"a hopeless-romantic"

David Schwimmer received his breakthrough role in 1994 when he was cast as Ross Geller in NBC's situation comedy Friends, a series that revolved around a group of friends who live together in Manhattan, New York City. He played a hopeless-romantic paleontologist who works at a museum and later becomes a professor at a university. Schwimmer notes when first approached about the role of Ross, he turned it down, but accepted the role afterwards.^[6] Executive producer Kevin S. Bright said that he had previously worked with Schwimmer,^[7] the character of Ross was written with him in mind, and he was the first actor cast.^[6] Schwimmer based Ross on Nicolas Cage's role of Charlie from the 1986 film Peggy Sue Got Married.^[8] The show debuted on September 22, 1994 and was watched by almost 22 million American viewers.^[9] Friends quickly developed a loyal audience, with the show and Schwimmer receiving strong reviews. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette was complimentary of Schwimmer, calling him "terrific".^[10] Variety's television reviewer, said: "All six of the principals, especially (Courteney) Cox and Schwimmer, appear resourceful and display sharp sitcom skills."^[11] For this performance, he earned an Emmy Award nomination in the category of Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 1995.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Schwimmer