Actor David Schwimmer is practically synonymous with his « Friends » character, paleontologist Ross Geller, whom he depicted for 10 seasons, but what if he had starred in a blockbuster hit during that same stretch of stardom? Could he have been a movie-star?
Schwimmer certainly thinks so.
The 57-year-old actor shared during an appearance on the « Origins with Cush Jumbo » podcast that he had been offered a role in the 1997 hit, « Men in Black, » but he ultimately passed on the opportunity. Host and actress Cush Jumbo assumed that Schwimmer passed on the film due to a scheduling conflict with his smash TV series, but the actor refuted that idea.
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David Schwimmer thinks he could have been « a movie star » if he had taken the role in « Men in Black. » (Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)
« That’s not why I turned it down, » he explained. « That was a brutal decision. I had just finished filming ‘The Pallbearer,’ my first film with Gwyneth Paltrow, and there were high expectations of that which didn’t come true, » he said laughing.
« It was kind of a bomb, but there were high expectations and the studio, which was Miramax, wanted to lock me into a three-picture deal at a fixed price and I said I would do that if I got to direct my first movie, » he said.
Gwyneth Paltrow and David Schwimmer star in « The Pallbearer » in 1996. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
After « months of negotiations, » Schwimmer said he and the studio made it official; he would act in three of their movies but also get to direct his « entire theater company, » in a film, which he started in college. « All these unknown actors but I was going to put them on the map, basically. I was going to let everyone discover the talent of this amazing company, » he said.
Schwimmer’s directorial debut would be the 1998 comedy film, « Since You’ve Been Gone, » which takes place at a 10-year high school reunion. He also starred in the film, alongside Joey Slotnick, Terri Hatcher and Laura Flynn Boyle.
« We found this amazing script and we were developing it. We started pre-production. All my best friends in the world in my theater company quit their jobs so they could be in this film over the summer, which was going to be a six-week shoot in Chicago, » he described. « Budget’s set. We’re in pre-production, hired the whole crew, everything’s going, and that’s when I was offered ‘Men in Black,' » he revealed.
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David Schwimmer and Jennifer Aniston as Ross Geller and Rachel Green, are photographed in a season 8 episode of « Friends. » (NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images)
« It was a direct conflict with [the movie.] » he explained. « My summer window from ‘Friends’ was four months. I had a four-month hiatus and ‘Men in Black’ was going to shoot exactly when I was going to direct this film with my company. And of course, it was an amazing opportunity. I mean you have to follow your gut. You have to follow your heart. And look – I’m really aware, whatever 20 years later, maybe more, that would of made me, I think, a movie star. »
David Schwimmer says he only had a four-month hiatus from filming « Friends » after wrapping for the summer, and he chose to direct a film instead of star in « Men in Black. » (NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images)
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« I mean, if you look at the success of that film, and that franchise….my career would be in a very different [place]. Might have taken – probably would have taken a very different trajectory. However, my theater company and that relationship with all those people would probably have ended, » he admitted on the podcast. « I don’t think it would have recovered. Those people had quit their jobs to do that movie. »
« I don’t know if I made the right choice, » he continued, although Jumbo assured him that he had. A representative for Scwhimmer did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s inquiry about what role he would have portrayed in the movie.
« I mean you have to follow your gut. You have to follow your heart. And look – I’m really aware, whatever 20 years later, maybe more, that would of made me, I think, a movie-star. »
Will Smith, left, and Tommy Lee Jones starred in the wildly successful film, « Men in Black. » (Columbia Pictures/Getty Images)
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« Men In Black » famously starred Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith.
The 1997 flick went on to gross nearly $600 million internationally at the box office, having an additional two sequels with the original cast.
