The iconic character Ross Gellar played by David Schwimmer didn’t enjoy fame after the FRIENDS just like his co-stars.
FRIENDS’ cast has become a household name overnight for portraying the iconic characters of Ross Geller, Chandler Bing, Phoebe Buffay, Monica Geller, Joey, and Rachel Green. FRIENDS has become one of the most beloved and popular sitcoms on the network. The show played for a decade and it still goes with reruns. Almost every generation has watched the show. Also, it has changed the fortune of the cast after its debut. But there’s one actor who thinks the show was a blessing and a curse for him. Yes, you read it right! Actor David Schwimmer disappeared for a few years after FRIENDS.
But how come? Ross is such an iconic character that it is hard to forget about David Schwimmer. Let’s find out here!
What made FRIENDS so popular?
FRIENDS is an emotion for the fans of the show. It’s hard to decide for the fans what made the show evergreen because there’s not just one aspect to it. The show, its cast, screenplay, humour, dialogues, and of course characters—-every single thing is perfect and this is why the show is still popular.
Why David Schwimmer failed to maintain the popularity after FRIENDS
Actor David Schwimmer gained a lot of popularity for his role as Dr. Ross Geller on the hit 90’s sitcom FRIEND. Since then David has done a lot of other work but he failed to be in the limelight. Despite having the same career launch as his co-stars Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Matthew Perry, Lisa Kudrow and Matt LeBlanc, David disappeared in Hollywood. In fact his career seems to have sunk after few of the controversies.
Here are the reasons:
David Schwimmer couldn’t handle the celebrity status:
David was cast as Dr. Ross Geller on FRIEND in 1994. He played a nerdy paleontologist who managed to be kind and lovable despite his frustrating character traits. But the actor couldn’t handle the fame with grace at first.
In an interview with Awards Chatter podcast in 2016, he said “It was pretty jarring and it messed with my relationships to other people in a way that took years, I think for me to adjust to and become comfortable with…It made me want to hide under a baseball cap and not be seen”
Playing Ross Geller was both “a blessing and a curse”
Aside from FRIENDS, David has worked both on TV shows and behind the camera. But his role as Ross overshadowed his other work. In other words, David has disappeared under Ross Geller’s shadow.
He told Los Angeles Times in 2016, “On the one hand, I’m typecast or there is the danger of being seen or believed as that one character. On the other hand, it was a piece of pop culture and television history and it provided financial security…there’s not a day that goes by that I’m not grateful”
This is the reason, David feels playing Ross Geller on FRIENDS was both a blessing and a curse.
