Marcel made a monkey out of David Schwimmer on the set of “Friends,” the show’s animal trainer claimed.
The trainer of the iconic monkey star eviscerated Schwimmer over disparaging remarks the 54-year-old actor made about the animal during the sitcom’s recent reunion show.
“Of course, I didn’t watch the reunion interview, but I heard from others what Schwimmer said,” Mike Morris, 53, told the Sun of the primate-like poop-slinging.
The animal handler was referring to the show’s Q&A segment, in which the sitcom star revealed that he didn’t like working with “the monkey.” Schwimmer was referring to Katie and Monkey, the two capuchin monkeys who played the simian sidekick of his “Friends” character, Ross Geller.
The New York native claimed during the reunion that the hairy thespian would not only ruin the painstakingly rehearsed takes but would also eat live bugs that Morris fed him during shooting and then proceed to wipe his “monkey grubby hands all over” Schwimmer.
“It was time for Marcel to f–k off!” the “Band Of Brothers” star exclaimed during the nostalgic roundtable discussion.
Suffice it to say, Katie and Monkey’s acting coach didn’t take too kindly to the comments, which he deemed hurtful and untrue.
“I just don’t agree with it. If anything he threw off their timing, if we want to be truthful,” said the indignant ape whisperer, who claimed that Schwimmer was “fine with the monkeys for the first couple episodes.”
The friction reportedly began after “people would laugh at the monkey” whereupon “he got jealous because it wasn’t him getting the laughs,” according to Morris.
He claimed that Schwimmer “seemed to get a little bitter” about getting upstaged by his furry co-stars and would refuse to rehearse scenes with them.
“It got to the point where he just really resented the monkey being there. He obviously had a problem with her and he’s still talking about it now,” Morris added.
The remarks weren’t just inaccurate, according to the monkey trainer. Morris said Schwimmer had also disgraced the memory of Monkey, who died from cancer at the age of 36 this past August.
“I find it despicable for him to still be speaking ill of her,” lamented the bereaved animal lover.
