Nicholas Braun Can’t Sip At His Own Bar Despite Pleading Not Guilty In DUI Case

Nicholas Braun, best known for his role as the awkwardly lovable Cousin Greg on HBO's "Succession," has officially entered a not guilty plea to a misdemeanor DUI charge stemming from a recent arrest in New Hampshire. While his trial date is months away, he's not allowed to touch alcohol in the meantime. For those unaware, Nicholas Braun co-owns Ray's, a trendy bar located in the Lower East Side of Manhattan that's become something of a celebrity hotspot. But as the DUI case unfolds, the man who literally serves drinks for a living won't be allowed to drink them himself.

According to new legal documents obtained by TMZ, Braun waived his formal arraignment scheduled for Tuesday and authorized his attorney to submit a not guilty plea on his behalf. The arrest took place last month and quickly made headlines, given Braun's rising fame and reputation for playing chaotic but ultimately endearing characters on screen.

Though Nicholas was released on his own recognizance, a judge has now imposed a strict condition while the case plays out... he must abstain from alcohol, narcotics, and controlled substances. In other words, Braun can't so much as sip a beer while this case is pending, which makes things interesting considering he's not just a drinker, he's also a bar owner.

While Nicholas Braun's current DUI case and court-mandated sobriety have cast a shadow over his public image, fans of the Succession star know there's more to him than headlines. Years before the arrest, Braun was busy transforming into Derrek, the hilariously awkward boyfriend in the viral-inspired A24 film "Zola," and his behind-the-scenes memories from that shoot reveal a quieter, more committed side of the actor.

"When I read the script, [my character] speaks a certain way," Braun shared in a past interview with BuzzFeed. "Jeremy [O. Harris] and Janicza [Bravo] wrote his dialogue with a specific cadence, so I started, you know [speaks in a slow drawl]..."

He didn't stop there. Wanting to lock in Derrek's distinct (and slightly tragic) aesthetic, Braun took to experimenting with facial hair. "I wasn't sure what the facial hair should be, but I felt like that should be a part of it. So I'd grow my facial hair out and send pictures to Janicza until we settled on the chinstrap."

But it wasn't all method acting and vocal cadence. One of Braun's favorite moments from the "Zola" set had nothing to do with cameras at all. "We had been shooting all night long to get this one specific shot at dawn… we all were just so dead," he recalled. "So we ordered Chick-fil-A at 11 or 12 at night and spread it out all over our hotel room. We had milkshakes and sauces... and it was just great, the four of us eating together, and then we all just took a nap in that room. We cleared off all the sauces and then passed out."

Long before he was Cousin Greg or a chinstrapped Zola boyfriend, Nicholas Braun was just a teen actor trying to break into Hollywood, and for many fans, their first introduction to him was as Zach, the glowstick-powered sidekick in Disney's 2005 superhero comedy "Sky High."

In that same BuzzFeed interview, Braun reflected on the exact moment he found out he'd been cast, and it sounds like something straight out of a teen movie itself. "Oh, my gosh. I screamed and yelled. I was with two friends in Pennsylvania when I got the call, and I felt the most excitement," he said. "I still feel that way, though, when I get a part; I think, 'Wow, I cannot believe I won this part.'"

But landing the role wasn't without complications. At the time, Braun was enrolled in boarding school, and filming meant potentially missing a big chunk of the fall semester. "I immediately thought if they were going to let me out of boarding school in the fall to film, my dad pulled a lot of strings to make it happen."

From boarding school breakouts and flying school buses to chinstraps, Chick-fil-A, and courtroom headlines, Nicholas Braun's journey has been anything but ordinary.