said this during Vulture's Scrubs cast reunion about the veteran actor who played the cantankerous Chief of Medicine: "If you program his name onto your DVR, it'll explode because he's been in every movie ever since the dawn of time." Jenkins went on to play Chick, Courteney Cox's father on Cougar Town, and also starred in two episodes of Netflix's A Series of Unfortunate Events in 2018.

The nephew of Back to the Future star Christopher Lloyd, Sam Lloyd was featured in shows like 3rd Rock from the Sun and Lawrence's Spin City before playing the lovable sad sack Ted. Following his stint as the lovable sad sack Ted in Scrubs, Lloyd appeared in numerous comedies, like The Middle, reuniting him with former costar Neil Flynn; Marry Me; Dr. Ken; and Alex, Inc., which starred Braff. The actor was unfortunately diagnosed with cancer in 2019, and his Scrubs family tweeted support for a GoFundMe to raise money for Lloyd's care. In March 2020, the campaign shared an update that Lloyd had 'rallied" recently, and was doing well enough to do guest spots on Modern Family and American Housewife, as well as celebrate his son's first birthday. Lloyd passed away at age 56 on April 30, 2020. 

It seems appearing on Scrubs means a guaranteed spot in Lawrence's other works; one of Robert Maschio's first roles was in the writer's series Spin City, and his gig as the overly sexual surgeon "The Todd" on Scrubs came right after. Then, like other Sacred Heart alums, Robert Maschio has appeared in Cougar Town and Undateable. In 2015, Maschio acted in the Lifetime erotic thriller Lethal Seduction (The Todd would certainly approve), while his last TV role was a guest role on Bones that same year. In 2018, Maschio made a brief cameo at the Vulture Festival cast reunion panel where he ran on stage wearing a men's swimming thong, much like what his Scrubs alter-ego would do. Maschio became a realtor working in the Los Angeles area, but he still often posts photos from his Scrubs days on Instagram.

Aloma Wright had parts in Power Rangers in Space, Ally McBeal, Girlfriends, and other projects before portraying the tough-as-nails nurse on Scrubs, but the comedy marked the actress' first extended role, with Wright appearing in 92 episodes on the show. Then, she played another nurse, Maxine Landis, on Days of Our Lives from 2008 to 2015. She's also had recurring roles on Private Practice, The Soul Man, The Guest Book, Suits, and Young Dylan.

Eliza Coupe excels at playing intense, driven characters, like med student Denise, which was one of the actress' first high-profile roles. However, she's probably most famous for her role post-Scrubs, when she played type-A career woman Jane on the cult comedy Happy Endings from 2011 to 2013. Although the show ended too soon, Coupe went on to do stints on House of Lies, Casual, The Mindy Project, and Quantico. She led the USA series Benched in 2015, starred in Hulu's Future Man alongside Josh Hutcherson, as well as Fox's Pivoting with Ginnifer Goodwin and Maggie Q.

Kerry Bishe also got her first splashy role on Scrubs, playing naive med student Lucy Bennett on the show's final season. After the series wrapped, the New Zealand-born actress starred in Ben Affleck's acclaimed 2012 film Argo. By coincidence, when she starred in AMC's Halt and Catch Fire as Donna Clark from 2014 to 2017, Bishe was on-screen married to Scoot McNairy, who also played her husband in Argo. The actress then appeared on five episodes of Narcos in 2017, and the film comedy Happily, alongside Joel McHale and Stephen Root in 2021. Bishe also hosts the film and science fiction podcast Hyper-Thetical.

Having done multi-episodes arcs on shows like Greek and Privileged, along with being James Franco's younger brother, Dave Franco was a recognizable name even before joining the Scrubs cast. The actor has perfected the art of playing douchey bros, like Cole on Scrubs' ninth season, as well as in films like 2012's 21 Jump Street and 2014's Neighbors. He also portrayed himself in a series of Funny or Die shorts in the early 2010s, which he also wrote. Franco has also flexed his versatility in Netflix's Easy anthology, Apple TV+'s The Afterparty, and in films such as The Little Hours and The Disaster Artist. He premiered his directorial debut, the horror feature The Rental (starring his wife Alison Brie), in 2020.

Michael Mosley had a good amount of credits to his name prior to playing cynical med student Drew on Scrubs' last season, both on Law & Order: SVU and the TV drama Kidnapped. Since then, he's also popped up in many of our favorite comedies and dramas. He had an arc on Castle from 2010 to 2015, as well as parts on Justified, Pan Am, 30 Rock, and Longmire. Mosley and Coupe even shared the screen once again when he was a guest star on Happy Endings in 2011. He was in the main cast on USA's Sirens, the acclaimed Netflix crime drama Ozark in 2018, as well as Seven Seconds on the same streamer. In 2019, Mosley had roles in Criminal Minds and Titans. He then starred in Fox's sci-fi crime drama Next with John Slattery, in addition to roles on The Sinner, The Missing, and Hulu's The Girl from Plainville.