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F.R.I.E.N.D.S star David Schwimmer is best known for playing Ross Geller in the legendary sitcom. He was one of the first actors cast in the sitcom, was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award, and won a SAG Award for his portrayal. Schwimmer has since gone on to work on feature films, shows, and has even moved to the director’s chair.
Despite his large body of work, Schwimmer is largely known for his role on F.R.I.E.N.D.S and was reportedly annoyed by it for some time. He said that his interests lay in dramatic roles and was initially inspired by Sir Ian McKellen’s portrayal of Iago in his one-man show of Shakespearean plays.
David Schwimmer would have loved to play a darker role like Sir Ian McKellen’s Iago
Sir Ian McKellen in X-Men | Credits: 20th Century FoxSir Ian McKellen may be best known for his role as Magneto in the X-Men franchise and as Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings franchise, but he has a large body of work on the stage and in films. McKellen has won several Olivier Awards for his work on the West End and other stage work. He also won a Tony Award.
Perhaps some of his best-known work on the stage has been with the Royal Shakespeare Company. He reportedly even performed one-man shows of Shakespearean plays, which apparently inspired a young David Schwimmer who was a fan of classical theater. The F.R.I.E.N.D.S star mentioned that a workshop he took with McKellen back in 1979 inspired him to be an actor.
David Schwimmer in American Crime Story: The People vs O.J. Simpson | Credits: FXWhile Schwimmer has established himself as a capable actor both on screen and on stage, he expressed regret at not being able to play a certain type of character due to his image as a sitcom star. He told The Guardian,
I’ve always wanted to play Iago. He’s a sociopath, but he’s a charming sociopath. Growing up in junior high school and high school, I never felt like I was in the cool crowd. I always felt quite envious and that’s a great motivator. Envy and jealousy. Desire.
After the workshop, Schwimmer reportedly continued his passion for acting and started studying drama in high school and even won a few drama contests at the time.
David Schwimmer initially hated his image of being the F.R.I.E.N.D.S star
David Schwimmer in F.R.I.E.N.D.S | Credits: Warner Bros. TelevisionDavid Schwimmer is not just an actor from one of the most popular sitcoms of all time but also a stage actor, a film lead, a director, and an activist. But most people genuinely do know him as Ross Geller, the three-time divorcee who loves dinosaurs. While he is okay with it now, Schwimmer claimed that the image used to frustrate him before.
While there might be little Shakespearean about Ross Geller, Schwimmer reportedly wanted to be known for more than his stint on the sitcom. However, he later got over it after gauging the impact he had. He said (via The Guardian),
There was a period that I was very, very frustrated by being pigeonholed in this one genre, this one idea. I got Friends when I was 27 but I had done all this work on stage. But all that was just eradicated. As far as the public was concerned, I came out of the womb doing sitcom. So that was frustrating, as if it obliterated all the other training, all the other roles I had done.
Despite the sense of ease he has with the sitcom, he was pretty sure not to revive the series unless it made sense creatively and also mentioned that the rest of the cast felt the same way.
F.R.I.E.N.D.S is available to stream on Max.
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