Baseball. Acting. Who, could choose? That was the dilemma faced by David Schwimmer and Jonathan Silverman back at Beverly Hills High.
"Johnny and I were both into sports, and I think he was torn between being a professional baseball player and being an actor," says Schwimmer, 29. "We both realized that we had to choose between practice or rehearsal. For some reason, there were more girls at rehearsal, so we both opted for that!"
Today, the former high school pals find themselves at the heart of NBC's Thursday night powerhouse line-up, Schwimmer on the red-hot Friends and Silverman on the recently renewed The Single Guy.
Silverman, also 29, says that he and "Schwim" hit it off on their first day of Grade 9 at Beverly Hills High. And they soon discovered that they had more in common than just baseball and drama. "We were kind of coming from the same place," says Schwimmer. "He's a nice Jewish guy, and I think we had similar values that we were probably raised with."
The two even double-dated two other best friends in high school. "They were our big high school girlfriends - the, ones who actually lasted for more than a couple of weeks," says Silverman. (Both are still single: Silverman's girlfriend is a country singer; Schwimmer recently broke up with his girlfriend, a law clerk.)
They had more luck with the drama program, performing in such shows as "Anything Goes," "Fiddler on the Roof" and "West Side Story." The two even competed in a Shakespeare festival, which Schwimmer won by portraying three characters from "The Tempest."
Music teacher Joel Pressman, who helped direct "Anything Goes," says Schwimmer's comic touch belied his young age: "He had the timing of a young vaudevillian." Drama teacher John Ingle (now General Hospital's Edward Quartermaine) agrees: "He was a bright clown, not just a show-off clown. Very intellectual."
Yet it was Silverman who first found success in the real world. Ingle recalls the day Silverman had to skip rehearsal to attend an audition. The next day, "He said, 'Mr. Ingle, I'm going to have to miss again today because [legendary Broadway director] Gene Saks is flying out from New York - I think they really liked me.'" A week later, at 17, he was starring on Broadway in Neil Simon's "Brighton Beach Memoirs." which co-starred Seinfeld's Jason Alexander.
Silverman followed "Brighton Beach" with more Simon plays. A little while later, after a short stint on NBC's Gimme a Break, he found film success with "Weekend at Bernie's" (1989), its sequel and 14 other features. "He had much more professional success than I had," says Schwimmer, who used to visit Silverman frequently in New York. "He'd done several feature films and Broadway while I was just pretty much pounding the theatre ground in Chicago."
In fact, Schwimmer co-founded the Lookingglass Theater Company, while still a drama student at Northwestern University. "I'd be envious of his company," says Silverman, who was too busy to attend university, "and he'd be envious of any crappy little project I was into."
Once in the real world, the two actors crossed paths on several auditions. But both insist that the professional competition has never affected their friendship. "We're constantly rooting for each other," says Silverman. "There have been instances that he's beat me and I've beat him. It's always uncomfortable to be in that position, but at least we know the other got it, and we feel good about that."
One of their most recent casting clashes occurred the season before Schwimmer landed Friends. The two went after the same part on a sitcom pilot developed by the producers who eventually made Friends. Silverman won the part, only to have ABC pass on the series. But the real winner was Schwimmer who was the first actor cast on the next project by the pilot's creators, Friends. "We already knew what a great actor David was, says executive producer Kevin Bright, who credits Schwimmer with coming up with Ross's endearingly klutzy persona.
Friends' explosive success last season made Schwimmer an overnight sensation. Besides hosting a comedy festival in Montreal last summer, interview requests, magazine cover shoots and movie offers flooded in. (His first starring feature. "The Pallbearer," opened last month; he also has a deal with Miramax to star, write and direct.)
All of which was way beyond anything Silverman had ever experienced. "For 10 years, I've made a handsome living, yet I've been able to keep my anonymity," he says. "For Dave, he's been struggling for six or seven years, and now all of a sudden he's just besieged with millions and millions of dollars."
So when The Single Guy was set to launch last fall in what Silverman described as "the God slot" behind Friends, Schwimmer warned his buddy to kiss his anonymity goodbye. "I told him that when you're on a Top-10 TV show, you're seen by 20 to 25 million people a week and the saturation is overwhelming," says Schwimmer. "I think more people have seen him in an episode of The Single Guy than all of his films combined."
Which Schwimmer has found is not always a good thing. "Just knowing that, at any time, there are five or six Hard Copy or Extra camera guys outside my house, or following me for blocks on the street, is a drag, to be honest," says Schwimmer, who took offence when a reporter hunted down his girlfriend. "There are times when you want to throw a camera against a wall or something."
That's strong talk from Schwimmer, who, like Silverman, is described as being "unfailingly polite" or "startlingly unaffected." Both credit their parents for their level-headedness. "I guess I was just raised to give others the benefit of the doubt," says Schwimmer, who admits that lately it takes "a lot of energy to maintain a calm and even keel."
These days, the two are more in touch than ever, both on screen and on the baseball diamond. Schwimmer guest-starred on an episode of The Single Guy and last summer joined Silverman at Yankee stadium for a charity ball game on a day off from his "Pallbearer" shoot. "On the very first play of the game, David hit a beautiful line drive to left field," says Silverman. "He was rounding first base when his back went out on him. They had to carry him off and shut down filming for two days on the movie. We haven't played baseball since," says Silverman. "But when he heals, dammit, we will."
Get your own Free Home Page