Ross Geller is the sensitive, nerdy and slightly neurotic paleontologist on Friends whose affection for Rachel captivated the hearts of fans. While Ross had his ups and downs throughout Friends’ 10 season run, such as his three divorces, having baby Emma, and his relationship with Rachel, he remained a fan favorite.
Fans appreciated his dorky sense of humor and his high moral standards. For the most part Dr. Geller is an open book, but there is so much more to Ross than just his knowledge of dinosaurs and his pining after Rachel. Here are the 10 things even diehard fans didn’t know about Ross:
David Schwimmer Struggled with His Fame
Even though David Schwimmer had wanted to be an actor since he was a kid, he still struggled with his A-list celebrity status during Friends. When Friends was first airing, the six main cast mates were some of the most famous people in the world. That kind of fame comes with a price.
Schwimmer opened up to Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter Podcast about the downside of being Ross Geller. Schwimmer stated, “It was pretty jarring.” He has spent years out of the limelight, but has recently started stepping back into the spotlight by taking on new roles such as Rob Kardashian in ThePeople v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story.
Younger than Courtney Cox
Ross and Monica are everyone’s favorite brother and sister duo. They are constantly together and always there when the other one needs them. Ross is very protective of his little sister which was proven when he had a meltdown about Monica and Chandler’s relationship.
In Friends, Ross is Monica’s older brother but in reality David Schwimmer is actually younger than Courtney Cox. Cox is over two years older than Schwimmer, which makes more sense as Monica generally acts more mature than her supposed big brother. But even if it had been written with Monica being the eldest, their sibling bond would still be adored by fans.
The Role of Ross was Written for David Schwimmwer
David Schwimmer does a phenomenal job of playing the role of Ross Geller, so good of a job in fact that the role earned him an Emmy nomination in 1995 for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. Schimmer may be so gifted at playing Ross since the part was written just for him.
The executive producer of Friends, Kevin Bright, had worked with Schwimmer in the past which led to the character of Ross being written in Schwimmer’s voice. He was the first one to be cast out of the six main cast mates, while his main love interest of the series was cast last.
David Schwimmer Almost Didn’t Take the Role
While the role of Ross Geller was written with David Schwimmer in mind, the perfect man for the job almost didn’t become the beloved Ross. When Schwimmer was first asked to take the role of Ross, he declined. Fortunately he changed his mind and took the role to become the neurotic dork everyone loves.
Eric McCormack was so close to becoming Ross Geller, he auditioned for the role several times. Eric McCormack is an incredible actor and the part of Will on Will and Grace was perfect for him, but David Schwimmer was definitely the best choice for Ross. No one could have made a better Red Ross or Ross-a-Tron.
Lived in Washington Square Village
Ross called a few different places home during his time on Friends. The most memorable was of course Ugly Naked Guy’s old apartment that Ross moved into during season five after a lot of sucking up to Ugly Naked Guy. But before Ross moved across the street from his best friends, he lived in Washington Square Village which is an apartment complex in Greenwich Village.
The apartment complex is used as faculty housing for professors at New York University, which is where Ross taught at. It’s actually been used as faculty housing since the 1960s, but there are still some residents living in the complex who have been there since before NYU bought it.
David Schwimmer is Jewish in Real Life
One of Ross Geller’s most memorable moments is when he attempted to teach his son, Ben, about Hanukkah by dressing up as the Holiday Armadillo. Hanukkah is obviously important to Ross, and it’s important to David Schwimmer also. David Schwimmer, along with Lisa Kudrow, is Jewish in real life.
According to halachic law, Ross and Monica aren’t technically Jewish since their father is Jewish, but not their mother. David Schwimmer’s mother is Jewish, though. In Judaism, one’s religion is based on the mother’s religion. However, his father is Jewish as well.
Schwimmer Didn’t like the Idea of Three Divorces
Ross is the resident “divorce guy” on friends with his three divorces in less than ten years. Anytime divorce is mentioned on the show, everyone instantly looks to Ross. The three divorces had fans laughing at times while at other times it just had them wondering if he was mentally okay.
David Schwimmer worried about Ross’s well being along with fans. He felt that the three divorces was a step too far. Schwimmer felt it would be hard for Ross to fall back in love after having gone through so much failures and heartbreaks. Luckily for fans, Schwimmer was wrong about Ross falling back in love.
He’s a Genuine New Yorker
On the show, most of the members of the Friends crew are from New York in some shape or form whether it’s Long Island or Queens. In real life, however, David Schwimmer is the only true New Yorker. He was born in Flushing, Queens, and lived there until he was 10 years old. His family moved across the country to Beverly Hills where Schwimmer always felt like an outsider. He felt his value system differed greatly from his California classmates and he wanted to leave the sunny state as soon as he arrived.
After he graduated high school he fulfilled that goal by moving to Chicago to attend Northwestern University. Currently David Schwimmer is residing back in his home state of New York.
Directed 10 Friends Episodes
There is no question that David Schwimmer is a talented actor, but he does have other impressive skills, such as directing. Schwimmer actually directed a total of ten episodes for Friends, including some all time fan favorites like “The One with the Red Sweater” and “The One with Ross’s Library Book”.
Strangely enough, some of the episodes he directed were the ones where Joey and Rachel were dating. When Friends ended, Schwimmer continued to direct and worked on films such as Run Fatboy Run and Trust. Schwimmer is certainly a man of many talents much like Ross, who is not only a paleontologist but also a gifted musician.
Ross and Rachel are Still Together
Friends ended with Ross and Rachel happily back together finally. Fans were relieved to see their favorite couple reunited once again. But what ever happened to the on-again-off-again couple after the series ended? According to all of Friends creators, Kevin Bright, Marta Kauffman, and David Crane, Ross and Rachel are still together as they worked too hard and went through too much to not make it work.
They were also all in agreement that Emma would be in therapy by now as she didn’t get that much screen time with her busy parents. Turns out Ross is Rachel’s lobster after all.
