'People v. O.J. Simpson's' David Schwimmer: Robert Kardashian "Never Recovered" After the Trial

March 22, 2016

[Warning: This story contains spoilers for episode eight of The People v. O.J. Simpson, "A Jury in Jail."]

As The People v. O.J. Simpson has pointed out time and time again, it wasn’t until a lawyer named Robert

Kardashian — one of O.J. Simpson’s most loyal friends — joined the accused killer's legal team that the name Kardashian started to become a household name.

As one of the few innocent bystanders in the whole process, Robert’s faith in his friend and in the system never wavered, until the evidence started pouring in and the DNA testimony began to change everything he believed in. During Tuesday's episode, viewers began to really see that crisis of faith as Robert (David Schwimmer) started questioning O.J. (Cuba Gooding Jr.), and eventually confided in ex-wife Kris Jenner (Selma Blair) that after the trial, O.J. needed to be out of their lives for good.

THR caught up with Schwimmer to get his take on those pivotal scenes, find out what he gained from his own interview with the real Kris Jenner, and what he found shocking about this whole trial as he learned some of the new details decades later.

What did you originally get out of your conversation with Kris Jenner while researching the role?

We only had one conversation but she was generous with her time, it was about a two-hour conversation. At the time I had a few pages of questions, but the most illuminating thing that came out of it was her description of who he was as a family man and his personality traits. How attentive and loving, compassionate, generous and loyal he was. Family was very important to him; he loved big family meals and gatherings and worshiped his parents. The second thing that was helpful to learn was how religious he was. He had his own bible with him all the time. He prayed before meals and business meetings and he had a very personal relationship to his faith.

Did you get any insight from her in regards to the big moment between Robert and Kris in this episode? Did he really tell her he was done with O.J.?

We didn’t discuss that at all and I don’t know if that happened, I think that’s really speculative on the writers’ part. What we do know from the aftermath of the trial are a few things: He had doubts, he had trouble with the blood evidence and the DNA and the overwhelming evidence of blood in the Bronco and the sock and on and on. That was troubling for him; he was never able to wrap his head around the explanations that the defense team were giving. So he had doubts of O.J.’s innocence during the trial and certainly afterward. Their friendship pretty much ended. When the trial was over, the friendship was over. By all accounts they had very little if any contact afterward. My deduction is that Robert chose to end the friendship in part because of the doubt that he began to have. Episodes seven, eight and nine, you really begin to see Robert’s crisis of faith. His faith in O.J., his faith in his innocence and actually his faith in his own God.

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What was playing that crisis of faith like and do you think it changed the real Rob’s faith in people at all?

I think it changed him profoundly in probably every way. This is just my guess, but he never really recovered after that trial. His health deteriorated, it ruined the new romantic relationship he was in. It affected him profoundly. We’ll never really know, but I certainly made the choice as an actor and with the writers that the trial had a devastating effect on Robert and he’s actually kind of a tragic figure. He’s someone who was dealt a really bad blow by the entire ordeal and then not too much longer afterwards we lost him.

Have you heard any reactions from anyone in the Kardashian family after this was released?

I have not. I hope they feel that I played him with respect, that I tried to convey a real person with real strong beliefs and convictions.

Is there an irony to the fact that Robert was a private guy, but now the Kardashian name is one of the most famous around?

It’s ironic given how seemingly private Robert was. It is ironic that his offspring became internationally famous. It’s also interesting that his celebrity was totally accidental and unintentional. It was inadvertently thrust into every household in America and it’s not something he pursued or even enjoyed. But who really knows? I don’t.