David Schwimmer Had Problems Working With This 'Friends' Co-Star
The greatest television shows of all time managed to capture the attention of millions of fans around the world with great writing and excellent casting. Shows like The Office helped change the game for the next era of shows, and while there are always good shows to watch on television, few actually stand the test of time.
Friends is arguably the best show of the 90s and easily one of the best shows in television history, and the series turned its stars into household names. The recent cast reunion saw the original 6 catching up and taking a deep dive into the history of the show, and a lot was revealed during the special, inducing some problems that David Schwimmer had with a certain co-star.
Let’s take a look at the conflict in question.
Thriving As Ross On ‘Friends’
When looking at the history of television, few shows stand out as bring as successful as Friends. One of the main reasons why the show was such a major hit was that it was cast exceptionally well, and this includes the casting of David Schwimmer as Ross Geller on the show. Schwimmer was perfect for the role, and he helped take the series to another level while it was still on television.
To this day, fans of the show still have mixed feelings about Ross as a character, with some loving him and others loathing him. It is always interesting to hear about how people perceive not only Ross as a character, but also his relationship with Rachel on the show. This conversation would not be taking place had David Schwimmer not played the role so well back in the 90s and 2000s. Turns out, the role of Ross was written with his voice in mind.
According to writer and producer, Marta Kauffman, “Schwimmer had auditioned the year before for a pilot we were making, and he just stuck in our heads. That was an offer. No audition.”
After starting his time on the show, Schwimmer would soon come face-to-face with a trained monkey, which wound up making things more difficult than expected.
He Worked With Marcel The Monkey For Several Episodes
During the first season of Friends, Marcel the Monkey made its debut, and the character would subsequently go down as one of the most memorable co-stars in the show’s history. The storyline featuring Ross and Marcel was hilarious, and the fans clearly liked what the writers did here.
Marcel was not meant to be a permanent character, rather just one that was in a number of episodes for a particular storyline. Despite this, fans remember the funniest moments involving Marcel, and the fact that the monkey playing Marcel was able to hit its marks in front of a live audience, which is just incredible. This was not easy, however, and a lot of work was needed to make it happen.
As great as things looked in the final product, having the monkey hit its marks was exceptionally difficult and frustrating. In fact, David Schwimmer, who worked with the monkey the most, would eventually express his frustrations with his co-star and how much he hated working with a live animal.
He Hated The Experience
Long before the Friends reunion, Schwimmer had already talked about his problems working with the monkey, saying, “I hate the monkey … I wish it were dead. The trainers won’t let me bond with it. They’re really, really possessive. It’s like, ‘Land on your marks, do your job, don’t touch or bond with the monkey.’ It’s a bummer.”
Even though many years had gone by and Schwimmer had plenty of time to process his feelings, not a whole lot had changed about his opinion on working with a monkey. Clearly, it was a difficult process for the actor, and he still had some serious problems about the overall experience.
“Here is my problem: The monkey, obviously, was trained. It had to hit its mark and do its thing right at the perfect time. What inevitably began to happen was we would all have choreographed bits kind of timed out, and it would get messed up, because the monkey didn’t do its job right. So we would have to reset, we'd have to go again, because the monkey didn't get it right,” said Schwimmer during the recent Friends reunion.
David Schwimmer has an incredible television legacy thanks to playing Ross Geller on Friends, but despite things being so great for the actor, he still has some problems from his brief time working with a trained monkey.
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