David Schwimmer Quotes & Sayings

Being generous or doing things for others actually makes me feel good so I don't do it because I hope karma will come round and get me and I'll benefit from it. — David Schwimmer

The biggest effect celebrity had on me was that I stopped being open and receptive and started to walk around with my head down. — David Schwimmer

And the thing is, every time you start a new show or do a new series, you're committing to another six years. — David Schwimmer

I love directing. It's something I started doing in theatre when I was in university in Chicago and I started a theatre company right out of college and was directing for many years. — David Schwimmer

And, again, I'm the first one to say that I'm not going be successful at everything. — David Schwimmer

You're only as good as the sum of your parts, and one person can't be a team. — David Schwimmer

It was really interesting to be editing the film [Trust] in New York and directing the play in Chicago, and one definitely informed the other. The play probably benefitted more because I realized what scenes could be cut, and I cut those scenes from the play. — David Schwimmer

I don't think I responded very well to the sudden celebrity, the sudden fame, and the loss of privacy. — David Schwimmer

I didn't want to be a victim of my own message [in Trust film]. I didn't want to take advantage of a 14-year-old actor. I didn't want there to be any nudity, or any real overt violence. I think it's more terrifying that there is no violence, in that moment. There's control and there's power, but there's no violence. — David Schwimmer

You know, I grew up watching all kinds of films. So, as an adult, I wanted to be involved in all kinds of plays and television and film. — David Schwimmer

I've always been pretty energetic. — David Schwimmer

If I were given a choice between two films and one was dark and explored depraved, troubled or sick aspects of our culture, I would always opt for that over the next romantic comedy. — David Schwimmer

I like to grow as an actor, and you can do that by playing parts that are unfamiliar to you and uncomfortable. — David Schwimmer

Directing is something I always wanted to do. I started when I was 13 directing scenes in high school and then plays in college with my theatre company. — David Schwimmer

I think it was really crucial that the actress was age appropriate. There are films, such as An Education, where that wasn't the case, and I think that really affects how you receive what you're watching. — David Schwimmer

When I was six years old, my parents took me to this farmers' market with a petting zoo. They put me on a pony and, for some reason, it took off at a run and they had to chase it down. They tell me it was kind of traumatic. — David Schwimmer

Directing takes a lot longer than acting. This was about seven years in development, and then two and a half years with pre-production, production, post and now the release. Not that I have people banging on my door to star in movies, but it takes me out of the acting game for a longer chunk of time. — David Schwimmer

My parents from a very young age raised my sister and I under a pressure to achieve. They're both attorneys. So good marks, getting through university, there was a huge emphasis and pressure to do well and keep going. — David Schwimmer

Older actors can still play young, but it's harder for young actors to be able to play that age range. — David Schwimmer

I would say acting on stage is my first love. — David Schwimmer

There is a danger, if you cast someone who is 18, 19 or 20 to play 14 or 15, that very subtly, almost unconsciously, the audience is, "Oh, this isn't so bad." — David Schwimmer

I spend half my time just living my life, and the other half analyzing it. — David Schwimmer

I started in theater. I did theater professionally for seven years with my company before I started doing 'Friends.' I was waiting tables and doing theater. — David Schwimmer

To be perfectly honest, I feel I have a duty to use my celebrity status in a positive way. — David Schwimmer

I love helping someone else tell their story, but I like being the storyteller sometimes. — David Schwimmer

'Friends', even though it was the longest single job I've had, still to me at the end of the day, when it was over it was a job. — David Schwimmer

I think I'm a very very nice director. Very supportive, very nurturing. I definitely try to challenge my actors but I think I'm very supportive. — David Schwimmer

I like to challenge myself. I like to learn - so I like to try new things and try to keep growing. — David Schwimmer

I came from a family where I felt great pressure to be financially successful, and I felt that staying in Chicago and doing theater, I was, in all likelihood, not going to find financial success. — David Schwimmer

I think a huge amount of it is because of the Internet. Every single thing in the world is accessible with a few clicks. Almost every child, by the age of 13, has seen pornography. That's clearly different. It used to be really hard or really humiliating, as a 13-year-old, to access pornography. If you wanted to take a look at a Playboy, it was really challenging. Today, it's a joke. — David Schwimmer

There are days when I think: what if I just checked out? What if I grew a beard and went off to live somewhere remote? I have often wondered about the freedom that would bring. — David Schwimmer

I had a mustache when I was 13. — David Schwimmer

I've made a good amount of money. I'm very happy that I can now support my theatre company and support friends and family, and I'm ready to maybe go back to school and change careers. — David Schwimmer

A lot of a movie is locations, frankly. — David Schwimmer

I'm very goal oriented. — David Schwimmer

It's really important to me not to be known as Ross when I'm 60. — David Schwimmer

I think the other honest attraction was that I just grew up loving watching TV and loving watching film, and there's so many directors and actors that I dreamed of working with, I just really wanted to take a crack at it and see if I could ever work with some of those. — David Schwimmer

It's a job - someone's gotta kiss Jennifer Aniston. The reality is, Jennifer and I can do our job well because we truly are friends. But when the day's over, she goes home to her boyfriend and I go home to a magazine. — David Schwimmer

There's nothing like a play. It's so immediate and every performance is different. As an actor, you have the most control over what the audience is seeing. — David Schwimmer

I was a geek in high school. — David Schwimmer

If there's something I want, I go for it. I just think about how I'm going to go for it. — David Schwimmer

I'm always looking for a good role. — David Schwimmer

I really believe that, as an actor, you should be constantly studying other people, and celebrity had the absolute opposite effect on me. It made me want to hide - to run away and hide. — David Schwimmer

When you see Liana [Liberato], who at the time was 14, there is an inexperience and innocence that you can't act and you can't fake. — David Schwimmer

Can I tell you how strange it is to look in your rearview mirror and see guys in cars tailing you? — David Schwimmer

My advice would be to write what is most personal and specific to your experience or your life. And your voice will emerge and because of its specificity, it will be universal. — David Schwimmer

London is completely unpredictable when it comes to weather. You'll start a scene, and it's a beautiful morning. You get there at 6 in the morning, set up, you start the scene, start shooting. Three hours later, it is pitch black and rainy. — David Schwimmer

If someone doesn't believe enough in your product to put money in to it, then you should rethink how good the product is. — David Schwimmer

At this age - I'm 44 - I think life's too short. I want it to mean something to me, if I'm going to spend that much time doing it. — David Schwimmer

There are certain pressures and things that change your life to a degree that, in the cost benefit analysis that constantly goes on, sometimes makes you think, 'Maybe I should just leave.' — David Schwimmer

Our imagination often is more horrifying than being shown something. — David Schwimmer

Knowing yourself and expressing it is hip. I think knowing yourself is the real journey, for me anyway. — David Schwimmer

I find America falling in love with a TV show flattering and interesting, but at the same time a little sad. — David Schwimmer

Sometimes I've felt that the industry has typecast me as a certain kind of character. But then I think all it really takes is one role, the right role, to shake that up and change that perception. — David Schwimmer

With the success of the last three or so years, when a lot of people start treating you differently, there's a danger that you may start to think of yourself differently. You rely on your friends to say, 'Hey, wake up!' — David Schwimmer

I can't go anywhere without being recognized. I'm. — David Schwimmer

I had invited 50 or 60 peers and friends, most of whom were parents, to see the film [Trust], and I asked about the last scene. It was interesting because it was split right down the middle, 50/50. About half the audience wanted it to end with the very emotional scene between Clive and Liana, and that feeling of realization and catharsis. And, the other half were adamant about keeping that last scene. — David Schwimmer

If I'm going to do something, I really put everything into it and I want it to mean something to me. — David Schwimmer

As an actor, the training I received was that I walk through the world as an observer of life and of people. My job is to actually be looking out all the time and watching people. — David Schwimmer

I'm fiercely loyal to my friends, and I really cherish my friendships. — David Schwimmer

When you're playing the same character for a decade it's natural that there are moments when you want to try something new. — David Schwimmer

I've commissioned an adaptation of 'The Jungle', by Upton Sinclair, a story of a young immigrant from Lithuania to the meat-packing industry of Chicago in 1904, and the rise of the unions in America. — David Schwimmer