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Friends showrunner James Burrows labelled Emily Waltham star Helen Baxendale “nice but not funny,” as he reflected on her tenure on the hit sitcom.
Throughout his career, James directed many shows including Will and Grace, The Big Bang Theory, and Cheers, as well as over 1,000 episodes of Friends.
However, in his new memoir, Directed by James Burrows he revealed it was a struggle to work with Helen because the other actors couldn’t feed off any comedic energy.
He brutally stated her attempt at comedy “was like clapping with one hand,” as he noted Ross Gellar’s David Schwimmer had “no one to bounce off.”
Bexandale was introduced to the show in season four as the English niece of Rachel Greene’s (Jennifer Aniston) boss, who later became Ross’ girlfriend.
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Within 14 episodes of the sitcom, Emily and Ross were engaged and subsequently married during their unforgettable and humiliating ceremony.
Things took a disastrous turn during their vows as Ross said: “I take thee, Rachel,” at the altar instead of Emily’s name.
In his memoir, James also highlighted the season four episode titled The One with All the Rugby, where Ross plays the sport for the first time with Emily’s British friends.
The director wrote: “In sitcoms and any type of romantic comedy, the funny is just as important as the chemistry.
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“We discovered that any new girlfriend for Ross needed to be as funny as Rachel.
“Often, you can’t recast, because of tight shooting deadlines or other logistical considerations. You don’t cast anyone to be a straw man, unless it’s for one episode.”
He continued: ”You need someone who gets laughs. Sometimes you start an arc and it ain’t working out, so you have to get rid of that person. If it’s a day player, it’s a quick goodbye.
“The reverse is also true. If there’s chemistry, the writers go to work to figure out some way of keeping the actor.”
Baxendale had previously opened up about her experience on Friends as she admitted: “It doesn’t feel like part of my life at all now.”
“I look upon it as a strange surreal little blip in my life almost like a dream,” the actress added to The Mirror.
“[The cast] were all very nice and professional. We were never great mates though.”
She continued: “People expect because it is called Friends that everyone was great friends, but they were real professionals. They’d been doing it for years and I was one of many guest stars to appear.
Friends seasons 1-10 are available to stream on Netflix in the UK.
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