Schwimmer To Direct

It must be something of a kick in the head when you come off the most successful sitcom of all time only to find not-a-lot waiting on the other side. Such was the fate of the Friends cast when the series wrapped up earlier this year. Obviously Jennifer Aniston's got it sorted but for the others the post Central Perk world was not such a welcoming place. David Schwimmer, arguably the actor with the least successful movie crossover career, has now managed to find his niche and it is, as previously predicted, behind not in front of the camera. Schwimmer will take on the film Run, Fat Boy, Run for his directorial debut, an indie flick which is not, as the name may have you believe, a sequel to Forrest Gump in which Tom Hanks' character has really let himself slide. Rather the film is the classic tale of overweight boy meets girl, overweight boy leaves girl on wedding day, overweight boy sees error of his ways and must win her back from her new, 32-inch-waisted, wash-board stomached man by running the New York Marathon. The things we do for love, eh? Despite being the funniest Friend (yes, Matthew Perry used to be but his sarcastic schtick grew very tedious in the last few seasons), Schwimmer's attempts at on-screen comedy have so far been miss and miss with only the lamentable Breast Men and an irritating turn in Six Days Seven Nights even appearing on the radar. It's no surprise then that the director's chair looked so inviting. He's had practice on a number of Friends episodes and even had a go directing Matt Leblanc's spin-off show, Joey, so hopes are high that Run, Fat Boy, Run will be the project to kick start this new career. "I've been waiting for the right feature comedy to direct and am so happy to have found Run, Fat Boy, Run, " He told The Hollywood Reporter. "[the] script was simply too funny and smart to put down." For our erudite appraisal of all the Friends stars' futures, why not take a look at our Friends Farewell feature, here.