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David Schwimmer is a geek.
Mind you, he is a recovering geek, but as any 12-step member knows, a relapse can lurk at
any corner. Sure, he's big man now, what with his breakthrough role as Ross on Friends
and leading-man status in the upcoming Pallbearer. But it wasn't always this way.
"I've said in previous interviews that I was a geek in high school," says
Schwimmer, perching on a rickety chair in a dank bowling alley in Queens, N.Y., where he
is filming a scene for The Pallbearer. "And my friends have called me and
said, 'You were not - we all looked up to you.' But that's how I felt, you know what I'm
saying?"
Ok, then. Since geekdom is claimed by practically every actor and model in the country,
prove it. Schwimmer takes a deep breath. "Well, it was Beverly Hills High, and the
popular clique was the good looking rich kids with the brand-new BMW's when they were 16.
They were doingthe drugs, they had the boob jobs. Everything was getting fixed."
Then there was Schwimmer: chubby, shy, no plastic surgery. "But worse, I had a
mustache when I was 13," he says. "No facial hair anywhere else. OK? I was
embarrassed beyond belief, but my parents would not let me shave. I finally rebelled and
took some of my sister's Nair and put it on my upper lip." His voice gets more and
more animated. "Left it on too long, of course. When I took it off, I burned my whole
upper lip. Do you know what I am saying?" Good Lord. This is just too painfull.
"So, instead of one day discreetly having no hair on my face, everyone saw that I had
this huge red burn." He shakes his head. "I'm sure no one remembers this, but it
scarred me."
There's more. "I had a headgear, OK?" rails the 28-year-old. "You know, for
braces? Oneof those things like a harness for a horse? The doctor insists on you being
humiliated and wearing it for like, 12 hours a day." He's rolling now. "So, for
a long time I had no social life. I was so ashamed of going out with this medievil
contraption on my head.God forbid that I should foret to wear it at night, which I did of
course. My mother forced me to wear it at school. You don't understand how many fights, I
- tears, screaming." He trails off. "So, when I say I was a geek in high school,
this is how I felt."
These humbling experiences have given Schwimmer a strong sense of empathy for his fellow
creatures and lend credence to his Everyguy persona, Indeed, true to form, he is
startingly unaffected by the fact that his world has been upended this year - his
portrayal of lovable mensch Ross on the coffee-house-high jinks series Friends
has made him the show's unlikely if understandable sex symbol (oh, the crumpled, uh,
strongly worded letters this man receives!). Then there is The Pallbearer, the
tale of an architect named Tom who is asked to be a pallbearer at the funeral of a high
school buddy - problem is, he barely knew the guy. As he learns about this so-called pal,
the friend's girlfriend, played by Gwyneth Paltrow, is beginning to look more and more
attractive.
"This movie was my first choice, hands down," says Schwimmer, who had 30 or so
scripts to choose from for his movie debut. "A typical script was, like, me with an
orangutan," he deadpans, reffering to Ross' simian pal, Marcel, who has since been
jettisoned from the Friends story line. "I was like, 'Oh my God, if they
don't cast me they're insane, because I am that guy.'"
THE KIND OF GUY DAVID
SCHWIMMER IS - A likeable, funny nice Jewish boy who often finds himself caught in strange
situations - can be traced to some of the actor's earliest childhood memories.
For instance, Schwimmer, the son of two attorneys, often found himself in the position of
negotiating for a raise inhis allowance. "I really had to present my case," he
says. "They'd say no, but they'd support their case with 10 reasons why. I'd say 'I
need this.' and they'd say, 'Let's question why you need this.'" Schwimmer
flirted with the idea of being a lawyer - "flirted, but we didn't date" - but
decided instead to study theater at Northwestern University, outside Chicago, where he
co-founded the Lookingglass Theater Company, which is still dear to his heart.
Upon Graduating, he made his rounds in L.A., learning humility - "too ethnic"
was one reason for rejection: "I still get that. Oh, sure" - bt then rapidly
landing roles in an uneven mix of shows such as The Wonder Years, Monty ( the
painful, short-lived Henry Winkler vehicle) and early episodes of NYPD Blue, in
which he memorably played "4B" a nebbish apartment dweller who shoots a mugger.
Then, God bless 'em, the folks from Friends came calling. "We knew how good
an actor David was," says executive producer Kevin Bright, "but the thing that
we discovered very early on the season was how great a physical comedian he turned out to
be. And David kept encouraging us: 'Write more for me where I get hit in the head by a
dryer that's open.' He wanted to encourage that side of the character - that the character
be a little bit klutzy and these things happen to him. He definately came up with that
side of Ross."
"We were all kind of afraid of each other at first," says Schwimmer. "We
had six days to be best friends. Plus, we didn't want to bond too much because if the show
is picked up, you still don't know if you're coming back or if they're coming back."
Well, we all know what happened after that.
It is also well documented that there's alot of caring and sharing off the set. Splitting
up for the series summer hiatus was painful for the Friends cast, but they've
kept vigorously in touch. "I just saw Jen [Aniston] last night," Schwimmer
reports, "and Matt Perry gets in town tomorrow." Lisa Kudrow recently married,
"but I was the only one, unfortunately, who was not there, because I worked 19 hours
the day before and would have gotten sick had I flown." He hasn't bought his present
yet for Kudrow. "She's registered somehere. I said to her: 'Would you rather I just
got yousomething else? Something personal?' she was like, 'I'd rather you got me something
from the list.'"
THERE IS A STATUE THAT DAVID SCHWIMMER WOULD LIKE TO FIND IN New York's Central Park:
Alice in Wonderland 9remember, the Lookingglass Theater Company). He has come from brunch
at Barney Greengrass, a city landmark of no-nonsense kosher fare; he's feeling mighty
satisfied (there is a tiny dab of creame cheese on his lip); and now he's on a quest.
"I saw it once, and I wantto try and find it again," he says, sitting on a bench
while he contemplates which direction to go.
Schwimmer's guy-next-door look (gray Banana Republic T-shirt, blue pants, Simple Tennis
shoes - "the best shoes ever") should insure that he blends in with the Central
Park crowds. But no.
They come in packs. they come in pairs. They walk by, stare, point and then come back five
minutes later. They drive by on bicycles and yell, "Love your show, guy!"
"The number one thing people say is, 'I know you probably don't want anyone to do
this right now, but...'" Schwimmer laughs. As if on cue, a girl timidly inches up to
him and does just that. She is shaking.
"Oh, my God. You're Ross," she says. "Not to be giddy or anything."
she fumbles for a pen.
Three minutes later, a man approaches him with a Filofax and a fancy-looking glittery pen.
"can you sign this? I got this pen from that guy over there." A man in the
distance waves. "I had to give him my coat as collateral."
Schwimmer affably signs the Filofax. "Thank you for being a 'Friend,'" he
writes. Uh, thank you for being a friend? "Yeah, I know. Corny." he says.
Obviously, fans feel that they can approach Schwimmer. This can present problems. "I
was at an outdoor cafe with Matt Perry having brunch," he says animatedly. "A
guy taps me on the shoulder, I turn around, and he hands me his baby. I'm in the middle of
eating, and he practically throws the baby into my arms and says [solemnly], 'Oh,
my God, I have to have a picture of you and my son.' What am I gonna do, throw the baby at
him?
"I hope I'm not sounding harsh," he continues as a mothe and daughter approach.
"I just think somewhere a line has to be drawn, and I am in the process of learning
what it is."
The tabloids are another matter. Don't get him started. "In one, there was a photo of
Jennifer and me, Jennifer and Matt, and Jennifer and Matt LeBlanc, saying that she's slept
with all three of us, and that I've dumped my girlfriend. Complete fabrication." One
tabloid reporter tracked down Schwimmer's girlfriend, Sarah Trimble, 28, in New Orleans,
where she is clerking for a federal court judge. "The bummer is, now she wont trust
people," he says shaking his head.
For the most part, however, life is a cabaret. Schwimmer is full of plans. There is a new
season of Friends. Any previews? "They don't really tell us, but at some
point Rachel and I are supposed to get together. I feel fine about it. I think it's more
interesting to see the dynamic with a couple, such as the one on Mad About You,"
he says. He is commited to four more years on the show. "Fine with me," he says,
"because it's so much fun. I knew when I signed up that it was for five years of my
life. If you don't weigh all that out before you sign up, you're not a man of your
word." His film carrer is promising, as is advance word on The Pallbearer.
Ideally he says he would like to do movies with the Lookingglass troupe, which is still
based at Northwestern.
Schwimmer's personal life is pretty sunny, too. His girlfriend is going to move to
california to be with him this fall. Talking about this makes him break into a huge, mushy
grin. (Make no mistake, he is into this relationship: Ask when they met and he recites,
"July 3, two years ago.") He is also an avid family man. "My favorite thing
about my family is that my sister and I will go over to our parents' house on the weekend
and play canasta."
Finally, he plans to get a dog, perhaps a Jack Russell terrier. "A small dog, so you
could bring it places. I I have to say cats and I don't want to get into a big thing here,
but - cats just take, take, take."
Yet another fan approaches, bolder than most, which brings Schwimmer back to the fame
thing. Recently, for the first time ever, this nice Jewish boy almost, almost had
an instance of prima-donna behavior. "I called to get a table for the Friends
cast at this restaurant, and I had the dirty job of politically correctly letting them
know that...the whole cast was coming and...you know what I'm saying?" He is trying
to say with some measure of delicacy, that the cast of Friends yukking it up at a
table is a restaurateur's gift from God. "And the were like, "Nope, can't take
care of you.' And for a second I was like, 'What?!'" He smiles, but I didn't vocalize
it.
"I just said, 'You're sure?"