Biography

Turned down Will Smith's role in Men in Black (1997).

Before Friends (1994) Schwimmer competed against high-school friend Jonathan Silverman and actor Jon Cryer for a role in the TV pilot Couples (1994). Silverman won the role opposite Helen Slater, but ABC passed on the show. The producers later reconceived the show for singles and sold it to NBC as Friends (1994) in which Schwimmer was the first actor to be cast.

Became a 1st time father at age 44 when his wife Zoe Buckman gave birth to their daughter Cleo Buckman Schwimmer on May 8, 2011.

Is on the board of directors of the Rape Foundation for the Rape Treatment Center of Santa Monica.

David once said in an interview, he would like to become a public school teacher after Friends (1994) ended.

To be perfectly honest, I feel I have a duty to use my celebrity status in a positive way. Most rape victims are women, so the bulk of the discussion is loaded towards women. I thought I could find a way to approach the subject of rape in such a way that men are going to respond to it. My most devastating moment was when a 13-year-old girl told me her story. At that moment, I realized just how important this center really is. Nothing else had ever made me connect with reality like that.

[on Friends (1994)] The miracle is the casting. Having been on the other side of it now in terms of directing and producing, to find one magical actor who is just right for the role is difficult enough, but to find six and then to have them actually have chemistry with each other is just kind of a miracle. I looked at the five of them. I watched their work and thought, Everyone is just so talented and perfect for their character. And they grew into their characters and enriched them and deepened them.

I don't think I responded very well to the sudden celebrity, the sudden fame, and the loss of privacy. There were several moments that were quite traumatic for me. I remember just going to the airport and walking to my gate, when I heard bloodcurdling screams and I thought someone was being killed. Before I knew it, a group of girls was running at me and literally dragging me and wouldn't let me go.

[on David Crane, Marta Kauffman and other writers on Friends (1994)] They really invited our ideas. They created an atmosphere in which we could play and fail and pitch stuff. And because of that it wasn't about any individual - it was about all of us trying to come up with the funniest and the best and the most emotional material we could. It was hands down the best creative experience I've had professionally, as an actor - a huge high, and it spoils you for life.

[on being the first member of the Friends (1994) cast to receive film offers] I said to the group, "Here's the deal. I'm being advised to ask for more money, but I think - instead of that - we should all go in together... use this opportunity to talk openly about the six of us being paid the same. I don't want to come to work feeling that there's going to be any kind of resentment from anyone else in the cast down the line". I thought it was significant for us to become a mini-union.