David Schwimmer thinks he would have been a “movie star” if he hadn’t turned down ‘Men in Black’ but still doesn’t know if he “made the right choice”.
David Schwimmer thinks he would have been a “movie star” if he hadn’t turned down ‘Men in Black’.
The former ‘Friends’ star still doesn’t know if he “made the right choice” when he rejected an offer to star in the 1997 blockbuster but noted his career “would have taken a very different trajectory” if he hadn’t passed on the film.
David admitted he had been faced with the “brutal” decision of either signing up for ‘Men in Black’ or directing his first movie during a break from his ‘Friends’ filming schedule and ultimately opted for the latter.
Speaking on the Origins With Cush Jumbo’ podcast, he said: “[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.”
Following months of negotiations, the studio agreed David “would act in three more movies for them” in return for being able to “direct [his] entire theatre company in the first film”, 1998’s ‘Since You’ve Been Gone’.
He continued: “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.”
Just as things were in motion, the offer for ‘Men in Black’ – which ultimately starred Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones – came in.
David 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.”
The 57-year-old actor doesn’t know if he “made the right choice” but firmly believes “you have to follow your gut, you have to follow your heart” in such situations.
He added: “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.”
David Schwimmer could have been a ‘movie star’ if he hadn’t snubbed Men in Black
