David Schwimmer
David Schwimmer
David Lawrence Schwimmer is an American actor, director, producer and comedian. He was born in Flushing, Queens, New York, and his family moved to Los Angeles when he was 2. He began his acting career performing in school plays at Beverly Hills High School. In 1988, he graduated from Northwestern University with a Bachelor of Arts in theater and speech. After graduation, Schwimmer co-founded the Lookingglass Theatre Company. For much of the late 1980s, he lived in Los Angeles as...
ProfessionTV Actor
Date of Birth2 November 1966
CityAstoria, NY
I love directing. It's something I started doing in theatre when I was in university in Chicago and I started a theatre company right out of college and was directing for many years.
I've commissioned an adaptation of 'The Jungle', by Upton Sinclair, a story of a young immigrant from Lithuania to the meat-packing industry of Chicago in 1904, and the rise of the unions in America.
I have a lot of girlfriends whom I've never been involved with. Those kinds of lines get drawn pretty early on.
The biggest effect celebrity had on me was that I stopped being open and receptive and started to walk around with my head down.
There's nothing like a play. It's so immediate and every performance is different. As an actor, you have the most control over what the audience is seeing.
Oh my God, people really think I'm Ross!
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.
I didn't ask to be followed by five video guys from 'Hard Copy' that harass you with bright lights in your face and ask you questions and try to incite you. I didn't ask for that. I never went into acting for that, or to be in the public eye simply by walking down the street, not being able to eat a meal without being interrupted.
As an actor, the training I received was that I walk through the world as an observer of life and of people. My job is to actually be looking out all the time and watching people.
I started in theater. I did theater professionally for seven years with my company before I started doing 'Friends.' I was waiting tables and doing theater.
You know, I grew up watching all kinds of films. So, as an adult, I wanted to be involved in all kinds of plays and television and film.
We were not trying to push anybody into a deal,
There are certain sacrifices that you make, and you feel like the only compensation you have as an actor is financial.
The reality is, Jennifer and I can do our job well because we truly are friends. But when the day's over, she goes home to her boyfriend and I go home to a magazine.