The topic of cosmetic procedures came up when Zach Braff appeared on Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast. What began as an observation quickly turned into a conversation about aging, vanity, and the pressure to “fix” onself with surgery.
Shepard pointed out that neither of them had undergone facelifts, prompting Braff to open up about his own perspective. While he didn’t hesitate to share his skepticism, he also admitted the idea wasn’t entirely foreign to him.
“I do see people getting plastic surgery, which I think is crazy,” Braff said, before acknowledging that he’s had moments of temptation himself.
Reflecting on his time filming Scrubs, Braff recalled noticing genetic under-eye “festoons,” which are small pouches that can become more pronounced with age. At one point, he even asked makeup artists if anything could be done to conceal them.
“I’m in the makeup trailer going, ‘Can you do this?’ And they’re like, ‘No, we can’t do that. That’s plastic surgery,’” he said.
Despite those fleeting moments of insecurity, Braff ultimately decided against going under the knife. His reasoning came down to risk versus reward.
“I of course it had crossed my mind, just because of vanity and insecurity,” he admitted. “But I’ve seen enough people go awry that I’m not going anywhere near it.”
He compared the decision to his long-standing refusal to get LASIK eye surgery, explaining that even a small margin of risk is enough to deter him.
“To me, the fact that it can go wrong… I never got LASIK. My eyes are my whole life,” he said, emphasizing how he tends to approach elective procedures with caution.
Beyond the medical risks, Braff also raised a more personal concern: how dramatically altering his appearance might be perceived by others.
“If you and I all of a sudden had tiny button noses, little cute noses and a pronounced chin and a jawline, wouldn’t people be like, ‘What the f**k did you do?’” he joked.
Rather than chasing a uniform standard of beauty, Braff believes that distinct features are what make people interesting.
“What’s attractive about people is the differences,” co-host Monica Padman said, stating that many faces today are beginning to “meld into one look.”
