"We were on a break!" is perhaps the most memorable line from perhaps the the most iconic show of the 1990s (and maybe the 2010s).
The continued cultural importance of the "Friends" line stems from a heated debate over whether it was accurate or not. Were Rachel and Ross truly on a break when the latter had a one-night stand?
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After almost two decades since the question first arose on the show, fans are still demanding an answer at surprising and perhaps alarming rates. Almost every single day, multiple people send out tweets seeking answers, starting endless debates online over exactly how broken Rachel and Ross' relationship was at the time Ross slept with another woman. A compelling case can and has (extensively) been made for both sides.
Now, finally, the actor who played Ross on the show, David Schwimmer, has weighed in on the infamous break to HuffPost. Break-truthers are now slightly closer to the truth.
During a conversation to promote his new AMC show, "Feed the Beast," The Huffington Post asked Schwimmer about the break.
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"Oh man, I ..." a laughing Schwimmer trailed off. "I really haven't given it any thought."
Unlike literally millions of "Friends"-obsessed humans on the planet right now, Schwimmer apparentlyhasn't been pondering whether his fictional character, Ross, technically did or did not cheat on his fictional girlfriend, Rachel.
"Um, yeah." Schwimmer paused for what felt like it was about to be a long moment of dead air on the phone, but ended up just being a short break.
He then claimed he wasn't sure and said, "I'd have to think about it."
Unlike Ross, who showed that he clearly held a strong opinion on the matter of whether he was dating Rachel at the time he slept with someone else by yelling, "We were on a break," Schwimmer wasn't quite sure.
To recap: HuffPost was essentially like, "Knock, knock," on the phone with esteemed actor David Schwimmer, who recently did an amazing job in the series, "American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson," and was there to talk about his promising new series for AMC.
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And Schwimmer was like -- Who's there?
HuffPost was like -- Break.
And Schwimmer was like -- Break who?
HuffPost was like -- Knock, knock.
Schwimmer was like -- Who's there?
HuffPost was like -- Orange.
Schwimmer was like, in a very nice and forgiving way -- Orange who?
And HuffPost was like -- Orange you glad we asked about the break.
That's exactly how that works and that's exactly how it went.
Understandably, Schwimmer, in an actual real quote about the Ross-Rachel situation, responded, "I... I ... sorry, I don't. I haven't ..." and trailed off once more.
Sounds like a definitive clue to us! Perhaps this all means Ross and Rachel definitely weren't on a break.
"We were on a break," was a lie, maybe. Who know
Television saved.
In all seriousness, seek out Schwimmer's recent work on AMC's "Feed the Beast," which will premiere May 31, or his definitively spectacular role as Robert Kardashian in FX's "American Crime Story," which we wrote about in March.
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