I’m pretty sure I hold the distinct privilege of being the only Forbes writer to have cancelled on David Schwimmer not once, but twice. Ah yes, what an honor. I’d like to thank the Academy, first and foremost, as well as my professional disappointment hamster, Cuddles. That’s a Goosebumps deep cut, for those in the know.
But life is predictably unpredictable, and so is David’s (appreciated) ability to forgive, because the two of us finally connected over Zoom last week and talked about Goosebumps: The Vanishing. We also chatted about plants, horror, and what it takes to be artistically courageous in the face of self-doubt and criticism.
Planting the Seeds of Inspiration
When I was interviewing Goosebumps: The Vanishing executive producers Rob Letterman and Hilary Winston back in December, they’d mentioned how David took his role—that of divorced Stay Out of the Basement dad Anthony—quite seriously. They weren’t wrong.
“I was doing some hard Google searching and reading,” David began. “The guy I fell in love with was David Bellamy, this British botanist that kind of did for plants what Attenborough did for animals. I don’t know if any of it made it on camera or not, but I have posters and books of David Bellamy in my lab [on the show]. Apart from that, I was also inspired by a lot of really bad botanist humor, so I made a whole list—I think it was three pages long—of botanist jokes and I sent my favorites [to the showrunners]. The costume department made a couple of custom graphic designed shirts with these really bad dad slogans and innuendos that I thought were really fun. I think we got to work some into the script as well. If I were a botanist by profession, I think it’s something I’d do as a dad. I’d constantly be making bad botany jokes with my kids.”
I told David what I enjoyed about his Goosebumps: The Vanishing performance was his use of understatement, because good horror thrives in subtlety. The underplayed delivery of many lines are indicative of David’s serious acting chops, no doubt stemming from his Chicago theater roots. For instance: “Are you out of your mind?” one character asks early on in the show, and “It’s a distinct possibility” is David’s (Anthony’s) deadpan response. Perfectly chilling.
“I’m really excited to hear that [feedback],” David told me. “You have an idea in your head when you’re doing something. Sometimes you have directors that aren’t necessarily on the same page as you, and will push you to be bigger or push you to do things that weren’t your instinct. In this case, that was not the case. Rob and Hilary and the other directors allowed me to go with my gut. So it’s really satisfying, and I’m very happy to hear how, when you make certain choices on the day, then six/seven months later I’m talking to you, and it feels like, okay, that paid off. That’s great.”
David went on to explain how the realness of his character, a traumatized father trying to raise teenage twins while doing strange plant research in an LED-lit basement, was instrumental in bringing his performance to life.
“I’m a big fan of horror films,” he said. “When you think of Rosemary’s Baby and The Shining—although Jack Nicholson’s character gets a little ‘bigger’ as he starts to lose it more—but they start as real, tangible, grounded characters. There’s so much action and larger-than-life spectacle and activity [happening] on-screen, my feeling was just as you said, to try to underplay it and be really understated and grounded and really simplify it. I thought it would be a nice contrast.”
Artistic Courage, Choice and Risk
Yes, the consumerist product of Goosebumps is cool and always will be (to me, who grew up with the books), but as a writer and a fellow human, I’m incredibly interested in how other artists navigate their craft, and maybe most importantly, their own self-doubt, especially in the face of public scrutiny. I felt that David, having worked in the public eye for so long and so successfully, would be an ideal person to comment on such internal tribulations. He is a fellow human, after all, and an incredibly visible one, at that.
“When I was a younger actor and a younger man [laughs], I cared more about what people thought,” David admitted. “What I learned early on… I think it was the experience of some of the choices I thought were riskier in terms of acting work, and feeling good about work, say of my role in Band of Brothers. It was really early on that I was given that opportunity. I thought it was a real departure from Ross on Friends, and yet, the way it was received at the time, much of the feedback and reviews kind of just said it was ‘Ross in the army’. It was an interesting lesson for me, because realizing, oh, I don’t have any control of what people are going to think. They’re going to think what they want to think, and I have no control over that. In a way, it was quite freeing, because over the years, I just stopped caring. It’s not that I don’t want to do a good job, I want to do the best job I can. But as an actor, the people I care most about pleasing are the directors, then of course the studio and everyone involved in the actual process.”
“In terms of choices, I feel like I’ve been really lucky,” he went on to say. “Some of the most risky things I’ve done were actually maybe more on stage, that very few people have seen, and that’s okay, too. I mean, it’s just this long journey. I’ve been doing this now professionally for about 35 years, and I hope to do it for another decade or two. We’ll see. I wish I had more opportunities, right? To work with some of my heroes that are film directors and writers. But I still feel really grateful that I have as many opportunities as I do, to challenge myself and keep going.”
I told David that, judging by his recent work in Goosebumps, I’d enjoy seeing him lean even harder into horror, because I think there’s some serious creepy potential there. He said he’d love to explore more dramatic work, specifically in terms of dramatic thrillers, which could potentially tap into some scarier elements of his acting chops.
“I’ve not really been given the opportunity to play many, let’s say, sociopaths. To play people who are unwell or unhinged, and I would rather like to [laughs]. It would be great fun, but also I feel it would be a fascinating journey and a fascinating challenge.”
Departure and Arrival
Looking back on the Zoom call, what truly struck me about my chat with David was his genuine humanity. He’s obviously wildly famous and wildly successful, and to that note, we all universally know what ‘90s show he was on. But in truth, I wasn’t particularly interested in much of that, because after a few minutes, I realized I was talking to a guy who, despite all the accolades, still deeply respects his craft, and at the end of the day, wants to do a good job, not unlike the rest of us.
I imagine after participating in a giant sitcom like Friends, the pressure and desire to morph into something completely different would be immense, especially if you take the work seriously. After watching Goosebumps: The Vanishing, I can truthfully say that David’s departure from Ross is well underway, and I’ve consequently arrived at an appreciation for such artistic willingness and integrity.
Looking forward to that imminent foray into psychological horror, David. The scares are there for the taking.
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