The Friends Monkey Trainer Has Some Harsh Words For David Schwimmer
David Schwimmer's stint on "Friends" wasn't always an easy time for the actor, who played Ross Geller across all 10 seasons. Despite being an important part of one of the most popular TV shows of all time, Schwimmer struggled to cope with his overnight fame and didn't get along with a few "Friends" co-stars of his. During HBO Max's "Friends: The Reunion" special, the actor revealed that he hated working with the monkeys that were used to play Ross' pet white-headed capuchin Marcel in Season 1.
According to Schwimmer, the monkeys weren't professionals when it came to their acting duties, and they were prone to causing mischief. "What inevitably began to happen was we would all have choreographed bits kind of timed out, and it would get messed up because the monkey didn't do its job right," the actor stated in the special. "So we would have to reset, we'd have to go again because the monkey didn't get it right."
Schwimmer's beef with the problematic primates can be traced back to 1995. At the time, the actor told Entertainment Weekly that he couldn't bond with the furry creatures because their trainers were too possessive, which led to some difficulties when he had to film scenes with the animals. He even said backstage, "I hate the monkey. I wish it were dead."
Now, one of those trainers has taken umbrage with Schwimmer's comments about his disdain for the capuchins.
'It's time to let it go,' the trainer says
Mike Morris, who helped train the monkeys for their "Friends" gig, recently sat down with the Sun and hit back at Schwimmer's disses. The trainer stated that Schwimmer was initially great with the animals, but his attitude changed after they started getting popular with their colleagues and the show's viewers.
"This is just my opinion ... [but] the first couple episodes [Schwimmer] was pretty friendly with the monkey, and after that, the monkey was getting a lot of laughs, and either it was throwing him off or [he was] getting a little jealous," he said.
Morris went on to say that the reason why Schwimmer wasn't allowed to bond with the monkeys was because things needed to be kept strictly professional. When it comes to acting, the primates need to view humans as "props," otherwise they'll befriend them and want to "hang out" instead of doing their jobs. He also assured fans that preventing Schwimmer from bonding with the animals wasn't done out of "spite or malice."
Elsewhere in the interview, Morris' words became sharper, and he admitted that he has "never ever watched 'Friends' because of Schwimmer's comments about the monkeys." What really upset Morris is the fact that one of the monkeys who played Marcel died of cancer before the "Friends" reunion special was filmed, and Schwimmer made the comments. (It's unclear whether Schwimmer knew of the monkey's death or not.)
"I find it despicable for him to still be speaking ill of her. Him still talking ill about the monkey all these years later seems pretty childish to me," said Morris. "It was one season over 25 years ago. It's time to let it go."
It remains to be seen if Morris' reaction will help bring an end to the highly publicized man-versus-monkey feud.