Featured Image Credit: Kristina Bumphrey/Variety via Getty Images/Columbia Pictures
Topics: Friends, Celebrity, Film and TV
Mia Williams
Topics: Friends, Celebrity, Film and TV
David Schwimmer still doesn't know if he 'made the right choice' after turning down a major blockbuster movie.
The former Friends star claimed that he was faced with a 'brutal' decision to make, and decided to turn down a 1997 blockbuster which would have taken his career in a totally different direction.
During a four month break from filming the hit American sitcom, David admitted he had been given the opportunity to star in Men in Black.
Advert
But during this same break, he was also given the option of directing his first movie - ultimately, he chose the latter.
Speaking on the Origins With Cush Jumbo' podcast, he said: "So that 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."
After a lot of negotiating, David landed a deal which meant his dreams would come true.
That was until another huge deal was slapped in front of him.
He continued: "After months of negotiations, they finally said, I got in writing, that I would act in three more movies for them but I got to direct my entire theatre company in the first film."
He then went onto note how all of his best friend in the industry quit their jobs and joined the project, and planned to begin filming over the summer in Chicago.
They had hired the whole crew, and that was when Men in Black came knocking.
Talking about the dilemma, David said: "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."
But he ultimately chose to follow his 'gut', adding: "You have to follow your heart and look, I'm really aware, whatever 20 years later maybe more, that 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."
Origins With Cush Jumbo is available wherever you get your podcasts.