David Schwimmer says ‘Friends’ fame was “terrifying”, and made it hard to trust friends

It always looked like a lot of fun.

Friends is one of the rare shows that we will never tire of, and its constant reruns means that it has really stood the test of time. And while most of what we see is acting, the bloopers and behind-the-scenes clips always made it seem like an amazing show to work on. But taking into consideration just how big the show was, it is no surprise that it got a little stressful for some of the actors. David Schwimmer has been speaking this week about his time on Friends, which crushed some illusions for many people. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVsx2IBAZuA Speaking in a podcast for the Hollywood Reporter, the man who'll forever be known as Ross Geller said that working on the show was actually "really terrifying" at times.

"Of course it was thrilling, exciting and fun but for me personally it was pretty jarring," he said. "It messed with my relationship to other people in a way that took years, I think, for me to kind of adjust to and be comfortable with."

He added:

"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."

Schwimmer explained that starring in the show had the opposite effect on him.

"It made me want to hide under a baseball cap and not be seen. And I realised after a while that I was no longer watching people; I was trying to hide. So I was trying to figure out: How do I be an actor in this new world, in this new situation? How do I do my job? That was tricky."

He said that becoming a huge star meant that people treated him very differently, and although it was sometimes "flattering", he says that it was mostly "very invasive". So, all in all, it sounded pretty stressful for poor old Ross. Several of the other friends cast have said similar things about starring in the massive show. Lisa Kudrow previously compared all the attention to assault, and Mathew Perry struggled with addiction throughout the show, claiming earlier this year that he doesn't even remember a large portion of filming the show. You can listen to the full podcast interview with Schwimmer here.

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