As part of a recent oral history of the iconic soundtrack to his 2004 comedy-drama “Garden State,” Zach Braff told The Ringer that Quentin Tarantino approached him and jokingly cursed at him when Braff’s film won the Grammy for Best Compilation Score for Visual Media over Tarantino’s “Kill Bill, Vol. 2.”
“I was competing with Quentin Tarantino. I never thought I could beat Quentin Tarantino at anything,” Braff said. “My dad wanted to come over, and I said, ‘Dad, there’s no way I’m going to win a Grammy. Tarantino won a Grammy, and you’re wasting your time from Jersey to here.’ And then we won! I couldn’t believe it.”
“Tarantino joked to me, ‘You stole my motherfucking grandma, man!’ and then he gave me a big smile and hugged me,” Braff continued. “He was so sweet and supportive. I was the type of guy who would go to film school and put a ‘Reservoir Dogs’ poster on my wall.”
Garden State, directed, written and co-starring Braff and Natalie Portman, was the highest-grossing independent film of 2004, grossing $35 million at the box office on a production budget of less than $3 million. The film's beloved soundtrack included songs by The Shins, Coldplay, Thievery Corporation and others.
“I never thought a Grammy was something I would dream about,” Braff told The Ringer. “I never would have imagined that would happen to this film, but whether it’s the soundtrack or the film itself, there’s hardly a day that goes by that someone doesn’t ask me about it. It was a pivotal film for so many people at a time in their lives when they really needed to see it.”
Tarantino wasn't the only director to praise Braff for his film “Garden of Dreams.” Braff revealed that he once received a letter from Steven Spielberg amid the film's success in 2004.
“I got a letter from Spielberg, and it’s framed on the wall,” Braff said. “It was a dream letter for me to get from one of my heroes, saying he loved the movie. I put it in a different way, but it was like, ‘On behalf of so many others, I want to welcome you to Hollywood,’ or something like that.”
Read the full oral history of the “Garden State” soundtrack on The Ringer's website.
