Friends Star David Schwimmer Turned Down One Of Will Smith’s Best Movies

In an alternate timeline somewhere, “Men in Black” may have led to the blockbuster leading man career of “Friends” star David Schwimmer instead of Oscar-winner Will Smith. Stories about Schwimmer’s near-casting in the first “Men in Black” film have been around for years. However, during his appearance this week on the podcast “Origins With Cush Jumbo” (via The Hollywood Reporter), Schwimmer explained more fully why he ended up picking a different project over the hit sci-fi action-comedy.

“[It] was a brutal decision,” the actor admitted to Jumbo, noting that a lot more went into his decision to decline the Agent J role than his tight “Friends” shooting schedule. “I had just finished filming ‘The Pallbearer,’ my first film with Gwyneth Paltrow, and there were high expectations of that which didn’t come true,” Schwimmer told the host with a laugh. “It was kind of a bomb, but there were high expectations and the studio which was Miramax wanted to lock me into a three-picture deal at a fixed price, and I said I would do that if I got to direct my first movie.”

Schwimmer spent months negotiating with Miramax before they came up with a deal: He would appear in three additional movies for the company, but he would also get to direct a film featuring his “entire theater company.” The actor spoke about this to THR (via Den of Geek) back in 2016 as well, explaing, “That was my goal, to give […] to bring everyone up with me, to give everyone a shot. And I did it.” The film in question was “Since You’ve Been Gone,” a comedy about a class reunion that Schwimmer co-starred in and directed with a script from Jeff Steinberg. The cast included Philip Rayburn Smith, Joy E. Gregory, Joey Slotnick, Teri Hatcher, Jon Stewart, Rachel Griffiths, and Lara Flynn Boyle, some of whom had been a part of the theater company Schwimmer loved.

“All these unknown actors, but I was going to put them on the map, basically. I was going to let everyone discover the talent of this amazing company,” Schwimmer told Jumbo, describing his ambition for the project. So, when Schwimmer got a call about the “Men in Black” job, which would’ve had to put an end to “Since You’ve Been Gone” entirely, turning it down was a no-brainer. “All my best friends in the world in my theater company quit their jobs so they could be in this film over the summer, which was going to be a six-week shoot in Chicago,” Schwimmer explained. Of course, he would’ve had to shoot “Men in Black” during the four month time period he had off from playing Ross Gellar on “Friends,” so taking the job would’ve meant the theater company actors — not to mention the movie’s crew — would all lose their jobs.

“Of course, it was an amazing opportunity,” Schwimmer concluded. “However, my theater company and that relationship with all those people would probably have ended. I don’t think it would have recovered.” He opted not to be Agent J, and with Will Smith in the role, “Men in Black” went on to make over $587 million worldwide and led to several direct sequels (plus a sequel/spinoff). Schwimmer admitted he’s now “really aware” that the role would’ve made him a movie star, but that he thinks it’s important to follow your gut and heart when it comes to decisions like these ones.

On some levels, this seems like a story with a happy ending. Schwimmer was able to make a movie with all of his friends, some of whom went on to work more in Hollywood. Also, his Agent J might not have been a breakthrough character like Smith’s was. (It’s tough to picture Schwimmer’s version of Agent J irritating Tommy Lee Jones’ gruff Agent K in a way that comes across as anything but, well, irritating.) Unfortunately, Schwimmer’s film never even got the chance to become a hit in theaters. While he doesn’t mention this in the podcast, it actually ended up being released as a TV movie on ABC.

It’s unclear exactly what happened behind-the-scenes, but it’s worth noting that disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein had plenty of leverage at Miramax at that point. In his book “Questions For The Movie Answer Man,” Roger Ebert fields a question from someone who was curious about where the bad buzz for the relatively good film (then titled “Stepping in the Dogwater”) was coming from, and if someone might be trying to sabotage the project. In Kevin Smith’s memoir “Tough Sh*t,” the writer-director also remembers Miramax trying to shoehorn the actors it had overall deals with — including Schwimmer — into his own 1997 film “Chasing Amy.” It’s clear a whole lot went on behind the scenes with Schwimmer’s Miramax deal, all of it making the “Men in Black” opportunity even more complicated than the slam dunk it originally seemed to be. 

Still, kudos to Schwimmer for sticking by his friends, and for being honest about how tricky the decision still seems to him with nearly two decades of retrospect.