Ava Bunn on Scrubs Season 2, Sarah Chalke & Behind-the-Scenes Laughs

[00:00:08] Ava, thank you for joining me. Actually, welcome back to Pop Culture Unplugged. Yeah, thank you! Thanks for having me. It's so good to see you again. It's good to catch up with you. We spoke on Season 1 Scrubs. Now I'm excited to have you back on for Season 2. You know, during Season 1 we introduced the audience to Sam Tosh. Now, like, what do you understand about her now that you didn't realize during the first season about this character?

[00:00:33] I would say she's weirder than we thought, I think. Starting off Season 1, you know, she's trying to be cool girl vibes and then she starts to open up a bit more. I mean, in this season we see her dating Asher and I think that's a fun side we get to see of her of what it's like when Tosh dates someone for the first time. Yeah. So, yeah, we get to see some more fun layers from her for sure this season.

[00:01:01] Do you feel like she's more mature in the second season so far? So, well, you know, I say yes and then an image of her on a unicycle flashes in my head. But I would say yeah, I think she is a bit more sure of herself, which leads to being more mature, I think. I know in Episode 1 of the premiere, you know, she deals with Mr. Talbot's treatment and questions whether she's making the right medical decision.

[00:01:29] You know, for you, like how much of her past experiences now affecting her confidence this season, would you say? I would say, you know, what happened last season shook her to her core a little bit, you know, with Dr. Reed. Yeah. And that is like, and she discusses it a little bit in Episode 1 of this season.

[00:01:53] And I think that's stuck with her, but also she got a big mistake out of the way. And so it's building confidence a little bit, but definitely keep her a little shaky. Do you think Tasha's harder on herself than the other interns? Like, than the other interns are on themselves? Yeah. Yes. I think that she is definitely harder on herself.

[00:02:20] I think, especially her coming from like a social media background, she's always thinking people are judging her or watching her. And I think that there's an element of that. And I also think she just feels like there's a lot of pressure, especially after past mistakes in the hospital from last season. Yeah.

[00:02:38] You mentioned earlier about, you know, your character is dating Asher now and it's like in a relationship, you know, like, what do you enjoy most about exploring this side of Tash, especially in a hospital where like nothing stays private in that hospital? You know, what's funny? I was just talking to Zach about how we would feel if a doctor had just made out with their boyfriend and then came in to check on us. And I was like, maybe I'd feel better because they'd be more relaxed. And I'm like, oh, they're chill in the hospital.

[00:03:08] Yeah, I think it's it's been very fun exploring that dynamic of like, you know, sneaking around a little bit. And, you know, we see in the first episode, Sidney's trying to figure out who's dating. Love Vanessa. She's so funny. She like that scene was so fun to film, too. Like, Vanessa standing there while me and Jacob Asher is we're like kissing. It just she's Vanessa's right there.

[00:03:35] Um, yeah, I think it's like, again, with growing her confidence and feeling more comfortable in her own skin and feeling like this is who I am. And I'm just gonna own it. How much fun are you and Jacob having filming these scenes now for the season? Oh, we're having a blast. It's I was just with Jacob this whole morning. We are like the best of friends.

[00:03:59] And I think it's been a really special thing to play like that we're dating on screen because he's just like such a good friend of mine. And every day that we have scenes together, it's the most fun ever. And we oftentimes cannot stop laughing. There was one scene that, OK, it hasn't come out yet, so I won't spoil what's happening. But we're trying to have an intimate moment. And the two of us had gnarly stomach issues that day filming.

[00:04:28] And our stomachs were acting up. Spiller, who's our directing producer, he said from Video Village, he was like, it sounds like two pigeons mating because our stomachs were just like. And we're just yeah, we're having a blast. I'm like, I feel so lucky to have him as a constant scene partner. He's amazing. I'm enjoying this season where I see Elliot and Tosh are together more and more scenes.

[00:04:58] And, you know, you could tell she looks up to her, too. You know, like, do you think like Elliot is pushing Tosh to consider choosing a specialty? Does Tosh truly know what kind of doctor she wants to be? I think I always compare it to sort of like a mother daughter relationship where it's, you know, where it's like you see your daughter making mistakes you made and you're like, like, I want to let her learn on her own.

[00:05:22] But I want her to I want to like I feel like she has, you know, lived so much life in the hospital and wants to prevent me from making the mistakes. Sometimes you have to let that person make the mistakes. And I think it's a fun dynamic we're playing with of me teaching Elliot things about like letting go a little bit and then her being like, let's tighten it up a little bit. Yeah, I like I think, you know, like I see I feel like, you know, Elliot is like mentoring her a lot.

[00:05:52] It is not afraid to challenge her. Yes. And I would say it's also mirrors me and Sarah's dynamic in real life a lot. We're like, I've learned so much from her. We have so much fun together. And we constantly say that we're like morphing, like we'll grab fingers and go, oh, we're morphing because I feel like we're like picking up the same tendencies we have. And I feel like that translates well into our characters on the show.

[00:06:20] So we're talking about Asher earlier, too. I just thought of this like is Tosha's relationship with Asher helping her become more confident, you think, or it might complicate things. You think she's growing to be a better doctor? Um, I'm so excited for you to see the rest of the season because there are that questions really good.

[00:06:39] Um, because I think there are things that, you know, she, she is trying to navigate feeling like she has somebody attached to her or like, you know, like feeling like he is an extension of her in the hospital. And, um, I don't know if it messes with her confidence, but more so like, I think she's a little bit anal and a little bit like, um, control freaky, kind of similar to Elliot.

[00:07:09] Um, and I think that she, uh, gets a little neurotic when it comes to like watching Asher work in the hospital and she's like, oh, I want to help them. Um, so yeah, that's maybe I've said too much, but I think you'll, you'll see some parts of it. Yeah. Uh, the great thing about Scrubs, you know, this series and the old series too, you know, like it moves between comedy and deeply emotional, like moments for you. First of all, like which ones do you enjoy more? The comedic side or the deeply emotional side or moments?

[00:07:39] I think, um, I love playing the comedy. And when I first had to do that big cry scene with Elliot last season, I remember when I got that, we were like on Christmas break and I got the script for it. And I was like, oh my God, I'm going to have to do this dramatic scene. And I was so worried about it. But then after I did it with Sarah, I was like, wait, this is so fun. And I want to sound so weird, but I'm like, I want to cry all the time.

[00:08:06] Like, it's so fun to, um, like just be so honest and truthful. And I think that makes the comedy funnier when we have those dramatic scenes. Um, so typically comedy, but I've been learning that I actually really liked the drama side of it too. Without spoiling the rest of the season, how would you describe Tasha's journey this season? Ooh. Ooh. Um, I would say.

[00:08:36] It's, um, well, it's funny you ask that actually, because we are still filming episodes nine and 10. So I don't fully know the end of her story right now for this season. Um, but I would say her journey is, um, a lot of love and, uh, growing her confidence in the hospital and navigating what she wants to do.

[00:08:59] So two seasons in, is there somebody that you didn't get a chance to work with season one with scenes and now you've got more in season two? Um, sorry. Repeat that question. Uh, two seasons in, you know, like, was there anybody from season one that you didn't get a chance to have a lot of scenes with that you have more that you had more scenes with this season? Oh, for sure. Nurse Dubois, um, played by Michael James Scott.

[00:09:27] Um, we have a lot more scenes together, which I'm really excited about. Um, and I remember going into season two being like, I want more scenes with him because he's so funny. He just pops in every scene that he's in. Um, and we have a really funny dynamic this season. Um, and then, I mean, also someone who wasn't even there last season, but John Higgins, who plays Grant.

[00:09:50] Um, uh, we have started to get some scenes together that is such a fun budding dynamic that I'm excited for people to see. And he's like, um, have you seen John Higgins at all? Like in previous stuff? Yeah. He's amazing. He's like so good. Um, and I think he just brings such a fun new life to the show. I know this season they announced we have some past guests from the original one, some new guests. Like, which one were you excited about when you on day?

[00:10:20] You're on set. You're like, I can't believe so-and-so is on. I mean, Scott Foley, like literally awesome. And like, he's even cooler in person. Like he's just exactly what you think. He's amazing. Um, and then I love every time Neil Flynn comes, I mean, he was there last season, but Neil Flynn, the janitor, he is so funny on and off screen. And when I heard that he was coming back and then getting to work with him again, it's

[00:10:50] been like awesome. I also loved him. And, uh, I grew up on the middle. Did you ever watch? Yeah. So good. He's so phenomenal in everything he does. So I was excited to act with him again. Um, yeah. If we see a season three down the road, which I'm hoping, I'm hoping we get at least five seasons out of this. Like, what would you like to see with Tosh? If somebody handed you a piece of paper, said write down some ideas, what would you like to see? Okay. Two things.

[00:11:18] One, I want to see her dance like selfishly. I want to dance a little bit. And also, um, I have been trying to pitch this. I think we should have a bottle episode where we're all stuck in the hospital elevator together. And that's less about my character, but I just want to see every character or like, we're all locked in the cafeteria or something. Like, I just want to see something happen where all the characters have to sit with each other and talk.

[00:11:47] Like a breakfast club type of thing. Exactly. Right. A little breakfast club moment. I think that'd be really funny. I know it's still not like the rhythm of Scrubs, but I would love to see it. Um, yeah. I know last time we spoke, you were doing a few tours of the comedy. I mean, are you doing anything coming up? Anything you're allowed to tell us about? Yeah. Um, I've been definitely writing a lot. Um, I've been, uh, filming the show since July.

[00:12:14] So I kind of put my live shows on hold, but I'm excited to get back into them. Nothing like on the books right now, but, um, I think there'll be more like, uh, uh, written stuff that I'm excited to develop later. It feels very full circle to talk to you again, because I feel like everything happened so fast this year. And the last time I spoke with you, I was a season one baby. And here we are. I wasn't expecting Scrubs to come back this quickly. I know.

[00:12:44] Right. It's crazy. And I'm, yeah, I'm, it's been like, it was literally like a year ago that we started filming season one, which is nuts. Yeah. Amazing. I want to thank you for giving me a few minutes today. And like I said, hopefully we see you get down the road. Hopefully we see you season three. We'll catch up with, uh, her journey. I know. I hope to see you again and again. I love speaking with you. Thank you. Amazing. So yeah, this one.