Friends director revealed why he wanted to fire one of the recurring actors in the popular sitcom. Read on to the full story

Back When &#8216;Friends&#8217; Director James Burrows Almost Replaced One of Ross Geller’s Exes Over Lack of Chemistry

The famous American sitcom Friends has been ruling fans’ hearts even after
almost two decades of its closure. As per a 2019 report of Vulture, the show
racked up a whopping 16 million weekly audience in the US. While the perfect
casting and their individual storylines were a significant reason for the show’s
success, there were a few elements that continued to provide hilarious meme
material. One such recurring storyline is Ross Geller’s multiple marriages and
divorces that led the other five friends to constantly pull his leg on the
show. 

Starting with Carol Willick, Ross, played by David Schwimmer, went on to marry
two other women in the series. Though Ross had a good chemistry with all his
exes, there was one who thought to be replaced. And back in 2022, the director
of the Emmy Award-winning series revealed the same.


JAMES BURROWS WANTED TO REPLACE THE FRIENDS ACTRESS 

One of the highlights of Friends was Ross and Rachel’s chemistry
[https://www.netflixjunkie.com/hollywood-news-jennifer-aniston-once-spilled-the-truth-behind-the-iconic-chemistry-rachel-green-and-ross-geller-had-on-friends/],
owing to the fact that both the stars were crushing on each other during the
making of the show. However, apart from the chemistry, it was also Aniston and
Schwimmer’s skills as a comic actor that made the show shine brighter. This was
something that Helen Baxendale, who played Ross’ second wife, lacked. And even
director James Burrows recently revealed how he considered firing Baxendale in
his memoir, Directed By James Burrows. 

> Friends director James Burrows said actress Helen Baxendale was almost
> replaced on the sitcom over her lack of chemistry with David Schwimmer: "It
> was like clapping with one hand." https://t.co/LdzBzPWrOB
> [https://t.co/LdzBzPWrOB]
> 
> — E! News (@enews) September 1, 2023
> [https://twitter.com/enews/status/1697441606222196998?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw]



He talked about directing the 53-year-old actress in the episode titled The One
with All The Rugby and said “She was nice but not particularly funny”.
Discussing her lack of chemistry with Schwimmer, the director further went on to
write “Schwimmer had no one to bounce off” and that “It was like clapping with
one hand.” However, the actress got lucky due to the tight deadlines and
remained on the show for 14 episodes, and eventually parted ways as she was also
pregnant. 

ALSO READ: none of the actors – How ‘Friends’ Guest Star Narrated the Bizarre
Experience on the Set of the Iconic Sit-Com Featuring Jennifer Aniston,
Courteney Cox and More
[https://www.netflixjunkie.com/hollywood-news-none-of-the-actors-how-friends-guest-star-narrated-the-bizarre-experience-on-the-set-of-the-iconic-sit-com-featuring-jennifer-aniston-courteney-cox-and-more/]

The character of Emily leaving the show amused fans, as she was and still is the
most hated character on Friends.


WHY FANS HATED HELEN BAXENDALE’S CHARACTER SO MUCH

Recurring characters and guest appearances were not new in Friends’ world. While
some appearances won fans’ hearts, others faced a lot of scrutiny over the
years. One such character who received a lot of resentment from the fans was
Emily Waltham. Emily made her debut in the 4th season of Friends right after
Ross and Rachel broke up. After getting to know each other for only six weeks,
Ross and Emily decided to marry each other, followed by Ross uttering Rachel’s
name at the altar. And the rest is history. 

> Never felt hatred quite like my hatred for Emily Waltham
> pic.twitter.com/ltcJWeAbOJ [https://t.co/ltcJWeAbOJ]
> 
> — Sophie (@Smith97Sophie) April 27, 2021
> [https://twitter.com/Smith97Sophie/status/1387118056904826881?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw]



Instead of sympathizing with Emily, the fandom criticized the way she treated
both Ross and Rachel after the wedding. They felt that Emily’s character was
manipulative and her demands for “selling everything Rachel ever touched” were
very unreasonable as per a Reddit thread
[https://www.reddit.com/r/friends_tv_show/comments/u56cqu/why_is_emily_such_a_hated_character/].
Fans speculated that Baxendale left Friends owing to the amount of negativity
her character faced. However, the British actress never confirmed the rumor and
said she left the show because she wanted to prioritize her family at that
point. 

ALSO READ: Chandler Bing vs Barney Stinson: Who Earned More From Their Mystery
Jobs in ‘Friends’ and ‘How I Met Your Mother’?
[https://www.netflixjunkie.com/hollywood-news-chandler-bing-vs-barney-stinson-who-earned-more-from-their-mystery-jobs-in-friends-and-how-i-met-your-mother/]

What are your thoughts on James Burrows’ statement about Helen Baxendale? Do you
think Emily’s character deserved so much hate?

Hriddhi Maitra

Comment

Back When &#8216;Friends&#8217; Director James Burrows Almost Replaced One of Ross Geller’s Exes Over Lack of Chemistry - Netflix Junkie

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Hriddhi Maitra is a Hollywood News reporter at Netflix Junkie. An enthusiastic movie buff, Hriddhi found her true calling when she worked as a Cinema Content Writer at My Cinema Story while analyzing movies objectively, and offering constructive feedback. Coming from a background where she worked in different niches like finance, food, travel, medicines, automobile, and entertainment, we can safely say she is a jack of all trades. With experience writing over 500+ articles, she is willing to pick up entertainment trends, controversies, and their societal impact at Netflix Junkie. Speaking of her love for cinema, The Shawshank Redemption and Crazy Stupid Love is her favorite. Though 'not an avid reader', as in her own words, she likes Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. When she is not listening to music or working, you can find her binge-watching a new show or writing a review to be live on her social media.

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Back When &#8216;Friends&#8217; Director James Burrows Almost Replaced One of Ross Geller’s Exes Over Lack of Chemistry - netflix-junkie

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The famous American sitcom Friends has been ruling fans’ hearts even after almost two decades of its closure. As per a 2019 report of Vulture, the show racked up a whopping 16 million weekly audience in the US. While the perfect casting and their individual storylines were a significant reason for the show&#8217;s success, there were a few elements that continued to provide hilarious meme material. One such recurring storyline is Ross Geller’s multiple marriages and divorces that led the other five friends to constantly pull his leg on the show. 
Starting with Carol Willick, Ross, played by David Schwimmer, went on to marry two other women in the series. Though Ross had a good chemistry with all his exes, there was one who thought to be replaced. And back in 2022, the director of the Emmy Award-winning series revealed the same.
<h2>James Burrows wanted to replace the Friends actress </h2>
One of the highlights of Friends was <a href="https://www.netflixjunkie.com/hollywood-news-jennifer-aniston-once-spilled-the-truth-behind-the-iconic-chemistry-rachel-green-and-ross-geller-had-on-friends/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ross and Rachel’s chemistry</a>, owing to the fact that both the stars were crushing on each other during the making of the show. However, apart from the chemistry, it was also Aniston and Schwimmer&#8217;s skills as a comic actor that made the show shine brighter. This was something that Helen Baxendale, who played Ross’ second wife, lacked. And even director James Burrows recently revealed how he considered firing Baxendale in his memoir, Directed By James Burrows. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
Friends director James Burrows said actress Helen Baxendale was almost replaced on the sitcom over her lack of chemistry with David Schwimmer: &quot;It was like clapping with one hand.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/LdzBzPWrOB">https://t.co/LdzBzPWrOB</a>
&mdash; E! News (@enews) <a href="https://twitter.com/enews/status/1697441606222196998?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 1, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
He talked about directing the 53-year-old actress in the episode titled The One with All The Rugby and said “She was nice but not particularly funny”. Discussing her lack of chemistry with Schwimmer, the director further went on to write “Schwimmer had no one to bounce off” and that “It was like clapping with one hand.” However, the actress got lucky due to the tight deadlines and remained on the show for 14 episodes, and eventually parted ways as she was also pregnant. 
ALSO READ: <a href="https://www.netflixjunkie.com/hollywood-news-none-of-the-actors-how-friends-guest-star-narrated-the-bizarre-experience-on-the-set-of-the-iconic-sit-com-featuring-jennifer-aniston-courteney-cox-and-more/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">none of the actors &#8211; How ‘Friends’ Guest Star Narrated the Bizarre Experience on the Set of the Iconic Sit-Com Featuring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox and More</a>
The character of Emily leaving the show amused fans, as she was and still is the most hated character on Friends.
<h2>Why fans hated Helen Baxendale’s character so much</h2>
Recurring characters and guest appearances were not new in Friends&#8217; world. While some appearances won fans’ hearts, others faced a lot of scrutiny over the years. One such character who received a lot of resentment from the fans was Emily Waltham. Emily made her debut in the 4th season of Friends right after Ross and Rachel broke up. After getting to know each other for only six weeks, Ross and Emily decided to marry each other, followed by Ross uttering Rachel’s name at the altar. And the rest is history. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
Never felt hatred quite like my hatred for Emily Waltham <a href="https://t.co/ltcJWeAbOJ">pic.twitter.com/ltcJWeAbOJ</a>
&mdash; Sophie (@Smith97Sophie) <a href="https://twitter.com/Smith97Sophie/status/1387118056904826881?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 27, 2021</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Instead of sympathizing with Emily, the fandom criticized the way she treated both Ross and Rachel after the wedding. They felt that Emily’s character was manipulative and her demands for “selling everything Rachel ever touched” were very unreasonable <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/friends_tv_show/comments/u56cqu/why_is_emily_such_a_hated_character/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">as per a Reddit thread</a>. Fans speculated that Baxendale left Friends owing to the amount of negativity her character faced. However, the British actress never confirmed the rumor and said she left the show because she wanted to prioritize her family at that point. 
ALSO READ: <a href="https://www.netflixjunkie.com/hollywood-news-chandler-bing-vs-barney-stinson-who-earned-more-from-their-mystery-jobs-in-friends-and-how-i-met-your-mother/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chandler Bing vs Barney Stinson: Who Earned More From Their Mystery Jobs in ‘Friends’ and ‘How I Met Your Mother’?</a>
What are your thoughts on James Burrows’ statement about Helen Baxendale? Do you think Emily’s character deserved so much hate?

Chandler Bing vs Barney Stinson: Who Earned More From Their Mystery Jobs in
‘Friends’ and ‘How I Met Your Mother’?

“none of the actors…”- How ‘Friends’ Guest Star Narrated the Bizarre Experience
on the Set of the Iconic Sit-Com Featuring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox and
More

David Schwimmer, Lisa Kudrow, Jennifer Aniston and Matthew Perry of the television show &#8220;Friends&#8221; on the red carpet for the People&#8217;s Choice Awards on January 9, 2000 in Los Angeles, Cailfornia. (Photo by Vinnie Zuffante/Getty Images)

26th Annual People&#8217;s Choice Awards

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Friends director revealed why he wanted to fire one of the recurring actors in the popular sitcom. Read on to the full story!

Back When 'Friends' Director James Burrows Almost Replaced One of Ross Geller’s Exes Over Lack of Chemistry - Netflix Junkie

Hriddhi Maitra is a Hollywood News writer at Netflix Junkie. She skillfully breaks down nuances in stories on polarizing figures Kanye West and Meghan Markle. A Markle moment she covered was when the Duchess faced backlash for wearing Princess Diana’s Cartier watch. Hriddhi connected it to the missing ring controversy with her research skills. When not analyzing news, you will find her lost in the musical world or reviewing the latest movie and series releases on her social media.

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Back When &#039;Friends&#039; Director James Burrows Almost Replaced One of Ross Geller’s Exes Over Lack of Chemistry

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Back When ‘Friends’ Director James Burrows Almost Replaced One of Ross Geller’s Exes Over Lack of Chemistry

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