David Schwimmer Was Originally Supposed to Play Agent J in MEN IN BLACK
It’s always fun to learn about actors who were originally eyed for big movie roles but never ended up taking them. During an interview on THR’s Award Chatter podcast, David Schwimmer revealed he was originally offered the role of Agent J in Men in Black, a role that ended up being played by Will Smith.
He was obviously offered the role because of his popularity on the hit sitcom Friends. He ended up turning down the role so that he could star in and direct a TV movie called Since You've Been Gone, which I’ve never heard of. You’d think the actor would have regrets about his choice, but he doesn’t, in regards to taking the opportunity to choose between the two projects he says, "It wasn't even like a choice."
I think he made the right choice because Will Smith was awesome in the role as Agent J and I don’t think Schwimmer would have had the same powerful on screen presence that Smith had. Schwimmer doesn’t have that “wow” factor.