Zach Braff had to give himself daily "pep talks" to stop himself getting intimidated by his ‘Going In Style’ cast.
The actor-turned-director knew the quality of the heist comedy – a remake of the 1979 film of the same name – would be affected if he let himself be too much in awe of screen legends Sir Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman and Alan Arkin.
He said: "I knew I was doing a disservice to the film and to them if I was a deer in the headlights.
"So I had to give myself morning pep talks, like, ‘They’re just actors. Direct them like you directed other actors.’
"As a testament to them, they never once gave me the ‘Who do you think you are, kid?!’ treatment."
Morgan, Michael and Alan were all impressed by Zach’s ability behind the camera, but are unsure of his decision to take on TV series ‘Start Up’ as his next venture.
Morgan said: "I think he has a great future as a director."
Michael agreed: "Oh yeah – he’s very visual. But what he’s doing is, he’s doing a TV series where he’s directing and playing the lead. He’s not doing a movie [next].
"I’d have done another movie. A TV series goes on forever, doesn’t it?"
Morgan said: "I wouldn’t take that on. It’s just non-stop. [But] they’re short work periods… you work 13, 14, 15 weeks and you’re done. They’re intense."
Alan added to Total Film magazine: "Yeah, but those 15 weeks take 25 weeks."
Ann-Margret also appears in the film and compared the experience to working with legendary Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau on ‘Grumpy Old Men’.
She said: "Doing this film really reminded me so much of working with Jack and Walter, this warm feeling that we had. I loved coming to work."
Zach Braff tried not ot be in awe of cast
