The “Scrubs” actor and Grammy-winning singer were high school friends in Maplewood, N.J.

Lauryn Hill attended Zach Braff’s bar mitzvah — ‘a very, very random fact’ — but did she perform?

The "Scrubs" actor and Grammy-winning singer were high school friends in Maplewood, N.J.

By Kathleen Perricone

March 3, 2026 9:43 p.m. ET

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Zach Braff in the 1989 pilot for 'High,' and Lauryn Hill at the 1996 MTV Movie Awards in Los Angeles. Credit:

CBS via Getty; Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

Now this is one for the pop culture history books!

During a March 3 appearance on *The View*, Zach Braff revealed the “very, very random fact” that not only did he go to high school with Lauryn Hill, but “she was at my bar mitzvah!”

A milestone event for Jewish boys on their 13th birthday, bar mitzvahs are traditionally quite the celebration with musical entertainment and dancing. So naturally, it begged the question: did Hill sing at Braff's party?

“No,” replied the 50-year-old *Scrubs* star. But at the time in 1988, she did perform on the syndicated variety show, *Showtime at the Apollo*. “For people who know, that was her first thing.”

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Growing up together as young actors in Maplewood, N.J., Braff and Hill regularly commuted the 20 miles to Manhattan for auditions.

Coincidentally, her breakthrough role was opposite *The View* host Whoopi Goldberg in 1993’s *Sister Act 2*. That same year, Braff appeared in Woody Allen’s *Manhattan Murder Mystery* starring Diane Keaton, Angelica Huston, and Alan Alda.

Lauryn Hill played Rita Wilson in 'Sister Act 2'.

In 1996, Hill skyrocketed to global fame as one-third of the hip-hop trio the Fugees. As a solo artist, her debut album *The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill *was a record-breaker that sold 20 million copies worldwide and earned the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1999.

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Zach Braff starred as Dr. J.D. Dorian on 'Scrubs'.

Mitchell Haaseth/NBC

Braff, of course, went on to star in the ABC medical comedy *Scrubs* for nine seasons until 2010. The hit show is now back on primetime 16 years later, reuniting Braff with Donald Faison, and Sarah Chalke.

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