Friends Nearly Ruined David Schwimmer’s Social Life

At some point, many a twentysomething yearned to be part of a clique like the one in Friends. A tight-knit group of friends figuring out life, love, and careers in the city that never sleeps. It's easy to forget that the whole show is scripted, and that the characters are not real. Just ask David Schwimmer, who played Ross Geller. Schwimmer played the lovable nerd for 10 years, and it turns out that it took quite a toll on him. On the streets, everyone treated him like he was Ross. He said Ross messed up his personal relationships with people for years. Schwimmer talked about the adverse effect the character had on his social life during a podcast with the Hollywood Reporter. “It was pretty jarring, and it messed with my relationship to other people in a way that took years, I think, for me to adjust to and become comfortable with,” Schwimmer said. “Whereas in our show I’m the same guy for 10 years, you can rely on me to be a certain way and you know me — or, you think you know me.” The better he was at playing Ross, the more confusing it became to interact with people as regular human, David Schwimmer. It's sort of a double-edged sword. “As an actor, the way I was trained, my job was to observe life and to observe other people, so I used to walk around with my head up, really engaged and watching people,” he explained, adding that he felt like he owed a lot to the dedicated fanbase. We're sorry, Ross! I mean, David. Glad it's all resolved now.