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David Schwimmer believes he would have been a “movie star” if he hadn’t turned down one particular film.
The movie is Men in Black with Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones.
The former Friends star still doesn’t know if she “made the right decision” when she turned down an offer to star in the 1997 blockbuster.
But she noted that her career “would have taken a very different trajectory” if she had not turned down the film.
David admitted he was faced with the “brutal” decision of whether to sign on for Men in Black or direct his first film during a break from his Friends filming schedule and ultimately opted for the latter.
Talking about the Origins with the ‘Cush Jumbo’ podcastHe said: “It was a brutal decision.”
David Schwimmer believes he would have been a “movie star” if he hadn’t turned down one particular film. Seen with his Friends co-stars Jennifer Aniston and Courteney Cox
He added: ‘I had just finished filming The Pallbearer, my first film with Gwyneth Paltrow, and I had high expectations that didn’t come true.
“It was kind of a failure, but there were high expectations and the studio, which was Miramax, wanted to give me a three-picture deal at a fixed price and I said I would do it if I got to direct my first film.”
After months of negotiations, the studio agreed that David would “act in three more films for them” in exchange for being able to “lead (his) entire theater company in the first film,” 1998’s Since You’ve Been Gone.
He continued: ‘All of these actors are unknown, but I was basically going to put them on the map.
‘I wanted to let everyone discover the talent of this incredible company.
“We found this amazing script and we were developing it. We started pre-production.
“All of my best friends in the world in my theater company quit their jobs so they could be on this movie over the summer, which was going to be a six-week shoot in Chicago,” he said.
The movie is Men in Black with Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones from 1997
Pictured: (L-R) Matthew Perry as Chandler Bing, Jennifer Aniston as Rachel Green, David Schwimmer as Ross Geller, Helen Baxendale as Emily Waltham, Courteney Cox as Monica Geller, Matt LeBlanc as Joey Tribbiani in Friends
Just as things were moving along, the offer came for Men in Black, which eventually starred Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones.
David recalled: ‘We were in pre-production, we hired all the crew, everything was going well and that’s when they offered me Men in Black.
‘It was a direct conflict with this.
‘My summer window on 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 movie with my company.
He was offered Men in Black during his time off from Friends, but he was already doing a small film.
“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 been recovered.”
The 57-year-old actor doesn’t know if he “made the right decision” but firmly believes that “you have to follow your instinct, you have to follow your heart” in such situations.
He added: ‘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 trajectory.”