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David Schwimmer Says He Would Have Been A Bigger Star If He Hadn't Turned Down This HUGE Movie

David Schwimmer Says He Would Have Been A Bigger Star If He Hadn't Turned Down This HUGE Movie

David Schwimmer SWEARS he would have been a much bigger star had he accepted an “amazing opportunity” nearly three decades ago.

The Friends star appeared on the Origins with Cush Jumbo podcast on Tuesday and opened up about what could have been a very career-changing role for him, had he taken it. But he instead opted to go with a passion project while on break from shooting Friends in 1996. The 57-year-old recalled:

“[It] was a brutal decision. 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. 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 the agreement was that he “would act in three more movies for them” if he was able to “direct [his] entire theatre company in the first film.”

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The agreement went through, and he got to work with all his Lookingglass Theatre Company friends on 1998’s Since You’ve Been Gone. He added:

“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. 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.”

However, around the same time, an offer for another movie came in… One that played a major role in Will Smith’s skyrocket to success! Men in Black!

He recalled:

“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. And of course, it was an amazing opportunity … However, my theatre company and that relationship with all those people would probably have ended. I don’t think it would have recovered.”

Well, that was certainly a selfless decision. We mean, if everyone really quit their jobs to work on a movie with him, we’re glad to hear he honored their commitment!

In retrospect, he says he’s not sure if he “made the right choice,” but believes “you have to follow your gut, you have to follow your heart.” He reflected:

“Look, 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.”

Well, on the flip side of the coin, maybe MIB wouldn’t have been as big with him in it. The charisma of Will Smith, particularly his chemistry with Tommy Lee Jones, is a big part of the special sauce that made that movie! So maybe if he had done it, Schwimmer wouldn’t have had the MIB films OR his friends!

Listen to the full podcast (below):

What are your thoughts??

[Images via British GQ, Friends, & Sony Pictures Releasing/YouTube]

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Sep 18, 2024 18:25pm PDT

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