Friends director James Burrows explains the abrupt departure of Emily (Helen Baxendale) after she briefly marries Ross (David Schwimmer).
Emily’s abrupt departure from Friends has been explained by famed TV director, James Burrows. The iconic long-running sitcom, which followed the romantic travails of a group of six friends living in New York City, featured an on-again-off-again relationship between the characters of Ross (David Schwimmer) and Rachel (Jennifer Aniston). However, one roadblock to their getting together was Ross’ relationship with and eventual marriage to Emily (Helen Baxendale), Rachel’s boss’ niece, though the couple quickly got divorced and Emily exited the series after Ross accidentally said Rachel’s name during their wedding in the season 4 finale.
Per Deadline, Burrows wrote about Emily’s departure in his memoir Directed by James Burrows. According to the director, who helmed the second of Baxendale’s 14 episodes, the actor was almost recast because “she was nice, but not particularly funny.” He said Baxendale didn’t click with the Friends cast and had no chemistry with Schwimmer, describing his performance as “clapping with one hand” because any love interest for Ross “needed to be as funny as Rachel.” Read his full quote below:
She was nice, but not particularly funny. 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.
Often, you can’t recast, because of tight shooting deadlines or other logistical considerations. 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. If there’s chemistry, the writers go to work to figure out some way of keeping the actor.
Emily’s Time on Friends Explained
Although Emily’s exit from the series was abrupt, Baxendale’s tenure on Friends was nevertheless the longest of any of Ross’ love interests other than Rachel. Of his other major love interests, Charlie (Aisha Tyler) has the second-longest run with eight episodes, followed by Julie (Lauren Tom) and Mona (Bonnie Somerville), who are tied with seven. However, Emily’s 14-episode stint is nonetheless shorter than the other outsider who married into the friend group, Phoebe’s (Lisa Kudrow) husband Mike (Paul Rudd), who was on the show for 16.
However, of those 14 episodes, only 10 required Baxendale and Schwimmer to have romantic chemistry. Those spanned from the pair meeting when Ross agrees to take Rachel’s boss’ niece to the opera in her place in season 4, episode 14 to the disastrous climax of their wedding in season 4, episode 24. While she appeared onscreen in three episodes of season 5 and via voiceover in one additional episode, those episodes tied up loose ends from their relationship and explored the acrimony in their quickly aborted marriage.
Whether Emily left Friends because of her chemistry with Ross or simply because of the average tenure of guest stars remains unknown. However, Burrows’ quote offers insight into the behind-the-scenes goings-on that brought the Ross-Emily relationship to life. Though her departure may have been swift, she at least left behind one of the show’s most lasting relationships – the one between Chandler (Matthew Perry) and Monica (Courteney Cox) – who shared their first romantic tryst in London while in town for Ross’ wedding.
