New York, May 3, 2007 – Zach Braff plays an unemployed slacker in his new film, The Ex, and at the premiere on Thursday he told us how he discovered the joys of idleness in real life. “I collected unemployment in New York for the maximum you could, 26 weeks straight”, Braff said. “It was a play, but there’s sort of a loophole if you’re an actor. Technically, when the play is over, you kind of got fired, so you could collect unemployment. And most people do it for like a week or two, or a month, until they get their next job”, he explained. “But I was shocked! This is like the best thing I’d ever heard! So for 26 weeks I rode the whole thing until they were like, get the hell out of here.”

Costar Amanda Peet was amazingly svelte in a short black Marc Jacobs dress at the premiere – only ten weeks after she gave birth to her daughter! How do these show biz moms get back into shape so quickly?

Jason Bateman and Donal Logue joined their cast mates at the premiere, as did Fred Armisen, who kept them laughing on the set. “Anything [Armisen] does makes me crazy with laughter”, Peet said.