Who is the “Friends” actor who turned down being in “Men in Black”: “That would have made me a movie star”

David Schwimmerworld renowned for his role as Ross Geller in Friendsdoes not regret having rejected Men in Blackhowever, acknowledges that his “career would have taken a very different path” if he had starred in the 1997 film.

When asked on a recent episode of the Origins With Cush Jumbo podcast if he turned down the hit franchise due to conflicts with his Friends filming schedule, the actor replied, “That’s not why I turned it down.” Instead, he chose to direct his first feature film.

“It was a brutal decision,” Schwimmer admitted.“I had just finished filming The Pallbearer, my first film with Gwyneth Paltrow, and there were huge expectations that were not met (laughs). It was kind of a failure, but there were huge expectations and the studio, 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.”

David Schwimmer could have starred in Men in Black

The actor said that after months of negotiations, they agreed that he would “act in three more films for them” if they let him “direct my entire theater company in the first film,” Since You’ve Been Gone from 1998. The film focused on a reunion of alumni 10 years after their graduation, but was told through the eyes of a doctor who was humiliated on his graduation day by being brutally beaten by a fellow graduate.

“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,” Schwimmer explained. “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, production on his directorial debut ended up overlapping with the filming of Men in Black, leading Schwimmer to make a difficult career decision.

“We were in pre-production, we hired the whole crew, everything was in motion and that’s when I got offered Men in Black,” the Six Days, Seven Nights actor recalled. “It was a direct conflict with this. My Friends summer window was four months long. I had a four-month hiatus and Men in Black was going to be shot exactly when I was going to direct this film with my company.. And 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.”

Although Schwimmer said he doesn’t know if he “made the right decision,” he firmly believes that “you have to follow your instinct, you have to follow your heart” in these situations.

“I am aware that, 20 years later or perhaps more, [Men in Black] I would have become a movie star”he added. “If you look at the success of that film and that franchise, my career would have taken a very different path.”

The Men in Black franchise was finally starring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones in the leading roles.