On numerous occasions we have seen statements from actors who claim to have rejected roles in films that ended up being a tremendous success and that would have marked a before and after in their careers. One of these cases was that of one of the protagonists of the legendary series Friendswho already became very famous for this great comedy that lasted ten seasons, but was very close to becoming a big movie star.
We talk about David Schwimmerthe actor who played Ross, who just confessed in the latest episode of the Origins With Cush Jumbo podcast that he once received a proposal for be the protagonist of Men in Blackwhich would undoubtedly have meant a huge change in his life, as he himself has admitted when he declared that his “career would have taken a very different path.”
At that time he was already filming Friendsbut he wanted to make it clear that the series was not the reason why he made what he considers to have been one of the hardest decisions of his life. He said, I had just filmed the movie My Unknown Friendhis first film as a leading man alongside actress Gwyneth Paltrow, and it was what led him to sign a deal with Miramax:
There were high expectations for the film that were not met. It was a bit of a flop, but there were high expectations and the studio, which was Miramax, wanted to give me a three-picture contract at a fixed price and I said I would do it if I got to direct my first film.
And so it was, because after months of negotiations he managed to direct the film. Since you leftAt the time, none of the actors were well-known, but Schwimmer wanted to put them all in the spotlight. Basically, they were colleagues from his theatre company whom he encouraged to take part in this project.
All of these actors were unknown, but I was going to put them on the map, basically. I was going to let everyone discover the talent of this incredible company. We found this incredible script and we were developing it. We started pre-production. All of my best friends in the world from my theater company quit their jobs so they could be in this movie over the summer, which was going to be a six-week shoot in Chicago.
However, The filming dates were to coincide with those of Men in Blackso he had no choice but to make a decision that he has not hesitated to admit could have changed his life and turned him into a movie star. In fact, to this day he still doubts whether he did the right thing or not.
We were in pre-production, we hired all the crew, everything was in motion and that’s when I was offered the role of Men in Black. It was a direct conflict with this. Of course, it was an incredible opportunity… However, my theatre company and that relationship with all those people would probably have ended. I don’t think it would have recovered.
You have to follow your instinct, you have to follow your heart. Look, I’m very aware that 20 years later, or maybe more, Men in Black would have made me a movie star. If you look at the success of that movie and that franchise, my career would have taken a very different path.
Finally, as we all know, the protagonists ended up being Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jonesbut it would have been very interesting to know what the film or the saga would have been like if David Schwimmer had ended up with the role instead of one of them.
At VidaExtra | We always wanted to see the true appearance of Frank the dog in Men in Black and the animated series fulfilled our wish
