As Ross in Friends, David Schwimmer played one of the most recognisable characters of the 1990s.
However, in a new interview, the Emmy nominee has revealed he could have appeared in another of the decade’s most iconic screen franchises.
Speaking to fellow actor Cush Jumbo on her podcast Origins, David confirmed that he turned down a role in the hit sci-fi comedy Men In Black, admitting it was a “brutal” decision to make.
“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,” David recalled, noting that the film was “kind of a bomb”.
“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 continued.
David said that it took “months of negotiations”, but producers finally agreed that if he appeared in three more films, he could direct a film featuring the “entire theatre company” he was working with at that time.
He explained: “[They were all] unknown actors but I was gonna put them on the map, basically. I was going to let everyone discover the talent of this amazing company.
“So, we started, we found this amazing script and we were developing it. We started pre-production. All my best friends in the world in my theatre 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.
“We’re in pre-production, hired the whole crew, everything’s going, and that’s when I was offered Men In Black. It was a direct conflict with this, 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.”
“You have to follow your gut,” he said of turning down the “amazing opportunity”.
He continued: “You have to follow your heart.
“And look, I’m really aware, whatever, 20 years later, maybe more, that 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. However, my theatre company and that relationship with all those people would probably have ended.”
While David didn’t specify which character he would have played in Men In Black, he previously told The Hollywood Reporter it was the role that Will Smith ended up landing.
Men In Black was a big hit upon its release in 1997, spawning two sequels in 2002 and 2012, as well as a more recent reboot starring Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson.
It’s fair to say David hasn’t exactly done too badly, though, earning his second Emmy nomination in 2016 for his performance in Ryan Murphy’s American Crime Story, and another for producing the 2021 Friends reunion.