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Friends' David Schwimmer on lack of diversity on show: Campaigned for years to have Ross date women of colour
Friends actor David Schwimmer is opening up about the lack of diversity on the hit American sitcom. The actor said he campaigned for his character Ross to date women of colour of the show. He also said he pushed for the diversity on the show with the holiday armadillo episode.
There is no denying that the cast of the hit American sitcom Friends was almost all white. Making a few exceptions like Julie and Charlie, almost all the leading and supporting characters were Americans. About 16 years after the show ended, David Schwimmer is opening up about the lack of diversity on Friends and revealed he had been campaigning for years to have his character, Ross, date a woman of colour. The actor made the confession in a recent interview with The Guardian.
"I was well aware of the lack of diversity and I campaigned for years to have Ross date women of colour. One of the first girlfriends I had on the show was an Asian American woman, and later I dated African American women. That was a very conscious push on my part," he said.
He also recalled the hilarious holiday armadillo episode which featured Ross educating his son Ben about the Jewish tradition and said that he pushed for the diversity. "It’s interesting also how the show handled the Judaism of the characters. I don’t think that was earth-shattering or groundbreaking at all, but I for one was glad that we had at least one episode where it wasn’t just about Christmas," he said.
"It was also Hanukkah and, even though I played the Hanukkah armadillo, I was glad that we at least acknowledged the differences in religious observation," he added. David also used the opportunity to campaign for an all-black or all-Asian Friends. "Maybe there should be an all-black Friends or an all-Asian Friends," he said.
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