Undoubtedly, the most famous role of defining moments in Friends, which ran between 1994 and 2004.
One such Schwimmer even directed several Friends episodes, though it is safe to say that many do not know much of what the actor did after the show ended its run. Interestingly, Schwimmer's career post-Friends has been incredibly varied, ranging from small roles in acclaimed TV shows to voice roles in animated movies and a notable interest in directing.
David Schwimmer Did More Directing Than Acting After Friends Ended
Schwimmer Found A Career In Filmmaking Behind The Camera
After getting a taste for the director's chair by helming 10 episodes of Friends, Schwimmer's career took a turn after 2004 and the end of the show. He directed two episodes of the show's spin-off, Joey, before making his feature film directorial debut with the film Run, Fatboy, Run in 2007. A year later, Schwimmer directed multiple episodes of Little Britain USA before helming another feature in 2010 called Trust.
Schwimmer took more of a liking to being behind the camera than in front of it after Friends, leaning more into directing than acting...
In the mid-2010s, Schwimmer directed the pilot episode of the sitcom Growing Up Fisher. Besides these main projects, Schwimmer has directed a few television films, notably New Car Smell and Irreversible in 2005 and 2014 respectively. Away from the screen, Schwimmer was also credited as the director of Fault Lines, a play at the Cherry Lane Theatre in New York. Evidently, Schwimmer took more of a liking to being behind the camera than in front of it after Friends, leaning more into directing than acting.
David Schwimmer's Most Notable TV Shows & Movies After Friends
What Else Has David Schwimmer Been In?
Although Schwimmer's affinity for filmmaking as a director was more apparent after Friends, this is not to say he did no acting at all. For example, one of Schwimmer's more different roles came in 2001 concurrent with Friends when he appeared as Captain Herbert Schobell in HBO's Band of Brothers. One year after Friends concluded, Schwimmer provided the voice of Melman the Giraffe for Madagascar, a role he reprised in the film's two sequels, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa and Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted.
Notable Movies & TV Shows After Friends:
Movie/TV Show |
Role |
---|---|
Madagascar |
Melman (Voice) |
30 Rock |
Greenzo/Jared |
John Carter |
Young Thark Warrior |
The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story |
Robert Kardashian |
Will & Grace |
Noah Broader |
Intelligence |
Jerry Berstein |
Most of Schwimmer's other post-Friends roles came more sparingly. He appeared as himself in several shows, from MADtv, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Come Fly With Me to Episodes alongside Friends costar Matt LeBlanc and Entourage. Aside from these roles, however, Schwimmer's acting career has been fairly limited as a result of his aforementioned interest in directing.
David Schwimmer Will Star In Goosebumps Season 2 In 2025
Schwimmer Will Appear In His First Regular Role For A While
Beginning in 2025, David Schwimmer will make somewhat of a return to regular TV via Goosebumps. Beginning in 2023, Goosebumps is a reimagining of the titular material as a serialized story, telling different stories per season as opposed to episode-to-episode stories of the original Goosebumps show. The first season was released across the holiday period of 2023 and featured a contained cast, with new series regulars being cast for the show's second season. In Goosebumps season 2's story, Schwimmer will lead the new cast of series regulars.

Goosebumps Season 2 New Cast & Character Guide
Because of the anthological format, Goosebumps season 2 will feature an entirely new cast of up-and-coming actors alongside star David Schwimmer.
Schwimmer will star as Anthony in Goosebumps season 2, a single father who balances looking after his twin children with his own elderly parent. The show will see Anthony uncover a dark mystery alongside his children and their friends that is tied to the disappearance of four teenagers from 1994. Goosebumps season 2 will consist of eight episodes and will debut on Disney+ on January 10, 2025.
The first teaser trailer for the season, titled Goosebumps: The Vanishing, was released in October 2024. This trailer featured a voiceover from Schwimmer and his face as the stinger, surrounded by mysterious black goo. This implies that Schwimmer's character will be integral to the overall storyline of Goosebumps season 2, marking a distinct change of pace from Schwimmer's post-Friends one-off appearances and smaller roles. As such, 2025 could mark somewhat of a resurgence for David Schwimmer that sees him more involved in acting once more.

Goosebumps
- Release Date
- October 13, 2023
- Showrunner
- Kevin Murphy
- Writers
- Nicholas Stoller, Rob Letterman, Kevin Murphy
Cast
- Anthony
- Jayden BartelsJen
R. L. Stine's horror book series receives its second television adaptation with the 2023 Disney+ series Goosebumps. The new series brings in the creative minds behind the first two Goosebumps films and centers on five teenagers who haphazardly unleash evil supernatural forces on their town. As they attempt to send them back to where they came from, they learn that their parents harbor similar secrets from their younger days.
- Seasons
- 1
- Creator(s)
- Rob Letterman, Nicholas Stoller
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