On a recent episode of the Origins With Cush Jumbo podcast, David Schwimmer recalled turning down ‘Men in Black’ although it was a hard decision.
Instead, he decided to direct his first movie. “[It] was a brutal decision,” the actor explained. “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 [Laughs].”
Schwimmer continued, “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.”
“Look, I’m really aware, whatever 20 years later maybe more, [‘Men in Black’] would have made me a movie star,” he then noted. “If you look at the success of that film and that franchise, my career would have taken a very different trajectory.”
David didn’t say which role he was offered in ‘Men in Black,’ but he once told The Hollywood Reporter that it was the part Will Smith got. “It wasn’t even like a choice,” he also said about touring down the offer.
Smith and Tommy Lee Jones ended up starring in the ‘Men in Black’ movies. Schwimmer recently appeared in the 2024 movie, ‘Little Death.’ In the film, a grumpy TV writer’s life named Martin Solomon played by David connects with two addicts on a journey to find a stolen backpack.
It is a comedy-drama directed by Jack Begert in his first film. The cast also includes Gaby Hoffmann, Karl Glusman, Dominic Fike, and Talia Ryder. Darren Aronofsky produced the movie. It premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival and won the NEXT Innovator Award.
