David Lawrence Schwimmer (born November 2, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, director and producer. Schwimmer gained worldwide recognition for playing Ross Geller in the sitcom Friends, for which he received a Screen Actors Guild award and a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 1995. While still acting in Friends, his first leading film role was in The Pallbearer (1996), followed by roles in Kissing a Fool, Six Days, Seven Nights, Apt Pupil (all 1998), and Picking Up the Pieces (2000). He was then cast in the miniseries Band of Brothers (2001) as Herbert Sobel.