Friends star David Schwimmer became famous as the (frequently) unrequited love interest of the even more famous Jennifer Aniston, as the two characters played Ross and Rachel in the enduringly popular TV series that still has a grip on young audiences decades later.
But besides being an actor of global renown due to the Ross Geller role, Schwimmer is also a writer, director, and a man of principle. The latter characteristic is a fact Friends fans learned early on when Schwimmer was a leading proponent for the idea that the six stars of the show negotiate their contracts as a group, using solidarity rather than rivalry to secure their lucrative financial futures.
It worked, and the resulting equality felt among the cast members likely helped their art as well as their pocketbooks.
It’s notable that by including all six actors as equals, three men and three women, the team embraced a (rather rare) principle of gender equality, too.
So it’s not a big surprise now to see Schwimmer come to the vocal defense of a woman’s right to choose, even if the level of detail he supplies — including his own family’s activist history — is perhaps surprising. (He could make his case without the personal details, though he knows this makes it stronger.)
Schwimmer feels an affinity with the abortion rights fight, telling that “In the 1960s and 1970s my Mom (and Dad) marched, rallied, picketed and fought like hell to make abortion legal—which finally became law in 1973, saving countless lives and giving women autonomy over their bodies.”
Schwimmer says his family marched again in 2004. “in The March For Women’s Lives, to protect this right and for better health care for ALL women, no matter their race, education or economic circumstance.”
In a long post from which the above quotes are drawn, Schwimmer urges: “Men: For the sake of our mothers, sisters, wives, daughters, friends and colleagues—speak up. Use your voice to protect a woman’s—and a girl’s—right to choose.”
