Entertainment
David Schwimmer admits criticism of Friends’ poor diversity is ‘appropriate’ but calls out lack of Jewishness-Kim Novak-Entertainment – Metro
‘The show was supposed to be taking place in New York in a city that’s very diverse.’
David Schwimmer (right) spoke to David Baddiel (left) about the lack of diversity in Friends and his own experiences of growing up in a Jewish family (Picture: Channel 4)
David Schwimmer has shared his thoughts on the lack of diversity in Friends, admitting that even the fact he is Jewish was only mentioned ‘once or twice’.
The actor, 56, joined David Baddiel, 58, on his Channel 4 documentary Jews Don’t Count, where he addressed the diversity issues he believes Friends had.
Schwimmer, who played Ross Geller on the smash hit sitcom, explained: ‘The show was supposed to be taking place in New York in a city that’s very diverse, but had no real representation of other minorities, of people of colour.
‘I think the criticism is appropriate. But in terms of the Jewishness, that was something I think was only mentioned a couple of times, like the holiday armadillo that I played.’
Viewers had seen the character teach his son about Hannukah by dressing as the holiday armadillo, which was the last costume left in the store so close to Christmas.
Baddiel added: ‘One thing you could say, or one could say, not necessarily you because it would be difficult for you to say. I could say, “Yeah, we should’ve had more diversity in it, but there was a minority.”
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‘You know what would happen if you said that? It would mean nothing. In fact, more than that, people would get aggressive about it.’
Schwimmer agreed, adding: ‘You’re right, people would just be like, “Not a real minority!”’
He added: ‘The idea that anti-Semitism, or treatment or acts or behaviour against Jews is not racist by definition is bizarre to me. Because then the logical conclusion people make is that Jews aren’t a race.’
Baddiel responded: ‘Whether Jews are a race biologically is irrelevant to me because, over history, they’ve been racialised. The point is, we have had racism imposed on us and that has to be called racism.’
David Schwimmer doesn’t think Friends was as diverse as it should have been (Picture: Reisig & Taylor/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images)
Addressing his own experiences of growing up in a Jewish family, Schwimmer admitted that despite experiencing ‘a lot of the privileges’ of a straight, white man, he has always felt like he didn’t truly belong in that category.
He explained: ‘I’ve never felt white. Never. I’m highly aware that I pass as white and I enjoy a lot of the privileges of being a straight white man, able-bodied, I understand it and I’m aware of my privileges.
‘But for me, [growing up] the fact that in my own country, just a couple of States away, just being Jewish, even though I wasn’t religious, my life was at risk.
‘For me, I never felt white because, for me, white means safe.’
David Baddiel: Jews Don’t Count is available to watch on All 4.
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