Friends director struggled to work with guest actor because she 'wasn't funny'

Friends might have been the comedy to characterize the 90s, but apparently not everyone on set had a natural knack for making us, and each other, giggle.

Let's face it, if you're a Friends fan then chances are you feel like the New York buddies are your own and have rewatched the iconic series so many times you know the punchlines off by heart.

Yet no matter how often you've seen it, it doesn't stop being just as funny as it was the first time you heard PIVOT! or watched a commando Joey lunge while wearing the entirety of Chandler's wardrobe.

However, what you might not have realized is that one guest star that briefly sat on the Central Perk sofa was viewed by the show's directors as somewhat difficult to work with because they weren't 'funny.'

There has been a plethora of famous guest stars who made cameo appearances during the show's decade-long reign with some incredibly hilarious moments that will go down in history.

Ben Stiller played the role as a rather screamy Tommy, who briefly dated Rachel (Jennifer Aniston).

Brooke Shields took on the role of a delusional stalker who believed Joey (Matt LeBlanc) was actually Dr Drake Ramorary, and Julia Roberts, playing Susie Moss, got her revenge on Chandler (Matthew Perry) by leaving him in a restaurant bathroom stall wearing nothing but some revealing women's underwear.

We were spoilt with a real treat when The Pretenders' lead singer, Chrissie Hynde, was told how to play 'Smelly Cat' by Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) - and how could we forget when Bruce Willis hilariously dropped his tough-dad act as Paul to Ross' girlfriend, Elizabeth, calling himself a 'love machine' in the mirror while Ross (David Schwimmer) could only watch on while hiding under the bed.

Bruce Willis had his moment in 'The One Where Paul's the Man' (HBO Max)

Robin Williams, Billy Crystal, Danny DeVito, Reese Witherspoon, Hank Azaria and dozens more of Hollywood's famous faces also made their own unique mark on the sitcom.

However, according to director James Burrows, there was one guest star who he found hard to work with - Helen Baxendale, who played one (of the many) girlfriends of Ross.

Appearing as the British bombshell Emily Waltham in 14 episodes, the romance between the two was short lived due to Ross saying Rachel's name at the altar at their wedding in London.

In his memoir, Burrows recalled: "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."

The director explained how 'you need someone who gets laughs,' adding: "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.

"The reverse is also true. If there's chemistry, the writers go to work to figure out some way of keeping the actor."

Helen Baxendale played Emily in the sitcom (HBO Max)

Dozens of fans raged against the director's comments, saying they loved Emily in Friends and defended the actress as 'fantastic' for her part.

Baxendale previously discussed her time on the sitcom, once referring to it as a 'surreal little blip' in her life.

Speaking to The Independent, she said the 'whole thing was bonkers.'

"I think you need a certain character to be able to deal with it.. Attention and press still doesn't sit well with me, but… I suppose I've been quite prepared to deal with it to get good parts," the star added.