Trivia for
Garden State (2004) More at IMDbPro »

• Zach Braff's directorial debut.
  
  
• Natalie Portman was Braff's first choice for the role of Sam but he never thought he would get her.
  
  
• Based partly on Zach Braff's own childhood in New Jersey, as well as his days as a struggling actor in Los Angeles before the success of "Scrubs" (2001).
  
  
• Gary Gilbert, a former mortgage banker, financed the film with $2.5 million of his own money. At Sundance, the film was bought by Miramax and Fox Searchlight for $5 million.
  
  
• The cue for the seeing eye dog to mount was, "Love 'em up," while the cue for the dog to start humping was, "Who's your bitch?"
  
  
• The high school Andrew asks Sam if she went to, Columbia High, is the name of the high school Zach Braff attended in New Jersey. Columbia High School also makes a brief cutaway-shot appearance as Andrew, Sam and Mark are riding to the quarry in the military vehicle.
  
  
• When Zach Braff sent the script to people, he would also send them a copy of the songs which would eventually be the soundtrack (which he handpicked). That is why on the actual soundtrack album, all of the songs are in the order that they appear in the movie.
  
  
• The tomb stones in the pet cemetery were made by the cast and crew, and feature their own deceased pets' names.
  
  
• At the funeral, there is a picture of Andrew's mother on display. The woman in the picture is actress Diane Salinger.
  
  
• The music during the airplane scene is from a Ganesh alarm clock. The words are a prayer/song to the Hindu God.
  
  
• The Headphones Portman was wearing are Aiwa HP-X223.
  
  
• The motorcycle is a Russian/Ukrainian Dnepr.
  
  
• Zach Braff wrote the majority of the script while he was in college, and originally titled it "Large's Ark". He tested the name on various messengers coming to his house during production, but none like the name. When he suggested "Large" no one liked it either. "Garden State" was well received. The original title still appears vestigially in the company credits, "Large's Ark Productions".
  
  
• The movie was released on Wednesday, 28 July 2004, to eight theaters: three in Los Angeles, four in New York City, and the Maplewood Theatre in Maplewood, New Jersey. This was the home theater of Zach Braff (who is from the adjacent town of South Orange). He attended the Maplewood premiere, and his father, who still lives in the area, was at the theater for the film's first Friday and Saturday.
  
  
• The only song that does not appear on the soundtrack is "Orange Sky" by Alexi Murdoch, because the rights had already been sold to the WB to be used for Fox's "The O.C." (2003) and its soundtrack. As well as "Love Will Come Through" by Travis, which was played in the trailer for the movie. The original version of "Such Great Heights" by Postal Service is also used for the film's trailer. A cover of this song by Iron & Wine can be heard in the film.
  
  
• The "helmet" that Sam (Natalie Portman) is wearing on the motorcycle is actually a Rugby scrum-cap.
  
  
• The classical piece Mark is playing on the guitar in his room is "Adelita" by Francisco Tárrega.
  
  
• During production in Los Angeles there was no traffic on the highway so Zach Braff had three cars drive ahead of the crew at 10 mph.
  
  
• Zach Braff drew partially on knowledge from his mother, a psychologist, his stepfather, also a psychologist, and his step mother, a therapist, to give scenes involving mentions of psychiatrics and pharmaceuticals authenticity.
  
  
• During the swimming pool scene (when Andrew cannot swim) the fog was not there for effect. The site was originally chosen because the Manhattan Skyline was clearly visible but it just happened to be incredibly foggy on the day of filming.
  
  
• Peter Sarsgaard's character Mark collects Desert Storm playing cards, then in 2005 plays a Marine Scout sniper in Desert Storm in Jarhead (2005).
  
  
• The Vietnamese restaurant in Los Angeles in the beginning is actually a Thai restaurant - Sea in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York. Walking through the kitchen the background voices can be heard conversing in Thai, not Vietnamese.
  
  
• On the commentary track, Natalie Portman admits she had never handled a vinyl record before making this movie. She had to be taught how to start a vintage "record player" properly for the scene in her bedroom.
  
  
• On the DVD commentary Zach Braff says that there were only 3 sets used when filming, everything else was filmed on location.
  
  
• Zach Braff is seen in every single scene.
  
  

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