Scrubs star John C. McGinley was a ‘mess’ filming Dr Cox’s emotional return

Reflecting on the latest episode of the Scrubs revival, John C. McGinley breaks down Dr Cox’s emotional return.

John C. McGinley was “a mess” filming his emotionally charged scenes in the Scrubs revival.

The 66-year-old actor returned as Dr Cox in episode eight for the first time since the series premiere, and in a heartbreaking moment it’s revealed the character has been diagnosed with microscopic polyangiitis, an incurable autoimmune disease.

Reflecting on the emotional conversations Dr. Cox has with JD (Zach Braff) and Elliott Reid (Sarah Chalke), John told Deadline: “Yeah, I was a mess.

“And that’s not the stuff you cut in, because sometimes when the actors get too upset, it deprives the audience of sharing in that arc.

“What’s in the episode is the stuff that still makes it accessible for the audience.”

He credited Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence with helping find the write tone in the episode, which was written by the revival’s showrunner Aseem Batra.

He added: “Sometimes you just want to put it down, and with that comes a release. But sometimes the lens suffers that as your indulgence, not ours, not the viewers.

“So there has to be a real deft touch in post, in edit. And I think Billy did a great job with letting the audience own that, not Cox.”

Despite Dr Cox’s health woes, John thinks the character will survive, and play a bigger role in a potential second season of the Scrubs with revival.

He said: “I think that Cox will come back a lot more in season two. There’s been a big outcry, that’s very flattering.

“But I also think structurally, I was sharing this with a friend of mine the other day. I don’t know if you remember Joe Campbell and his exploration of myth and the structure of myth.

“I think Zach’s character as the hero in this three-act tale, as it pertains to Joe Campbell, the hero needs consequences and a threat and jeopardy, and without Ken Jenkins and not enough the Janitor, it falls on; the threat would be failure with the interns this season, and that’s great.”

However, John suggested JD will need Dr Cox around more to create a sense of “jeopardy”.

He added: “He needs a threat, he needs consequence. There has to be jeopardy, and that jeopardy is Cox, however Billy writes it.

“I think Cox will be more thickly woven into the tapestry of season two. I’m completely speculating.”