Before he was on “Friends” and “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story,” David Schwimmer was a struggling actor in Chicago working at Ed Debevic’s.
Schwimmer stopped by “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” Tuesday and it was a reunion of sorts since Schwimmer, 49, and Colbert, 51, were classmates at Northwestern University.
Here are six things we learned about their time in the Chicago area:
>> They were in an improv group called the No Fun Mud Piranhas but Schwimmer struggled to keep pace with Colbert. “Steve, I could never keep up with him. Your mind is just so ridiculously fast,” Schwimmer told Colbert. “I actually was really grateful for being in that group with you because I realized that’s why I can’t do that.”
>> The summer between freshman and sophmore year, Schwimmer got ripped.
“Were you juicing?,” Colbert asked. “How did you get so jacked? You were like boom, you were totally ripped and exploded over one summer.”
Schwimmer credited exercise and blooming late.
>> Also in college, Schwimmer had lush flowing locks, hair that “Star Wars” villain Kylo Ren would love, Colbert pointed out. Schwimmer said he cut his hair senior year for a show.
>> Schwimmer waited tables for seven years, including at Ed Debevic’s, as tried to make it as an actor. Colbert worked nearby at the Scoozi Italian restaurant in River North.
>> Schwimmer co-founded the Lookingglass Theatre Company and is back in Chicago directing and acting with the company when he can.
>> He prefers living in New York to living in Chicago and Los Angeles. “I’m in New York. I moved here about 12 years ago and this is where I decided to live and raise a family. So I would say right now, New York would be my favorite.”
Schwimmer plays O.J. Simpson’s attorney Robert Kardashian in “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story,” which airs 9 p.m. Tuesdays on FX.
“The Late Show” airs weeknights on CBS at 10:35 p.m.
