David Schwimmer reflected on his unpleasant experience as a guest host on Saturday evening live.
During an interview with Stéphane Colbert on The late show On Monday, Jan. 13, Schwimmer, 58, recalled the time he was preparing for the 1995 concert at the height of the storm. Friends‘ success. (Schwimmer starred as Ross Geller in the comedy series that launched in 1994.)
Schwimmer, who went to college with Colbert, 60, and studied alongside the TV host as a theater student, said he made “a big mistake” as the first Friends an actor will be invited to host SNL at the time.
“It was a huge honor…I couldn’t be more excited,” Schwimmer said. “Friends At that time we were shooting on Tuesday nights and sometimes shooting until one in the morning, so I would fly from Los Angeles to New York on Wednesdays to get there. I really didn’t make it SNL until Thursday, two days before the Saturday show.
Schwimmer, who currently appears in the Hulu/Disney+ series Goosebumps: The Disappearancecontinued, “When I walked into the writers’ room, the whole writing team looked at me like I had just had sex with their mother or something. They weren’t happy to see me and I had no idea (why).
The actor explained how he then “got through” the next two days, although he was “a little traumatized” by the reception from his colleagues.
When Colbert asked how the presentation went, Schwimmer replied, “I don’t remember how it went, to be honest.”
Schwimmer added that the writers’ mystifying reaction crystallized “years later.” He explained that he was “talking to someone else who had hosted the show and they said no, no, no, you’re supposed to show up on a Monday.”
“No one told me and for years I didn’t know why,” he added.
Although he never resolved the confusion, Schwimmer said he was recently invited to the show’s 50th anniversary event, which takes place next month.
“It’s been 30 years and I’m like, well, maybe they forgot they don’t like me? Or maybe it’s just an intern responsible for sending emails to everyone hosted, but I don’t know what to do,” Schwimmer said.
Colbert then urged his friend to “go” to the event, telling Schwimmer that he had “worked there a little bit” and hadn’t received his own invitation.
“Yeah, but I don’t want to be like Charlie Brown with football, you know, you show up all impatient again and, no, we don’t want you here,” Schwimmer said. “Do you want to be my plus one?” (SNL is set to celebrate its 50th anniversary on February 16 with a three-hour live primetime special featuring five decades of popular actors and fan-favorite guest hosts.)
Colbert, visibly amused, then accepted Schwimmer’s invitation, cementing it with a firm handshake at his desk.