Zach Braff stopped by The View to promote the long‑awaited reboot of his beloved series Scrubs — but what he ended up sharing was a piece of trivia no one saw coming.
While chatting with Whoopi Goldberg and the panel, Zach casually dropped that he grew up in South Orange and Maplewood, New Jersey, and that he wasn’t the only future star roaming those high‑school halls. In fact, he revealed that the one and only Lauryn Hill was right there with him.
The table froze.
Zach explained that he and Lauryn were the two young actors at Columbia High School who regularly commuted into New York City for auditions. Lauryn landed early roles — including a soap opera — before Whoopi herself cast her in Sister Act 2. Their paths intertwined long before fame found either of them.
Then came the kicker: Lauryn Hill was at his Bar Mitzvah.
A fact so random, so unexpected, the hosts nearly fell out of their chairs. When asked if she sang, Zach laughed and clarified that while she didn’t perform at the party, she was already making waves — even appearing on Showtime at the Apollo as a teen.
It’s a slice of 90s Jersey nostalgia that feels almost mythical now: two future icons, side by side, long before the world knew their names.
Dig out the episode clip below and relive the moment Whoopi and the panel realized Zach Braff and Lauryn Hill go way, way back.
Tell us below if you knew Lauryn Hill once attended a Bar Mitzvah in Maplewood — and that it belonged to Zach Braff.
