David Schwimmer Reflects on Fame, Fatherhood, and New ‘Goosebumps’ Role

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — David Schwimmer, best known for his iconic role as Ross Geller on the hit sitcom “Friends,” is opening up about his journey through fame, fatherhood, and his latest venture into the horror genre with Disney+’s “Goosebumps: The Vanishing.” The actor, who earned $1 million per episode during the final seasons of “Friends,” shared candid reflections on his career and personal life in a recent interview.

“Advice I’d give my younger self … I would maybe say enjoy it more,” Schwimmer told The Post while promoting his new series. “Enjoy the ride a little more. The thing about being a public figure at a young age is, for me, it was quite scary actually at that time of my life.” Schwimmer, now 57, was just 27 when he began filming “Friends,” a role that catapulted him into global stardom.

He recalled the overwhelming lack of privacy that came with fame, describing how he and his co-stars were constantly followed by paparazzi. “All of us were kind of constantly followed by three or four cars at a time. Anywhere we went, you had no privacy anymore,” he said. “That to me, my response to it, I would just give my advice to my younger self to also just enjoy the whole thing more. Because that was scary at the time to younger actors.”

Schwimmer also reflected on how fame impacted his personal life and career. “It was pretty jarring and it messed with my relationship to other people in a way that took years, I think, for me to kind of adjust to and become comfortable with,” he told The Hollywood Reporter in 2016. “As an actor, the way I was trained, my job was to observe life and to observe other people, and so I used to walk around with my head up, and really engaged and watching people. The effect of celebrity was the absolute opposite: It made me want to hide under a baseball cap, not be seen.”

Since “Friends” ended in 2004, Schwimmer has taken on a variety of roles, including portraying Robert Kardashian in Ryan Murphy’s “American Crime Story” and voicing Melman in the “Madagascar” franchise. His latest project, “Goosebumps: The Vanishing,” marks his first major foray into the horror genre. In the series, Schwimmer plays Anthony Brewer, a botanist and divorced father of twins navigating a dark family mystery.

“I’ve always been a fan of horror, especially of horror action-comedy. The genre is so exciting to me,” Schwimmer told The Hollywood Reporter. “I’m a genuine fan, and I’ve never been asked to do it.” The role allowed him to explore a character with depth and complexity, something he found particularly compelling. “This was just kind of a no-brainer,” he said of accepting the role.

Schwimmer also drew parallels between his character’s experiences and his own life as a father. “As a parent of a teenager, you never stop worrying about your kids,” he said. “In the circumstance of this anthology series, stuff starts to happen where things are so much more heightened and so much scarier. There’s so much more potential for harm, psychological or physical. In that, the amount of worry as a parent just skyrockets.”

Filming in New York, where Schwimmer lives, was another perk of the project. “I was very lucky, doubly lucky that this happened to shoot in New York where I live, so I didn’t have to leave home,” he explained. “I get to be in my own bed and see my kid every day. And so it was great.” Schwimmer shares daughter Cleo, born in 2011, with his ex-wife, Zoe Buckman.

All eight episodes of “Goosebumps: The Vanishing” are now streaming on Disney+ and Hulu.