David Schwimmer

Some Lesser Known Facts About David Schwimmer

• He took a Shakespeare workshop in 1979. Ian McKellen taught at the workshops and David was engrossed in the classes. He later won two first prizes in the  Southern California Shakespeare Festival.

• After moving to Beverly Hills, David was never comfortable at the school. He felt out of place because he felt like the students there have a different value system than his.

• In school, he was good in Maths and Science and he thought he’d be a doctor. His drama teacher motivated him to purse acting and he flew to Chicago to take his degree in theater and speech.

• David Schwimmer after graduation, co-founded the “Lookingglass Theatre Company” in the late 1980s. He continued his journey as an unemployed struggling actor in Los Angeles.

• Schwimmer, in 2016,  played Robert Kardashian in American Crime Story.

• David’s first acting experience was at the age of 10, when he played the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella’s Jewish version.

• He turned down the role of Ross Geller first but accepted it later on. The role was specifically written with him in mind as cast because the Executive Producer had already worked with him and knew his caliber.

• Schwimmmer based his character of Ross Geller in FRIENDS on the Nicolas Cage’s movie Peggy Sue Got Married (1986).

• When FRIENDS was aired for the first time, it was watched by 22 million American Viewers. Schwimmer received the strong reviews very soon. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette complimented David calling him “terrific”.

• Variety mentioned “All six of the principals, especially (Courteney) Cox and Schwimmer, appear resourceful and display sharp sitcom skills”.

• He received an Emmy Award nomination in the category  Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy.

• David chose to do the movie The Pallbearer because he wanted to play something as far from the character of Ross Geller. He turned down the character of “J” in “Mein in Black” along with Tommy Lee Jones to grow in art rather than earning quick cash.

• David was criticised for his role in  Band of Brothers, a war drama, in which he played a cruel captain. BBC news critcized him calling him the only problem in the movie because his puppy-dog eyes weren’t convincing enough for the role.

• He voiced the character Melman, the giraffe in the animated movie Madagasker (2005). Critics gave mixed responses although the movie was a commercial success bagging US$532 million, the biggest hit of 2005.

• After FRIENDS, David has been FRIENDS-zoned as he tried so many roles and things to break out his Ross Geller’s character, bus has mostly received mixed reviews from the critics.

• Schwimmer has also directed a few episodes of FRIENDS.

• David was not able to take Broadway easily because he was picky about the whole thing. Either he wasn’t happy with the cast, or the director or the play itself.

• For his directorial debut, again, the critics had ambivalent reviews. Where New York Daily News said  “Most disappointing is how Schwimmer—who spent 10 seasons on a sitcom filled with hyperverbal characters—manages to bumble ‘Fatboy’s’ tender moments”; on the other hand, he was nominated as the Best Debut Director for a  British Independent Film Award.

•  For his off-Broadway debut he was appreciated for guiding his team for intensity and comic timing although he was criticised by Los Angeles Times for not trying something more challenging.

• He was appreciated by Chicago Tribune for his character George Gibbs in Our Town saying “Schwimmer … turns in a poignant, richly textured and demonstrably heartfelt performance as George Gibbs. I’ve seen a fair bit of Schwimmer’s post-Friends stage work in London and New York, and I’ve never seen him better”.

• He is involved in charity and support of bringing awareness against child abuse and is an active director of the Rape Treatment Centre in Santa Monica helping victims of date rape and child rape.