Bye, Noah! David Schwimmer, who portrayed recurring guest star Noah Broader in seven episodes of Will & Grace season 2, will not be back next season.
“He is not, sadly,” Debra Messing confirmed to Us Weekly at the Chanel Tribeca Film Festival Artists Dinner on Monday, April 29. “I love David, and I had a ball with him, so hopefully they’ll be another opportunity for us to play together.”
On the series, Noah played Grace’s love interest. However, in the season finale, Grace connected with Reid Scott‘s Marcus.
The guest spot marked 52-year-old Schwimmer’s return to live-audience TV and he got right back into the groove of it. “I know the cast, the writers, [director] Jimmy Burrows [who also helmed many Friends episodes],” he told TVInsider when he joined. “The whole camera crew is actually from Friends!”
When it came to how long his part on Will & Grace would last, the People v. OJ Simpson: American Crime Story alum had no limits.
“It was pitched to me as a short arc, a reluctant love story,” he said in 2018. “I never want to overstay a character’s welcome, but if it feels like there’s a good, fun, earned story to tell, then we’ll see.”
Cocreator David Kohan knew how much NBC audiences would love seeing the Friends alum back on his home network.
“During the first incarnation of our show, Friends was the biggest thing. But, it has had an entirely new and different kind of life in streaming,” Kohan told The Hollywood Reporter last year. “The writer on that episode has a 16-year-old daughter who is an enormous fan of Friends, knows every single episode and has never ever seen it on television. What’s so amazing is how they’ve consistently been big stars because of that with a new generation.”
Will & Grace has been renewed for season 3 at NBC.
With reporting by Nicki Gostin.
