David Schwimmer
Dia Dipasupil/Getty ImagesDavid Schwimmer has reflected on his unpleasant experience as a host in Saturday Night Live.
During an interview with Stephen Colbert IN The late show on Monday, Jan. 13, Schwimmer, 58, recalled the time he was preparing for the 1995 concert amid the height of Friendssuccess. (Schwimmer starred as Ross Geller in the comedy series, which aired in 1994.)
Schwimmer, who went to college with Colbert, 60, and studied alongside the TV host as a theater student, said he made “a big mistake” first. Friends the cast member is invited to host SNL at that time.
“It was such an honor … I couldn’t be more excited,” Schwimmer explained. “Friends at that time we were shooting on a Tuesday night and we were shooting until sometimes one in the morning, and so I would fly from LA to New York on Wednesday to get there. I really didn’t make it SNL until the Thursday, two days before the Saturday show.”
Schwimmer, who currently appears in the Hulu/Disney+ series Goosebumps: The Vanishingcontinued, “When I walked into the writers’ room, the entire writing staff looked at me like I’d just slept with their mom or something. They were not happy to see me and I had no idea (why).
The actor revealed how he then “sort of got over” the following two days, despite being “kind of traumatized” by his colleagues’ reception.
When asked by Colbert how the hosting appearance ended, Schwimmer noted, “I don’t remember how it went, to be honest.”
Schwimmer added that the writers’ mystical reaction crystallized “years later.” He explained how he was “talking to somebody else who was running the show and they said, no, no, no, you have to come on Monday.”
“No one told me and for years I had no idea why,” he added.
Despite never resolving the conundrum, Schwimmer said he was recently invited to the show’s 50th anniversary event, which will be staged next month.
The cast of Goosebumps: The Vanishing will take every opportunity to praise David Schwimmer for being an incredible actor on and off screen. During an exclusive interview with Us Weekly, Ana Ortiz, Elijah M. Cooper, Galilea La Salvia, Francesca Noel, Stony Blyden, Sam McCarthy and Jayden Bartels talked about sharing the screen with Schwimmer, (…)
“It’s been 30 years and I’m thinking, well, maybe they’ve forgotten that they don’t like me? Or, it’s just an intern tasked with emailing everyone who’s ever been hosted, but I don’t know what to do,” Schwimmer said.
Colbert then asked his friend to “go” to the event, telling Schwimmer that he had “worked there for a little while” and failed to get an invite of his own.
“Yeah, but I don’t want to be like Charlie Brown with the football, you know, you show up thirsty again and, no, we don’t want you here,” Schwimmer said. “Do you want to be my plus one?” (SNL is set to mark its historic 50th anniversary on February 16 with a three-hour live primetime special featuring five decades of iconic cast members and fan-favorite hosts.)
A visibly amused Colbert then accepted Schwimmer’s invitation, cementing it with a firm handshake across his desk.
