Layla Mohammadi and Jacob Dudman on Scrubs' "My Best Friend's Barbecue" — Romance, Supply Closets, and Too Many Energy Drinks

Amara (Layla Mohammadi) and Asher (Jacob Dudman) have been circling each other all season, and Episode 8 of the Scrubs revival, "My Best Friend's Barbecue," puts them squarely at the center of the action. I spoke with Mohammadi and Dudman about what it felt like to carry the episode, how their real-life cast bond mirrors what's happening on screen, and the caffeine-fueled chaos behind one particular elevator scene.

Alex: When you got the script for "My Best Friend's Barbecue," this feels a little bit like your episode — Scrubs is otherwise very much an ensemble, but the spotlight is really on you two for these 21 minutes. What did that feel like?

Layla: I feel like every time we got a script and read it, it was always like, "Oh, we're doing this this episode." And this one was a fun one. I remember we all got on a group FaceTime afterward and were just laughing throughout the whole thing. I think it was just more time to be able to play on set — it was such a fun episode to film.

Jacob: Everything Layla said — it's such a joy when you don't know what's coming up, and we get the script one week and then literally sometimes three or four days later we're filming it. And the other thing is, I haven't seen all the episodes. You don't know if what you film is going to be in the show. You could have the most lines in an episode and end up with the least. It literally is that culture of: the funniest bit, or whatever's most important to the story that week, wins. So all you can do is turn up and enjoy it for what it is.

Alex: You've both talked about how quickly the cast bonded in Vancouver. How awkward was it to move into the kissing phase of your characters? There's a lot of it in this episode.

Layla: We all became such fast friends because we were all living in the same building and hung out constantly on and off set. We were together like 24/7. And it's always funny, especially when you get to know someone, you're like, "Oh, well, we're doing this now." But Jacob's so professional and we had become such good friends that it was just more funny than anything. We'd get to set and be like, "Okay, well, we're going to do this." Part of being an actor, I think.

Jacob: I think we'd had a couple of benefits working in our favor. One was that we'd both done kissing scenes before. And the other was that it wasn't like, "Nice to meet you, we need to kiss" — but we also hadn't known each other for years and years, where it would've felt a bit weird that way too. So I think it actually fell at a really good time. There was a respect and a friendship without it being awkward. And full credit to Layla for that.

Alex: You spend a lot of time in this episode in that supply closet. How claustrophobic is that set?

Layla: Pretty much what you'd imagine — the only open wall is the camera and crew. But the set is so well built that they could actually move walls to film. It was a small, confined space, and I remember looking up at the top of it…

Jacob: Yeah, you feel like you're in there alone, and then you look up, and it's like, oh no — the boom's just there, looking straight down at you.

Alex: Both of your characters also get to branch out in this episode and find their support groups while the central storyline plays out. Can you talk about the parallel between that and the tight bond you have as a cast off set?

Layla: With Amara, she really leans on Dashana a lot. Dashana is pushing her in ways she's never been pushed before to get out of her shell and try new things. And you find out at the end that they're going to move in together, which I think is such a fun direction for the story. They're going to have all these new little adventures. But it very much parallels our real life, because all we did every day was hang out. Amanda and I would go hiking all the time, and when we weren't on set, we were in the group chat like, "Do you guys want to eat, or go on a walk, or get a drink?" We became fast friends very quickly because of it.

Jacob: I kind of went on a parallel journey to Asher, really — to the point where as an actor you're going, am I just writing what's happening in my own life, or am I actually creating a character here? Asher is from another country, felt like a bit of a fish out of water, but just really wants everyone to get along and feel like part of things. I think I, as Jacob, found it much easier to feel part of a group than maybe Asher does in the show. But the bond we created off-set was so special, and I think you can see it in the episodes from the very first one.

Alex: The storyline for your characters in this episode also mirrors what J.D. is going through — people he loves are doing something, and he can't be there, while your two characters are feeling all these feelings and pulling in different directions. Do you feel that thematic resonance when you get the script?

Layla: The writers are so incredible on this show. Every time we got an episode, it was like they found a way to make so many different stories mesh into one. I don't know how they do it, but it's a testament to how brilliant all of them are.

Jacob: I love it at the end of episodes where J.D.'s voiceover kind of interweaves all the different plot lines. And even — I mean, you can tell it's coming in the script — but I hope audiences, when watching it, maybe haven't put those bits together yet, and it just sort of all sits nicely and bolsters that feeling that this is a community, an ensemble, a group of people all going through something together. I think it's beautiful.

Alex: Do you have any behind-the-scenes memories from this specific episode you'd want to share with fans?

Layla: I remember this is when I was drinking a lot of energy drinks on set…I just remember us having too much caffeine and bouncing off the walls.

Jacob: That elevator scene was caffeine-fueled, wasn't it? They were long days, and maybe it was part caffeine, part adrenaline. But the image I have from that week is just blocking the scenes and having this sort of bird's-eye view of going, "Okay, and then I'm going to ram them up against the wall" — and thinking, I'm getting paid for this. What the hell is going on? Very bizarre.

Layla: Having to talk about it all robotically and then just do it.

"My Best Friend's Barbecue" aired tonight on ABC and begins streaming tomorrow on Hulu. New episodes of Scrubs premiere Wednesdays at 8/7c.