David Schwimmer’s career has been a successful one, but the “Friends” actor admitted he once turned down a major role that would have made him a movie star.
Schwimmer said he passed up the opportunity to star in “Men In Black” while on the Sept. 17 episode of the “Origins With Cush Jumbo” podcast.
The famous actor doesn’t seem to regret turning down the part, but he admitted his “career would have taken a very different trajectory” if he had starred in the blockbuster film. Schwimmer called it a “brutal decision” and went on to explain the interesting reason he had to walk away from the huge opportunity.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – DECEMBER 10: David Schwimmer attends iHeartRadio Z100 Jingle Ball 2021 on December 10, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for iHeartRadio)
Schwimmer denied that it was due to his hectic filming schedule for “Friends.”
“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,” Schwimmer quipped.
“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 on the podcast.
Schwimmer said that after months of negotiations, they agreed that he “would act in three more movies for them” if they let him direct his “entire theater company in the first film,” which was 1998’s, “Since You’ve Been Gone.”
The famous actor said the pressure was on and he had high hopes at the time.
LOS ANGELES, CA – OCTOBER 08: Actor David Schwimmer attends The Rape Foundation’s Annual Brunch on October 8, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Rich Fury/Getty Images)
“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 explained.
“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 said.
Schwimmer said the production time for his directorial debut overlapped with the filming schedule for “Men In Black.” He admitted he doesn’t know if “he made the right choice,” but said he strongly believes that “you have to follow your gut, you have to follow your heart” when it comes to decision-making.
“We’re in pre-production, hired the whole crew, everything’s going and that’s when I was offered Men in Black,” he said.
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“Of course, it was an amazing opportunity … However, my theater company and that relationship with all those people would probably have ended,” he said. “I don’t think it would have recovered.” (RELATED: ‘Not Putting On A Fake Face’: Supermodel Turns Her Back On Career At Age 27)
“Look, I’m really aware, whatever, 20 years later, maybe more, [Men in Black] would have made me a movie star,” he added.
