It's been a decade since Zach Braff's first film ignited a wave of indie die-hards to replace their bulging CD wallets with all the tunes they'd heard underscoring Braff's shouts into the void in Garden State. His follow-up is a tangential sequel of sorts: Braff still plays a struggling actor, this time with a family milking their bank account to pay for their two kids' Jewish private school and make ends meet. Sandwiched with campfire poems, swear jar gags and babysitting disasters, it's a lesson in rollercoaster parenting. At its core, it's a sickly sweet family-gathering drama coated with jabs of Jewish hilarity and situational humour. For all its tweeness, it somehow arrives at an inspiring conclusion.

What really got people going, though, was Braff's decision to finance the film through crowd funding platform Kickstarter. Ever since the project was first announced, he has been justifying his decision to everyone and James Franco. Braff is getting weary of defending himself. "The big corps had no interest in making the movie," he recently replied to one haughty Reddit user. "I have not pocketed anything and will likely lose some money on the film I have dedicated 3 years of my life to. It was not a profit exercise, but rather an artistic integrity one." Here, he talks about the pressure to please his Garden State die-hards, his quirky Jewish childhood, and prompting viewers to call mum.

Did you feel a certain pressure from Garden State fans to make them happy?

Zach Braff: Of course, but at the same time, no – especially as this is a film made by the fans for the fans. I really feel that I knew what they like. It would be surreal to me if you were a fan of Scrubs and didn’t like this movie – it was made with you in mind. It’s a mix of comedy and drama with a touch of the surreal, the way it’s shot. I feel pretty confident that most folks will like it. 

Did you ever wake up during the making of Wish I Was Here and think, 'Oh shit, maybe people won't get this?'

Zach Braff: Of course, you're always worried about being misunderstood, especially when you're making bold choices. If you just go with the status quo then everyone knows that language and you're not going to be misunderstood. But if you want to say something and do it in a unique way, and make some bold choices and try to do things differently, it's going to be polarizing. People are going to love it. There’ll be people that don’t get it, but that’s way more interesting to me than just being boring. I’d rather say something and have people love it or hate it.

What was the funniest moment on set?

Zach Braff: Definitely when we did the Aston Martin scene. (Donald Faison) and I hadn’t been together on set for long and we just started riffing and coming up with the funniest shit, most of which isn’t in the movie because it makes no sense. I put it all on the DVD as etxras because we were just being so silly. We were just riffing. (Donald) thinks my daughter is sick, and he's like, 'I just lost my gran gran,' and I'm like, ‘Oh, I'm so sorry, how old was she?' And he's like, '102'. I go, ‘Argh!’ and shake my fist at the heavens and say, ‘Why you taking them so young?!' And then I say, 'You know what, your gran gran’s driving in heaven.' 

I was also wondering why you referenced Barbra Streisand's Yentl (a film about a Jewish girl who disguises herself as a boy to enter religious training)?

Zach Braff: It’s funny because we were young and religious and my father loved musicals, so it was the perfect storm for a young, religious family with a father who loved musicals and Barbra Streisand. You’re going to be watching a lot of Yentl.

Do you have a favourite Jewish movie from growing up?

Zach Braff: Anything with Woody (Allen). Woody was a religion in my household. I don't mean literally, I mean figuratively. The Jewishness of Woody was my father's favourite.

I know you had quite a bit of flack for crowd funding this film. Is finding financing for a film quite difficult? 

Zach Braff: Well, you've kind of answered your question within your question. I wouldn't have turned to crowd funding if it weren't difficult. If you want to cast who you like, and not make scenes you don't believe in, that's kind of non-existent. 

Did you come up against a lot of people who wanted to see changes?

Zach Braff: Yeah, mostly people not shooting what I wanted them to shoot, and not hiring who I wanted them to hire. Not having the final cut. Making it for a fraction of what it would cost to make it well. Way too many things to continue.

There were quite a lot of 'poetic' moments in your film. When you’re hanging out with the kids by the campfire, they read that poem – what poem was that by the way?

Zach Braff: The one by the campfire is "The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock" by T.S.Eliot.

Why did you want to include those kinds of moments in there?

Zach Braff: Again, these are inspired by my childhood and my life. My mum read me poetry, she loved poetry. I didn’t always know what they meant as a kid, but I liked the sound of them, and so that’s the idea that (my character) Aidan obviously likes poetry and Shakespeare. He's going to just start holding in things that he likes in his life, he doesn’t know a good story, he doesn’t know how to teach geometry but he can recite a beautiful poem that his mum taught him, so its about how can he share himself truly with his kids in a new way.

“I said to (Joey King), ‘Look, I want you to do the movie but you’re going to have to shave your head again.’ She was so game. She was like, ‘I’ll do it, I don’t care’” – Zach Braff

What happened when you sprang it on Joey (King) that she had to shave her head for the role?

Zach Braff: I didn’t spring it on her, she had a shaved head for The Dark Knight Rises, and so when I met her she had a shaved head. So I said to her, ‘Look, I want you to do the movie but you’re going to have to shave your head again, and I don’t know if you’re going to want to do that because I know you already did it for a role.' She was so game. She was like ‘I’ll do it, I don’t care.’

That’s crazy, so there was no hesitance at all?

Zach Braff: She definitely slept on it. Her mum was I think more radical than she was – her mum left it up to her, and she’s so pretty it doesn’t matter. With most people its like, ‘Do you want to look weird for like six months?’ But with Joey she’s so damn pretty it doesn’t matter.

Did you want people to feel like calling their parents after watching the movie?

Zach Braff: Yeah, I think that if you’re going to tell the story about love and loss and parents, how could you not want people’s hearts to hurt. I certainly would if I was seeing the movie. I want it to be called action. I want it to be like the 'late great Robin Williams' when he said 'Carpe Diem' in Dead Poets Society. I wanted this to be a film that made people want to call their parents, and want to be a better parent. That was my dream that that would happen.

Wish I Was Here is out in cinemas today