“So, we would have to reset, we’d have to go again, because the monkey didn’t get it right.”
The story was met with laughter and disagreement from the rest of the cast, who insisted they liked working with little Marcel.
However in a chat with The Sun, animal handler Mike Morris revealed that the two monkeys who played Marcel seemed to have a problem with David.
The monkeys performed perfectly for other cast members who interacted with him, especially Jennifer Aniston and Matt LeBlanc.
“I didn’t watch the reunion interview but I heard from others what Schwimmer said,” Mike said.
“I just don’t agree with it, if anything he threw off their timing if we want to be truthful.
He added: “Schwimmer was fine with the monkeys for the first couple of episodes and happy to be there, but people would laugh at the monkey and I think he got jealous because it wasn’t him getting the laughs.”
“He seemed to get a little bitter about them being there after that, and of course the monkeys didn’t like working with him after he turned on them.”
Marcel, and the two monkeys that portrayed him, starred in an eight-episode arc in the first season of Friends.
The classic adage “don’t work with children or animals” seems to exist for a reason in this scenario, with Mike admitting that the work was difficult – and compounded with David’s alleged resentment.
“It made it harder to do the work. A five-camera show is hard to work on with animals anyway, so if you have an actor that’s not very helpful, it makes it even worse.
“My colleague who also worked on the show says that people would laugh at the monkey and throw Schwimmer off. He’s not the kind of actor who can improvise,” Mike said in another savage swipe.
One of the capuchins who acted on the show, named Monkey, passed away from cancer last year.
“Schwimmer was talking ill of the dead when he made those comments,” Mike said.
“I find it despicable for him to still be speaking ill of her.”
You can watch back the old Marcel episodes, and the Friends reunion on BINGE. Begin your 14-day trial here.
