Friends director reveals why he wanted to recast a major character
"She was nice, but not particularly funny."
Director of 15 episodes of Friends, James Burrows, has revealed in his memoir that he never found a particular character in the sitcom funny - and revealed the supposed reasons for why they were quickly written out of the show.
Writing in his book, Directed by James Burrows, the 82-year-old director revealed that he never found Helen Baxendale, who played Ross Geller's wife Emily, "particularly funny".
He wrote that he also felt as though Baxendale lacked chemistry with her on-screen husband David Schwimmer, writing: "Schwimmer had no one to bounce off. It was like clapping with one hand.
"In sitcoms and any type of romantic comedy, the funny is just as important as the chemistry. We discovered that any new girlfriend for Ross needed to be as funny as Rachel."
He continues in his memoir: "Often, you can’t recast, because of tight shooting deadlines or other logistical considerations.
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"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."
But Burrows also adds that the reverse was true, saying, "If there’s chemistry, the writers go to work to figure out some way of keeping the actor."
Baxendale was first introduced as Emily in season 4 of Friends and starred in a total of 14 episodes.
In her time in the sitcom, her character dated, married and divorced Ross Geller, one of the show's six leads - but despite that, Baxendale only had a short stint in the show.
Read more:
- Where are the Friends cast now? From past to present
- Friends writer: 'Unhappy' stars 'deliberately tanked' some of the jokes
She was written out of the show, which subsequently worked well for the actress as she was pregnant with her first child and lived in the UK rather than the US.
Baxendale has gone on to star in a variety of British dramas and sitcoms including Cuckoo, Death in Paradise and Noughts and Crosses.
This isn't the first time behind-the-scenes Friends details have been spoken about as of late, with screenwriter Patty Lin previously claiming that the show's stars sometimes "deliberately tanked" jokes in the script if they didn't like them.
In her new book titled End Credits: How I Broke Up With Hollywood, the writer suggested that the novelty of meeting and working with the Friends cast quickly wore off as their frustrations with the series became clear.
She wrote: "The actors seemed unhappy to be chained to a tired old show when they could be branching out, and I felt like they were constantly wondering how every given script would specifically serve them."
Friends is available to stream on Netflix. Sign up for Netflix from £4.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.
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