David Schwimmer Says Turning Down ‘Men in Black’ Was a ‘Brutal Decision’: ‘That Would Have Made Me a Movie Star’

The "Friends" alum opted instead to direct his first feature instead of starring in the blockbuster franchise.

David Schwimmer doesn’t quite regret turning down the blockbuster franchise “Men in Black,” but he knows that his career would look very different today if he did star in the 1997 film.

The “Friends” alum said during Sony Music Entertainment’s podcast “Origins with Cush Jumbo” that he opted to direct his first feature instead of joining “Men in Black.”

When asked if the film conflicted with his “Friends” production schedule, Schwimmer said, “That’s not why I turned it down.”

He continued, “[It] was a brutal decision. 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. 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. So after months of negotiations, they finally said that I would act in three more movies for them but I got to direct my entire theatre company in the first film. 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.”

That project, however, is what overlapped with “Men in Black.” And Schwimmer had to make a tough, career-defining decision.

“We found this amazing script and we were developing it. We started pre-production. All my best friends in the world in my theatre 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,” he said. “We’re in pre-production, hired the whole crew, everything’s going and that’s when I was offered ‘Men in Black.’ It was a direct conflict with this. My summer window from ‘Friends’ was four months. I had a four-month hiatus and ‘Men in Black’ was going to shoot exactly when I was going to direct this film with my company. And of course, it was an amazing opportunity. […] However, my theatre company and that relationship with all those people would probably have ended.”

Schwimmer instead stuck it out on his directorial debut, the dark comedy “Since You’ve Been Gone,” which centered on a 10-year class reunion. While it was intended to be released theatrically by Miramax in 1997, the film instead premiered as a made-for-television movie on ABC in 1998.

“Men in Black” instead starred Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones.

“You have to follow your gut. You have to follow your heart,” Schwimmer said. “Look, I’m really aware, whatever 20 years later maybe more, [‘Men in Black’] would have made me a movie star. If you look at the success of that film and that franchise, my career would have taken a very different trajectory.”