David Schwimmer Trashes ‘Friends’ For ‘Not Enough Representation On The Show’
IMDB Reading Time: 2 minutes
With an all white crew, the Friends actor, David Schwimmer talks about representation on the show with the ongoing, Black Lives Matter movement heating up about racial discrimination and violence.
Friends, which has become one of the most popular sitcoms of all time, featured predominantly white characters during its 10-season run.
In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, David Schwimmer says, “It felt wrong that there was not enough representation on the show,” adding that, “Really felt like Ross should date other people, women of all races.” Two of Ross’ girlfriends on Friends were Julie, played by Lauren Tom, and Charlie Wheeler, played by Aisha Tyler.
Tyler previously spoken on how ‘colorblind’ cast meant she won the role.
Speaking to InStyle, she explained: ‘The role wasn’t written as a woman of color, and when I auditioned, I read against women of every ethnic background. ‘ I think why it worked was that they didn’t make it into a “very special episode of Friends,” where the friends suddenly confront issues of race or try to somehow counterbalance the previous eight seasons’ relative lack of diversity. ‘I was just a character on the show.’
Other actresses of color like Gabriella Union played the role of Kristian Lang in a short scene on Friends.
“[Friends] was doing some incredible things,” he told the outlet. “If you remember the pilot, my character was losing his wife to a woman. The way they portrayed gay marriage on the show and how we as a family made it work, I thought was great.”
RELATED: K-POP FANS ARE MAKING ‘WHITE LIVES MATTER’ TREND, BUT IT’S NOT WHAT YOU THINK
Schwimmer, who currently stars on the British TV comedy series Intelligence, then added that he would like to see a reimagined version of Friends with a more diverse cast.
“Maybe there should be an all-black Friends or an all-Asian Friends,” he said.
David added, ‘I can tell you that we are hoping to shoot in August, in mid-August, but honestly, we will do it when it’s safe.
