David Schwimmer

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The Ross Geller depictor’s interview sparks conversations on social media and it doesn’t take long before ‘Living Single’ alum Erika Alexander weighs in on the matter in one of her tweets.
Jan 29, 2020
AceShowbiz – David Schwimmer faces heat over his recent comments about proposing an all-black version of his popular sitcom “Friends”. In a new interview with The Guardian, the actor, who portrayed Ross Geller on the show, shared that he wished for diversity by creating an all-black or all-asian version of “Friends”, but he was met with criticism because he missed one thing.
“I feel that a lot of the problem today in so many areas is that so little is taken in context. You have to look at it from the point of view of what the show was trying to do at the time,” the 53-year-old actor explained. “I’m the first person to say that maybe something was inappropriate or insensitive, but I feel like my barometer was pretty good at that time. I was already really attuned to social issues and issues of equality.”
“Maybe there should be an all-black Friends or an all-Asian Friends,” he said during the interview when asked about the criticism about the show’s all-white cast. “But I was well aware of the lack of diversity and I campaigned for years to have Ross date women of color. One of the first girlfriends I had on the show was an Asian American woman, and later I dated African American women. That was a very conscious push on my part.”
David might have meant well with the suggestion, but his remarks only caused people to roast him because he forgot the existence of “Living Single”. The show, which many dubbed as the “all-black ‘Friends’ “, aired in 1993, a year before the NBC sitcom premiered.
His interview sparked conversations on Twitter and “Living Single” alum Erika Alexander weighed in on the matter. She wrote on Twitter, “Hey @DavidSchwimmer @FriendsTV – r u seriously telling me you’ve never heard of #LivingSingle? We invented the template! Yr welcome bro. 😉 David Schwimmer 2 The Guardian: ‘Maybe there should be an all-black Friends or an all-Asian Friends’.”
During her appearance on “The Breakfast Club”, she previously revealed that the name for “Friends” was taken from the development stage of the show. “It was. The original name for ‘Living Single’ was ‘My Girls; but it didn’t test well so they came up with some other names. ‘Living Single’ and ‘Friends’ were some of the names presented. Obviously, they chose one and the other went to another show, also produced by Warner Bros.”
Fans also quickly chimed in as one said, “David Schwimmer clearly doesn’t know that the ‘all-black’ reboot of Friends that he wants was already done and was called Living Single…which btw inspired Friends.” Another one added, “Apparently, David Schwimmer has no idea he was on a white reboot of ‘Living Single’.”

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While calling his hit sitcom ‘groundbreaking in its time,’ the Ross Geller depicter does admit that the series was lacking in diversity, adding that he had to push for his character to date women of color.
Jan 28, 2020
AceShowbiz – David Schwimmer is standing up for his hit series “Friends”, following accusations the iconic series promoted sexist, homophobic and transphobic views.
The actor, who played Ross Geller on the sitcom from 1993 to 2004, insists the “groundbreaking” show tackled important themes.
“The truth is also that show was groundbreaking in its time for the way in which it handled so casually sex, protected sex, gay marriage and relationships,” he tells the Guardian.
Schwimmer notes gay marriage story lines were seldom seen on primetime TV at that time, but it was front and centre in “Friends”‘ first ever episode.
“The pilot of the show was my character’s wife left him for a woman and there was a gay wedding, of my ex and her wife, that I attended (sic),” David adds, but he accepts the show failed in some areas.
“Maybe there should be an all-black Friends or an all-Asian Friends,” he muses. “But I was well aware of the lack of diversity and I campaigned for years to have Ross date women of colour. One of the first girlfriends I had on the show was an Asian-American woman, and later I dated African-American women. That was a very conscious push on my part.”
“I’m very aware of my own privilege as a heterosexual white male whose parents were able to pay for a private education for me. I’ve always felt a sense of responsibility to give back and to call things out if I see an abuse of power.”

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While HBO chiefs have revealed they were in early discussions for a revival, the actor playing Ross Geller on the hit sitcom believes his castmates have all moved on.
Jan 28, 2020
AceShowbiz – David Schwimmer has ruled out reviving his hit sitcom “Friends” as he feels the cast have all moved on.
Speculation the series, which ran from 1994 to 2004, could be revived has been rife since HBO chiefs revealed they were in early discussions with the cast about some form of reunion programme.
David tells The Guardian that although he’s open to a reunion that takes the form of a chat show retrospective, he doesn’t want to reprise his role as Ross Geller – and believes colleagues Courteney Cox, Jennifer Aniston, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, and Lisa Kudrow feel the same.
“I just don’t think it’s possible, given everyone’s different career trajectories,” he says. “I think everyone feels the same: why mess with what felt like the right way to end the series? I don’t want to do anything for the money. It would have to make sense creatively and nothing I’ve heard so far presented to us makes sense.”
However, the star reveals that he and his castmates are still on good terms – with his relationship with Matt particularly strong.
“We all had a little reunion dinner at Courteney’s house recently,” he adds. “Everyone drifts and everyone has families and gets on with it so there are different relationships among the cast, but I’m probably closest to LeBlanc on a regular basis. I’m the only one that lives in New York.”
Reminiscing about his time on the hit sitcom, the 53-year-old recalls, “The older I get and the more my perspective shifts. The more you realise just how good you had it. That 10-year run with that particular cast, that group of writers, those directors. It was an amazing time professionally, but mostly creatively.”

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