This 'Friends' character was almost recast by the producers, reveals director James Burrows
"Friends" director James Burrows released his new memoir titled, "Directed by James Burrows." In his memoir, he wrote about a Friends character that was nearly recast by the producers. Emily, Ross's wife, who was played by Helen Baxendale was not much loved by the producers of the famous 90s show.
He mentioned in the book how Helen's chemistry never bounced off with David Schwimmer, who played Ross in the comedy-drama.
"Schwimmer had no one to bounce off," he wrote. "It was like clapping with one hand."
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"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 continued.
Rachel who was played by actress Jennifer Aniston, had sizzling chemistry with David and the on-screen couple became a favourite of many.
However, Helen was not replaced in the show due to the tight schedule and deadlines of the episodes.
"Often, you can't recast, because of tight shooting deadlines or other logistical considerations," Burrows wrote. "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."
Considering all the logistics, Helen had a long enough run on the sitcom. Her character Emily was introduced in the show in Season 4 and appeared in 14 episodes in total.
She married Ross in Season 5, but their marriage was on the rocks since the ceremony, where Ross took Rachel's name during the vows by accident.
Though Helen's character was not humourous enough for the show, she did succeed in making people root more for Ross and Rachel, considering her heavy demands from Ross to break off his friendship with Rachel, move to London and so on.
When Emily and Ross, broke up on the show, Helen's character was written off the script.
Friends aired on NBC from 1994 to 2004. It had 10 seasons with 236 episodes in total. The show still garners a huge fan following amongst people of all generations till date.
