Friends guest star who director claimed ‘wasn’t funny’ spoke out about her experience on the sitcom

Published 17:33 23 Nov 2024 GMT

Appearing on a show as famous as Friends doesn't come without its complications

The Friends actor who was famously hailed as 'not funny' by the sitcom's director has revealed what it was actually like to appear on the iconic show.

Director James Burrows pulled no punches when he previously revealed the guest star he liked working with the least - naming British actor Helen Baxendale, who played Emily Waltham, whirlwind girlfriend and later wife of Ross in season four.

Burrows claimed it was difficult for the other actors to bounce off Baxendale because 'she was nice, but not particularly funny.'

Despite the less than complimentary summary of the star's 14-episode appearance, the actor has spoken fondly of her time on Friends, claiming it feels 'almost like a dream.'

Speaking to the Mirror in 2012, she said: "I am very proud and delighted to have been in such an amazingly successful and international show. It's always a talking point and it was a very clever set up – even now young people especially seem to love it. But 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."

But appearing in one of the biggest sitcoms of our generation didn't come without its drawbacks, and Baxendale has also shared that she struggled with the level of fame that came with Friends.

"You couldn't walk down the street to buy a pint of milk. In fact, you couldn't go anywhere," Baxendale told the Daily Mail. "It was impossible to mix with the crowd and do what ordinary people do."

Unfortunately, the actor's family were also subjected to harassment from the paparazzi and ultimately, she decided it wasn't the life for her.

She continued: "I saw it as a gilded prison. It was something I wasn't prepared for."

In the end, Emily was written out of the show, with Ross famously saying the wrong name at the alter, as Baxendale fell pregnant with her first child outside of the show.

"I didn't want to live in America, when all my circumstances were leading me back to Britain," she added. Something which she doesn't regret for a minute.

"To me there are many aspects of being ambitious. Yes there is your career, but there are also many other ambitions. There is this perception that TV is glamorous and it is the pinnacle of your existence — I don't think it is."