DAVID SCHWIMMER talks stupid spies and Julia Davis.
After years away from TV comedy, David Schwimmer is back in the sitcom game with Sky’s spy spoof Intelligence
One Of the most recognisable television actors like, ever, David Schwimmer’s post-friends career has always been one of the most intriguing of the six stars. As well as continuing to work regularly with Chicago’s Lookingglass theatre company, which he co-founded in the 1980s, he’s stepped both in front of and behind movie cameras and recently arrived back on the small screen with an emmy Awardnominated performance as Rob Kardashian in American Crime Story.
On the phone from his home in new York’s east Village, he’s downright giddy as he talks about his new six-part Brit-com Intelligence, written by nick Mohammed. Schwimmer plays NSA agent Gerry, a total pillock of a man who jets in to liaise with the UK’S Government Communications headquarters where, despite the cybersecurity high stakes, bureaucracy reigns. At GCHQ the printer is always on the blink and Gerry’s new right-hand man is a dim computer analyst (Mohammed) who’s more interested in Googling pictures of Matthew Mcconaughey than solving crime and breaking codes.
Schwimmer tells us how the whole show might not have happened were it not for his surprise comedy hero, Julia Davis.
How did you and Nick Mohammed meet and get started on Intelligence?
I first met nick because he and Julia Davis had created a really, really funny show called Morning Has Broken. they had already shot a pilot and there was some discussion about introducing a new character and reshooting. So the guys who were running Sony television approached me. Out of respect for Julia, who I’m a massive fan of, always have been, I said, “Why don’t I just go out and meet with Julia and nick and improvise and see if it’s something she’s comfortable with?” So I went out to London for like a week and we came up with a character. I had so much fun working with those guys and nick blew my mind. I thought he was a genius, especially in terms of comedy and improv. that show never happened for various reasons but out of that came a great friendship with nick. Almost a year later he said, “Look, I have an idea for a new show, can I run it by you?” he emailed me a sketch of this idea and I thought it was really original and organic and believable. the more we talked about it, the more we realised how timely it was.
The character of Gerry was written especially for you. Does that come with a certain amount of pressure?
The concern was if I was going to be sympathetic enough. Of course we want to be funny, but the risk of this particular role is that he’s sexist, racist, ignorant, arrogant… it could be fairly dangerous, because he could be really unlikeable. But you never feel like anyone who’s a victim of Gerry’s ignorance is truly harmed by him. The laugh’s on him rather than anyone he makes fun of.
Is Gerry meant to be a reflection of anybody in a position of power in the US? I would say many! Absolutely. For me it’s quite cathartic to play a character who embodies a kind of man, white man, or white men I should say, who are in power in America.
Your character refers to himself as a “dashing American fuck fox”. What do you get out of playing such a bastard? It’s really enjoyable playing someone with this kind of hubris and this level of narcissism. Look, I’ve been in this industry now for 30 years and I’ve seen a lot and it’s quite shocking. So to be able to draw from my own experience and observation and channel a couple of men that I’ve met along the way is really fun, to be honest.
When it came to the research process, did you and Nick go down to GCHQ and talk to any cyber-security people?
I know that representatives from GCHQ came and met with Nick and it was really informative. We had no idea there was a GCHQ chorus that they have auditions for. We had no idea there was casual dress, people can wear whatever they want, but there’s also military-dress Mondays. All great details.
They might be in touch still. In fact, they might have already hacked your email...
I’m sure they have! A lot of the research was just reading what’s been going on in our countries in regard to cyber terrorism and any work that the NSA and GCHQ are actually dealing with. We’re creating stories that are almost ripped from the headlines. The world that we’re creating has to be credible. It’s also just great stories; currently there are major American cities that are being held to ransom because entire governments are being shut out of their own operating system by cyber-attack. There was a big story in The New York Times recently where the city of Baltimore was hacked with spyware that the NSA actually developed itself.
You’re an exec producer on Intelligence
– what does that actually mean?
As you know, the title of executive producer can mean many, many different things. Some people just get a credit like that for doing nothing because they’re the granddaughter of whoever. The reality of this is that I and my producing partner Tom Hodges are heavily involved in every aspect of production, starting from script. We worked really hard and intensely with Nick on the development of story and character and structure. I’m very, not militant, but diligent when it comes to pace and trimming the fat. I really wanted to make sure that Gerry had some vulnerability to him, which wasn’t in the first drafts of the script. We really worked hard to create a credible backstory and make him a little more sympathetic. Casting is also major, and I was involved in that heavily. And then in post Tom and I weigh in and give voluminous notes. And sound, score, the mix, the grade…
Does this also extend to you pre-warning Matthew Mcconaughey about the show’s strange obsession with him?
Ha! I don’t think he knows about that. Please keep schtum!
You’ve spent a lot of time in the UK. There’s a photo of you on the wall in a kebab shop in Stoke Newington.
Oh yeah! It’s around the corner from where my ex-wife’s family live. She’s a Stokey girl. My first years of seeing her, a lot of the holidays were spent in Stokey at her parents’ place. We’d get food from there all the time.
What’s your order?
I defer to Zoe and her brothers for recommendations, but I ate everything. I love that food. Shawarma? I mean… You directed Simon Pegg in 2007’s Run Fatboy Run — what did that experience teach you?
That was one of the highlights of my life, directing that movie. Simon and I had just the best time ever. It was just a thrill, every day was like my birthday, it was such a gift. Simon is so gifted, and I was pleased that in that film he was able to show some more romantic range, because he’s got really great acting chops. I brought a sense of grounded, character-driven romantic comedy and combined it with both of our loves of broader physical British comedy.
You were in an improv group in the 1980s in Chicago...
Yeah, with Steven Colbert. Doing comedy improv in a six-person team with Colbert was one of the best learning experiences ever, because what it showed me was that I shouldn’t be doing that. I’d say Nick [Mohammed] is on par with Colbert in just how lightning quick their minds are. It isn’t my sweet spot; I can do it but I’m not brilliant. I’m better with a script and a character than just on the fly coming up with witty lines.
Is there any more directing on the horizon for you?
The truth is since having my daughter,
I realised that for this chapter of my life
I just want to be more present for her. When you direct a movie it’s all consuming for at least a year. I directed a play with my company in Chicago because I can do it for just six weeks and I could bring her out for part of it, and I could fly back for part of it. But it terms of directing another feature I think I’m going to wait until she’s in high school.
Very famously you’ve done sitcom work before. How has the world of sitcom changed in the 25 years since Friends first aired?
I think the single greatest change is the attention span of the audience and also just how much more product there is out there. It’s really hard to get the kind of mass following or engagement that was possible when Friends was on the air and our average viewing per night was like 25 million people. To have that kind of a number today is almost impossible for a situation comedy or for any television show for that matter. There are still fantastic shows being made, but for every Succession now, where there used to be maybe 25 mediocre shows, now there are maybe 250. Amazing shows are still being written, but the whole bar has been lowered quite a bit.
You’ve been in the limelight for 30 years now. Have you ever come close to jacking it all in and moving to a farm in the woods?
For sure. I feel like that probably every six months! But the truth is, I love it and when something like Intelligence comes along , I feel passionate again and alive again. I felt like this role and this show was a challenge and I was excited by it.
Is another thing that keeps you invested the fact that you have a platform to help others? You’re an advocate for victims of sexual assault and recently worked on an anti-harassment video in the US.
If you’ve been given the gift of a platform in which you can raise awareness, influence people, motivate people, inspire people and really generate some kind of change for good, I actually think it’s your responsibility, you kind of have to. If you don’t you’re letting a huge opportunity slip away. I don’t know one woman who hasn’t been sexually harassed. If I don’t do something in the position I’m in, as a white heterosexual male — which as we know is the most privileged kind of tier you can be in — by not doing something and not taking action or speaking out, you’re part of the problem. And I refuse to be part of the problem.