Obi-Wan Kenobi is slowly becoming a vital addition to the lore of George Lucas’ Star Wars franchise. Now, while most of the story simply fills in the holes between Episodes III and IV, the story has also introduced us to some new characters and new concepts. Among the former, a seemingly nice, yet treacherous character was introduced in Episode 3 of the series. His name is Freck and he was voiced by none other than Zach Braff. In this article, we are going to tell you everything we know about Freck.
Freck was a male Imperial transport pilot from the mining planet Mapuzo who offered to take Obi-Wan Kenobi and Leia Organa to a nearby spaceport so they could escape the planet. But, when Freck’s transport was stopped at an Imperial inspection point, he tipped off the stormtroopers at the inspection point they might be interested in investigating Kenobi and Organa. He was later knocked out by Obi-Wan.
The rest of this article is going to focus on both Zach Braff, as we are going to tell you about his career, and his role in Obi-Wan Kenobi. You’re going to find out all the details about his role, as well as the character’s fate in the Obi-Wan Kenobi miniseries. Be careful, though, as we are going to reveal a lot of spoilers in the upcoming paragraphs.
Who is Freck in Obi-Wan Kenobi?
Freck is a transport pilot on Mapuzo who offers to drive Obi-Wan and Leia aboard his transport, all the way to the nearest spaceport, which they could use to get off the planet. He is a supporter of the Empire and he says, in his extremely cowardly manner, that he does not mind a little order. Shortly after that, he stops for a group of Imperial Stormtroopers waiting for a late transport and offers them a ride.
Arriving at an Imperial checkpoint, he reported Obi-Wan’s and Leia’s presence to the Stormtroopers, although he did not know who they were, not exactly at least; these troopers called in an Imperial Probe Droid to scan Obi-Wan via Protocol 23. After being scanned, Obi-Wan pulled out a blaster and fired at the Probe Droid and several of the Troopers, and took Freck hostage for the remaining Troopers to lower the door.
In the ensuing fight, a Stormtrooper opened fire, but Obi-Wan shot the remaining soldiers and knocked Freck out. Freck is a one-off character and probably won’t appear anymore in the series. He survived and this coward will probably make his way around Mapuzo in the future as well. This is probably why we won’t be getting any additional information on him later on.
Who is Zach Braff?
Zachary Israel Braff, born April 6, 1975 in South Orange, New Jersey, United States, is an American actor, director, screenwriter and producer. His best-known role is that of Doctor John Dorian, the main character in the Scrubs series.
Zach Braff was born on April 6, 1975 in South Orange, to a Jewish family in New Jersey. His parents, Hal Braff, a lawyer, and Anne Brodzinsky, a psychologist, divorced and remarried during Zach’s childhood. His brother Joshua is an author. Zach has wanted to be a director since childhood and describes it as “his life’s dream”.
At ten, doctors diagnosed him with obsessive-compulsive disorder. He graduated from Columbia Highschool in Maplewood, New Jersey where he worked at a television station. He also graduated from Northwestern University with a bachelor’s degree in film arts. He was a member of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity (1997). His acting credits include:
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1993 | Manhattan Murder Mystery | Nick Lipton | |
| 1994 | My Summer As A Girl | Tony / Tammy | |
| 1999 | Getting to Know You | Wesley | |
| 2000 | Endsville | Dean | |
| 2000 | Blue Moon | Fred | |
| 2000 | The Broken Hearts Club: A Romantic Comedy | Benji | |
| 2004 | Garden State | Andrew Largeman | Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Most Promising Filmmaker Crystal Image Award Florida Film Critics Circle’s Pauline Kael Breakout Award Hollywood Breakthrough Award for Breakthrough Directing Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature (shared with producers Pamela Abdy, Gary Gilbert, Dan Halsted and Richard Klubeck) National Board of Review Award for Best Directorial Debut Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Breakthrough Filmmaker Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Breakout of the Year – Behind the Camera Nominated – Empire Award for Best Newcomer Nominated – Humanitas Prize for Sundance Film Nominated – Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay Nominated – Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Original Screenplay Nominated – Sundance Film Festival’s Grand Jury Prize Nominated – MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss (shared with Natalie Portman) Nominated – MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Male Performance Nominated – Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Breakthrough Performance Nominated – Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor: Drama Nominated – Teen Choice Award for Choice Blush Scene Nominated – Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie: Male Breakout Star Nominated – Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Liplock (shared with Natalie Portman) Nominated – Teen Choice Award for Choice Love Scene Nominated – Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay |
| 2005 | Chicken Little | Chicken Little (voice) | |
| 2006 | The Last Kiss | Michael | |
| 2006 | The Ex | Tom Reilly | |
| 2010 | The High Cost of Living | Henry | |
| 2012 | The Color of Time | Albert | |
| 2013 | Oz the Great and Powerful | Frank / Finley (voice) | |
| 2014 | Wish I Was Here | Aidan Bloom | |
| 2016 | In Dubious Battle | Connor | |
| 2017 | The Disaster Artist | Himself | |
| 2020 | Percy | Jackson | |
| 2020 | The Comeback Trail | Walter Creason | |
| 2022 | Cheaper by the Dozen | Paul Baker | |
| 2022 | Moonshot | Leon Kovi | |
| TBA | Shriver | Real Shriver |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1989 | High | Schoolkid | Unaired CBS Pilot |
| 1990 | The Baby-Sitters Club | David Cummings | Episode: “Dawn Saves the Trees” |
| 1994 | CBS Schoolbreak Special | Tony / Tammy | Episode: “My Summer as a Girl” |
| 2001–2010 | Scrubs | John “J.D.” Dorian | Main role and narrator (175 episodes) Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy (2005, 2006, 2007) Nominated – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy (2005, 2006) Nominated – People’s Choice Award for Favorite Male Television Star (2005) Nominated – People’s Choice Award for Best Leading Star (2005) Nominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series (2005) Nominated – Satellite Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy (2005) Nominated – Teen Choice Award for Choice TV Actor: Comedy (2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006) |
| 2002 | Clone High | Paul Revere / X-Stream Mike (voices) | 2 episodes |
| 2002 | It’s a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie | Himself/John “J.D.” Dorian | Television film |
| 2005–06 | Arrested Development | Phillip Litt | Uncredited 2 episodes |
| 2006 | Nobody’s Watching | Himself | Television film |
| 2009 | Scrubs: Interns | John “J.D.” Dorian | Episode: “Our Meeting with J.D.” |
| 2010 | Cougar Town | Pizza Guy | Uncredited Episode: “A One Story Town” |
| 2012 | The Exes | Chuck Feeney | Episode: “He’s Gotta Have It” |
| 2014 | Community | J.D. (voice) | Uncredited Episode “Repilot” |
| 2014 | Inside Amy Schumer | Rob | Episode: “I’m So Bad” |
| 2015 | Undateable | Zach | 2 episodes |
| 2017 | Bill Nye Saves the World | Himself | Episode: “Earth is a Hot Mess” |
| 2017, 2020 | BoJack Horseman | Himself (voice) | 2 episodes |
| 2018 | Alex, Inc. | Alex Schuman | Main role; 10 episodes |
| 2022 | Obi-Wan Kenobi | Freck (voice) | 1 episode |
How did Zach Braff end up in Obi-Wan Kenobi?
You’ve probably noticed that Zach Braff, if you’re not familiar with his early work, is a relatively known name in the industry and is certainly not suited for such a small, cameo role in the series. Still, Freck was a perfect way to introduce Zach Braff, as it allowed him to express himself better by simply voicing the character. But, how did Braff even end up in Obi-Wan?
Well, we know that Braff starred in The High Cost of Living, the 2010 feature film debut of director Deborah Chow, who had previously worked on The Mandalorian and has helmed every Obi-Wan episode. Braff has a history with Chow and it only makes sense that he would join this great franchise, even in a smaller cameo role.
