Friends monkey trainer calls out David Schwimmer “despicable” behaviour
David Schwimmer was not a big fan of Marcel the Monkey, labelling it the “worst thing” that happened during the filming of Friends.
When on the reunion, the star admitted he did not enjoy filming scenes with the monkey, as he often “messed up” filming.
“Here is my problem: The monkey, obviously, was trained. It had to hit its mark and do its thing right at the perfect time,” Schwimmer said during the reunion.
“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. So we would have to reset, we’d have to go again, because the monkey didn’t get it right.
“It was time for Marcel to f**k off.”
Image: Friends screengrab
Marcel’s trainer, Mike Morris, has called out Schwimmer for his “despicable” words.
Morris told The Sun that the two monkeys who portrayed Marcel only had a problem with Schwimmer but the other cast members.
“I didn’t watch the reunion interview but I heard from others what Schwimmer said. I just don’t agree with it, if anything he threw off their timing if we want to be truthful,” Morris said.
“Schwimmer was fine with the monkeys for the first couple of episodes and happy to be there, but people would laugh at the monkey and I think he got jealous because it wasn’t him getting the laughs.
“He seemed to get a little bitter about them being there after that, and of course the monkeys didn’t like working with him after he turned on them.
“It made it harder to do the work. A five-camera show is hard to work on with animals anyway so if you have an actor that’s not very helpful, it makes it even worse.
“My colleague who also worked on the show says that people would laugh at the monkey and throw Schwimmer off. He’s not the kind of actor who can improvise.”
Morris went on to say Schwimmer only despised working with the monkeys, as he was not talented enough to ad lib.
“I think a good actor can play off an animal,” Morris said.
“We did a shot with Seinfeld and he played off the monkey and went with what the monkey was doing.
“I think David had a little problem with that, he was very regimented and had to do what the script said.
“I think he had a problem improvising with the monkey.”
A capuchin named Katie was one of the two adorable monkeys to play Marcel, and she is still working in the film business.
Sadly, the other monkey, known as Monkey, died of cancer in August of 2020.
“Schwimmer was talking ill of the dead when he made those comments,” Morris said.
“I find it despicable for him to still be speaking ill of her.”
The reunion special wasn’t the first time Schwimmer has spoken of his experience with the monkeys.
Morris admitted he will never watchthe ’90s sitcom due to Schwimmer claiming the monkeys threw poop and tried to bite him.
“I have refused to (watch Friends) ever since he did an interview after the animals got written out of the show and he said they tried to bite him and throw poop at him,” Morris said.
“They didn’t do any of that. None of it is true, when I was there none of that ever happened.”
Morris said Katie doesn’t hold any bad blood toward Schwimmer despite his comments.
“Katie can’t speak for herself so that’s why I’m talking out for her,” Morris said.
“The monkeys definitely wouldn’t hold a grudge against David, if Katie had to work with him again tomorrow she would do it no problem.
“I know he holds a grudge against the monkeys but they definitely don’t hold one against him.
“They’re just good-natured animals and probably don’t even remember him.”