David Schwimmer rejected role in 1990s classic that would have ‘made him film star’

David Schwimmer has spoken about the job offer that could have changed his entire career.

The Friends star, 57, shot to fame on the much-loved Nineties sitcom alongside Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc, Lisa Kudrow and Matthew Perry. In 1996, he had his first film leading role in the romantic comedy The Pallbearer alongside Gwyneth Paltrow.

Schwimmer, who has since played parts in the comedy thriller Picking Up the Pieces and the animated film Madagascar, said he would have had significantly more success in Hollywood if he’d played one early career move differently.

Speaking on the Origins with Crush Jumbo podcast, Schwimmer said: “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 explained: “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.”

When Miramax finally gave Schwimmer the chance to direct a film, he opted for the comedy script Since You’ve Been Gone, which follows a group who reunite for their 10th anniversary school reunion.

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Schwimmer hired his “best friends” from his theatre company in leading roles, who quit their jobs so they could film the project during its six-week summer shoot in Chicago.

The Friends star was then hit with a “brutal decision” when his agent told him he’d been offered a role in Barry Sonnenfeld and Steven Spielberg’s sci-fi film Men in Black, which would eventually star Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith in the role originally offered to Schwimmer.

“My summer window from Friends was four months,” Schwimmer said. “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…However, my theatre company and that relationship with all those people would probably have ended.”

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Since You’ve Been Gone was downgraded from theatrical release to premiering on ABC in 1998. Meanwhile, Men in Black turned Smith into one of the world’s biggest stars.

“You have to follow your gut. You have to follow your heart,” Schwimmer reflected.

“I’m really aware, whatever 20 years later maybe more, [Men in Black] would have made me a movie star. If you look at the success of that film and that franchise, my career would have taken a very different trajectory.”