Here’s Why David Schwimmer Declined ‘Men in Black’

American comic science fiction action spy film ‘Men in Black’ (1997) and its two sequels - ‘Men in Black II’ (2002) and ‘Men in Black 3’ (2012) - had been successful at the box office and inspired many other filmmakers to go extra terrestrial. However, not many might be armed with the knowledge that Will Smith’s role in the series was originally offered to Friends actor David Schwimmer. Recently, the actor revealed that bad timing and loyalty towards his friends prevented him from grabbing the opportunity.

David said that he had always wanted to direct. In the past, when he was directing his first venture, ‘Since You've Been Gone’, he wanted to cast his entire theatre company in Chicago, which was made up of his old friends. “So, that was my goal... to bring everyone up with me, to give everyone a shot. And I did it. We negotiated a deal. We did it. And the next year it was set to go into production in Chicago. And it was called Dog Water - now it’s called Since You’ve Been Gone. But I shot my first film and the entire theatre company is in it. And some crazy cameos, like John Stewart, Liev Schreiber”, revealed David.

“I told everyone in the theatre company, ‘you’re all cast, here are your roles, don’t take any other jobs for this six-week period’. So everyone turned down all these opportunities”.  David divulged that he got a call from the Men In Black franchise nearly a month before his movie’s production started. Turning down the opportunity, the actor told the MIB team, “I can’t. These are my closest friends in the world, this is their first shot at a movie, my first shot at directing”.

Needless to say, the Friends star is really a good friend.

Source: maxlevelgeek.com