David Schwimmer Says ‘Friends’ Theme Song Was Exhausting for a ‘Period of Time’ | Video

David Schwimmer, who famously played Ross Geller on the NBC sitcom “Friends” opened up this week about how the series’ classic theme song eventually became exhausting to hear … at least until his son became a fan of the show.

“I have to say … OK, I’ll be really honest, there was a time for quite a while that just hearing the theme song would really, you know what I mean?” Schwimmer revealed to Matt Lucas and David Walliams on their podcast “Making a Scene,” letting out a long sigh as he reflected on the iconic track. “I just have that reaction. I mean, I just had heard it so many times and any time you would go on a show or talk show, they would always— that would be your intro song. So, I just didn’t have the greatest response to it for a period of time.”

The actor also admitted that while it was an incredible experience making the show, by the time it wrapped in 2004, he felt ready to move on as an actor.

“There was part of me at least that was ready for the next chapter,” Schwimmer admitted. “It felt like it was coming to a natural end, maybe even overstayed its welcome a bit, but we were having so much fun doing it. It was time. I was ready for what’s next.”

So much so, that afterwards he stopped watching the sitcom completely.

“I never watched the show after we finished it. For me, it’s like I did it, I’m moving on. I don’t like go, I don’t really go back and revisit,” Schwimmer explained.

However, he changed his tune once his son got older and started watching it.

“At about age nine or 10, my kid discovered it and started watching it. I’d be making breakfast or whatever and I’d hear my kid’s laughter — my whole relationship to that song and to the show changed again,” Schwimmer said.

“Friends,” which was created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman premiered Sept. 22, 1994 and ended after 10 seasons in May 2004. The series starred Schwimmer, Jennifer Aniston, Matthew Perry, Lisa Kudrow, Courteney Cox and Matt LeBlanc as the ensemble cast, an opportunity Schwimmer says he did not audition for and initially turned down.

“Basically I had auditioned for the creators of ‘Friends’ a year before for a pilot that they were doing called ‘Couples.’ I got to network; it was down to me and two other guys, one of whom was my close friend Johnny Silverman,” Schwimmer said. “And I didn’t get it, I didn’t get it, Johnny got it. A year later, I’m doing a play in Chicago, playing Pontius Pilate … I get the call, the offer for ‘Friends’ … They sent me the pilot script … it’s a long story, basically I said, ‘No, I’m not doing anymore TV’ because I had a not — I had an unpleasant experience the year, that year before on another show.”

He continued: “As you know as an actor, you have to sign a contract for five years, now it’s six, actually, and I was having such a bad time on this other show that I was like … it was a show called ‘Monty’ — Henry Winkler. I was playing Henry Winkler’s son, who is a gem and I love, I was having a great time with him and the cast. It was the process that didn’t suit me and I felt I can’t, I can never sign a contract again that long. I will never do that again because it had just sucked a lot of my joy of acting and I was like, ‘I can’t do that again.'”

However, he walked back on his decision after meeting with “Friends” director James Burrows (“Taxi,” “Cheers”). After learning that his involvement would come with the promise of a “collaborative” process, he eventually signed on.

“[Burrows] said, ‘Schwimmer, you gotta meet, you gotta do this, you gotta meet with them.’ And I couldn’t say no … So I went to meet with them in person and they assured me— first of all, they said, ‘We wrote this with you in mind,'” Schwimmer explained. “They wrote Ross because they had remembered my voice when I auditioned for them a year prior. And also, they guaranteed that it would be a collaborative process, that I’d have a voice in the creative process, also that it was an ensemble cast — there was not one star. It was like six people of equal status … The ensemble thing was the thing that really got me, so I agreed to do it and, of course, really glad ’cause it was an amazing, creative experience.”

Check out Schwimmer’s full interview above. You can listen to the full “Making A Scene with Matt Lucas and David Walliams” episode here.

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