May 26, 2012

David Schwimmer Makes Fatboy Run

by Mallory Potosky | Published March 27, 2008

(Page 2)

MM: So how did you become involved with Run, Fatboy, Run?

DS: I was reading a lot of scripts for several months leading up to the end of “Friends” and I knew I wanted to direct right away once the show was over. Or, I hoped to. So I was reading a lot and this was just the best script that I came across. I felt like it had this great combination—it was like three movies in one. It had this great physical comedy and this character-driven comedy, and then it had a lot of drama to it with the romance and also with the relationship with his son. Then it kind of turned into a big sports movie and I thought, ‘Well this is a hell of a challenge, not only for any film, but for a first-time director.’ I thought, ‘This would be terrific if I can somehow manage to get the balance of the film just right—juggling those three movies in one—then that would be a real challenge as the director.’

MM: It’s set in London, but I heard that wasn’t originally the case.

DS: Right, it was originally set in New York around the New York City Marathon and then a British company bought the script and I was already attached as director. So suddenly I found myself directing a British comedy. I wasn’t thinking, ‘Yeah, it’s my first film, a British comedy!’ (laughs). We had to do a big rewrite. Simon did the rewrite—with my suggestions, of course.

MM: You’ve worked with Simon Pegg before in Band of Brothers and Big Nothing. Was he your first choice for the role?

DS: Yeah, absolutely.

MM: Why did you think he would fit the role so well?

DS: Because he’s this great, sympathetic kind of underdog. He’s like this great Everyman. I think the script needed someone who’s not necessarily as good-looking or as successful as Hank’s character Whit. He’s just a regular guy with a beer belly and kind of a schlub in a way. But there was something really redeeming about the character because of how good a father he was. And he was really funny—he had a great sense of humor. More than that, he’s like this little scrappy dog. There’s real tenacity about him. There’s a real fighter in this guy, and I think Simon has that quality. I always thought of Simon and Hank as these two different breeds of dog, with Hank being this beautiful Great Dane or greyhound—this beautiful, sleek greyhound, this terrific runner, an athlete, a graceful animal—while I thought of Simon as a scrappy little terrier. (laughs)

MM: Do you think that the experiences you’ve had in front of the camera have helped you when you get behind the camera to direct something?

DS: Oh for sure. I think that it has helped me relate to the actors much better. I felt like any time I was working as an actor in film or in television, I always thought I was in school, like I was training or studying for being behind the camera one day. So I paid really close attention; I would ask a lot of questions; I would just sit back and observe other directors; and learn from what I thought were some amazing directors; and then I learned from the mistakes of not-so-great directors.

MM: You’ve also taken on a few producing credits. What makes you try out these different roles in film production?

DS: The producing stuff is really because I want to support other artists I believe in and help get stuff made for them and give people a break at their first time writing for film or acting for film or directing for film. So that’s really what it is: Trying to support other artists that I believe in.

MM: Is there one role in film production that you’re more partial to than the others?

DS: Not really. I mean, I love directing and acting kind of equally, but for very different reasons. I really love both.