David Schwimmer: 'Friends' fame changed my relationship with other people

Actor says fame made him want to 'hide under a baseball hat'

David Schwimmer (Getty)

When Friends hit TV screens in the 1990s it brought trends (the ‘Rachel’ haircut), record levels of viewership and accelerated the careers of its six protagonists, bringing them extreme levels of fame and wealth.

But the speed at which their profiles grew and lives consequently changed is something David Schwimmer says affected his relationship with other people.

Schwimmer has now revealed the effect joining the show had on his life, describing it as “huge life changing event”, However, he indicated that level of fame was not a wholly positive one.

“For me, personally, it was pretty jarring and it messed with my relationship to other people in a way that took years for me to adjust to and be comfortable with,” he told the Hollywood Reporter in a podcast.

“I was 27 when the show hit so I had a pretty solid understanding of who I was and my relationship to the world and as an actor, the way I was trained, my job was to observe life and to observe other people and so I used to walk around with my head up and really engage and watch people and then the effect of celebrity was the absolute opposite.

“It made me want to hide under a baseball cap and not be seen and I realised after a while that I was no longer watching people I was trying to hide,” he said.

Schwimmer said he was thankful he and his cast mates Aniston, Courtney Cox, Matt Le Blanc, Matthew Perry and Lisa Kudrow all went through the experience together as although it was “thrilling, exciting and fun” it was also "really terrifying at times".

The 49-year-old said being a private person he struggled with people suddenly treating him in a different way “that sometimes was flattering but mostly very invasive”.

“When people start coming up to you and grabbing you or wanting something from you. Now it’s even worse because it’s on camera […] it just changes how you relate to people or it can change how you relate to people.”

Over 20 years since Schwimmer was nominated for an Emmy award for his role in Friends, he finds himself nominated again for his portrayal of Robert Kardashian in American Crime Story: The People vs OJ Simpson.

Kardashian was Simpson’s entrusted friend who formed part of his infamous ‘dream team’ legal defence counsel while he was on trial for the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ron Goldman, eventually being found not guilty of their murder. Kardashian, who died in 2005 from cancer, was the father of television’s most famous reality television siblings Kim, Kourtney, Khloe and Rob.

'The one where they all turn thirty' (Getty)

Schwimmer said in the interview “the single, most helpful” thing in his preparation for the role was speaking to Kardashian’s ex-wife and the family’s matriarch and ‘momager’ Kris Jenner.