Former Friends Director Names The One Guest Star He Was Less Than Convinced By

Posted on 31/08/2023 by Boris Clair

Former Friends director James Burrows has admitted there’s one guest star that he was less than sold on.

James directed 15 episodes of Friends during its first five years on the air, as well as working on shows like Will & Grace, The Big Bang Theory, Cheers and its spin-off Frasier.

In his memoir Directed By James Burrows, excerpts of which have been published by the Daily Mail, the 11-time Emmy winner reflected on working with Cold Feet star Helen Baxendale, who appeared in Friends’ fourth and fifth seasons.

The British actor played Emily Waltham, who met Ross while on holiday in New York and wound up marrying him in a disastrous wedding ceremony that saw him saying the wrong name at the altar.

In his book, James admitted that while Helen was “nice” to work with, he didn’t find her “funny”, and admitted he wanted to recast the character of Emily.

Helen Baxendale with the stars of Friends on location in London

“She was nice but not particularly funny,” he wrote. “[David] 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 don’t cast anyone to be a straw man, unless it’s for one episode.”

He continued: “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.”

After her ill-fated wedding to Ross, Emily remained in London, with Helen’s appearances in the fifth season of Friends being filmed remotely until she was eventually written out.

David Schwimmer and Helen Baxendale in character as Ross and Emily

Helen previously told The Mirror in 2012: “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.”

She recalled: “They were all very nice and professional. We were never great mates though. People expect because it is called Friends that everyone was great friends, but they were real professionals.

“They’d been doing it for years and I was one of many guest stars to appear.”

Singer Louise Redknapp revealed in 2020 that she’d been in the running to play Emily at one point, but eventually turned the part down.

Friends Forever – All The Times The Cast Reunited On Screen After The Sitcom’s Finale

Posted on 09/07/2023 by Boris Clair

It’s been almost 20 years since since Friends aired its fina episode, which saw longtime fans saying goodbye to Joey, Ross, Rachel, Chandler, Phoebe, and Monica once and for all.

But even though Friends has been off the air for two decades, the show wouldn’t be the last time its cast – Matthew Perry, Matt LeBlanc, David Schwimmer, Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, and Lisa Kudrow – would work together.

Since Friends ended in 2004, some of the stars have reunited on-screen for a variety of shows, from Episodes, to Cougar Town.

Here’s a look back at all the times the Friends cast have appeared on screen together since Friends came to an end…

Dirt

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In 2007, Courteney took the lead in Dirt, a drama about a high-end tabloid, in which she played editor Lucy Spiller.

Jennifer popped up in the season one finale as the editor of a rival publication called Tina Harold, who ending up sharing a kiss with Lucy.

The guest role also marked Jen’s first appearance in a TV show since Friends came to an end three years prior.

Web Therapy

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Lisa’s improvised series Web Therapy, which aired for four seasons between 2011 and 2015, saw the actor transform into online therapist Fiona Wallace.

During its run, she was joined by all of her former Friends co-stars in various guest roles, except for Jennifer, who was approached about an appearance shortly before the series was cancelled.

Cougar Town

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Somewhat incredibly, it is now 32 years since the release of one of the most beloved Christmas films of all time – Home Alone.

Starring Macaulay Culkin, it might not have been an immediate critical success, but the slapstick festive comedy stormed the box office, spawned various spin-off films and a recent TV series, and still holds a special place in the hearts of millions across the globe.

However, no matter how many times you’ve seen it in the ensuing years, there’s plenty we bet you still don’t know about it, so have these 21 behind-the-scenes secrets from the set, ya filthy animal…

1. Home Alone was written in just over a week

Screenwriter John Hughes knocked out the first draft of the script in just nine days after a family holiday to Europe.

He was inspired by his own worries whilst traveling, telling Time magazine in 1990: “I was going away on vacation and making a list of everything I didn’t want to forget. I thought, ‘Well, I’d better not forget my kids.’ Then I thought, ‘What if I left my 10-year-old son at home? What would he do?’”

2. But it took much longer to find the right Home Alone house

Director Chris Columbus said the team “drove around for several weeks” in the Wilmette, Winnetka, Glencoe, Lake Forest areas of North Shore.

Eventually, the right house was found in 671 Lincoln Avenue in Winnetka, Illinois, which funnily enough had previously been scouted as a potential location for 1989’s Uncle Buck, but was never used.

The house itself – which was sold for $1.585 million in 2012 – has since become a major tourist attraction.

3. Some interior scenes were filmed in the real house, while others were shot on sets

The hallway and staircase were all real, while the kitchen and dining room and other first-floor rooms were built and shot in a studio. The attic bedroom was also a real feature.

4. The family who lived in the house remained there during filming

It took about five months to setup, shoot and derig for scenes in the house, during which time the then-owners, the Abendshien family, continued living there, despite having access to an apartment that had been paid for as part of the deal.

Cynthia Abendshien explained to Chicago Magazine that the location manager had told them “that, under the contract, if they needed to knock down a wall when we weren’t home, they could do it. So she told us it was best if we remained on the premises”.

John Abendshien added: “In that house, there’s a master bedroom suite with four rooms. Basically, we just moved into that. We put a hot plate up there to cook. We didn’t have to cook that much, because we had full access to the food truck that the crew used.”

5. Kevin’s treehouse was specially built in the house’s garden for the film

The owners reportedly turned down a chance to keep Kevin’s treehouse in the backyard once filming was over.

6. The flooded basement scene was filmed in a school swimming pool

The production made use of the pool at New Trier Township High School in Winnetka, Illinois, to film the scene where Kevin runs through a flooded basement, director Chris Columbus told Entertainment Weekly.

The school’s basketball hall was also used to construct the plane set, on which the Macallister family were seen traveling to Paris, while the kitchen set was also built on site there, too.

Scenes for Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Uncle Buck had previously been shot in the same school.

7. The Macallister family never actually made it to Paris

John Heard and Catherine O'Hara in Home Alone — John Heard and Catherine O’Hara in Home Alone

While the plot of the film sees the Macallister family leaving Kevin behind as they head to Paris for Christmas, all scenes were shot in the US.

Scenes where the family are seen at Paris Orly Airport were actually shot at O’Hare International Airport.

8. The airport scenes were particularly “nail biting” for the director

“We had to move fast. We only had two or three takes of the entire family running down the terminal,” Chris told Chicago Magazine.

9. The adult actors didn’t always act opposite Macaulay Culkin

A lot of the film was shot at night, but due to Macaulay’s age at the time, he wasn’t able to be on set after 10pm.

This meant that Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern – aka Harry and Marv – acted opposite director Chris Columbus standing in as Kevin behind the camera.

“I was Kevin McCallister from about 10 at night to 6 in the morning,” Chris told Entertainment Weekly.

Catherine O’Hara also recalled having to act opposite a tennis ball for some scenes.

She told Chicago Magazine: “We’d shoot a scene with one of the kids; then, as late as one in the morning, we’d shoot my close-ups.

They’d have a tennis ball on a stand, the height of the kid’s head, and the script supervisor would read the children’s lines.”

10. Joe Pesci even did his best not to interact with Macaulay when the cameras weren’t rolling

Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern as Kevin, Harry and Marv

The actor went quite method in his approach to the character of Harry, as he avoided Macaulay on set so that the child star would be afraid of him.

He told People he “intentionally limited my interactions with him to preserve the dynamic” between the characters.

Joe explained he did not want “it to come across on the screen that we were in any way friendly”.

“I wanted to maintain the integrity of the adversarial relationship,” he added.

11. The film was written with Macaulay in mind to play Kevin

Screenwriter John Hughes imagined Macaulay in the leading role when creating the film due to his performance in 1989’s Uncle Buck, but director Chris Columbus told Entertainment Weekly he still met with “hundreds” of other young actors out of “directorial responsibility” to ensure they had the right person.

In the end, Chris was charmed by Macaualy, who he said was “really funny” and had “a great voice that was not annoying”.

Macaulay Culkin was just 10 years old when he filmed Home Alone

12. Robert De Niro was considered for the role of Harry

While some outlets have reported the screen legend “turned down’ the chance to appear in the film, Chris told Insider that Robert never seriously considered it.

“It was talked about a little internally, but when [Joe] Pesci said yes, I was stunned,” he said.

It has also been claimed Jon Lovitz was considered for the part.

13. Filming the stunt sequences was not as funny as it looks on screen

Chris said the team had a constant fear the stunt performers had injured themselves while acting out some of the slapstick sequences.

He told Entertainment Weekly: “I really thought Troy, our stunt man, had broken his back on that first take [of walking up the stairs of the front of the house and doing a back flip]. Until we knew those guys were alive and okay, none of that stuff was funny, so I was surprised once we put the film together how well it actually worked for an audience.”

Stunt doubles stood in for Daniel Stern and Joe Pesci

14. However, the stunts were not the hardest part of the shoot

Chris said that was actually making the gangster movie Angels With Filthy Souls – the one Kevin plays in the film and uses to scare off Harry and Marv – which you might not even have realised isn’t a real film.

“It’s not easy to recreate the look and the feel and the sound of those movies,” he told EW. “It was kind of a painstaking task to get it right. And we had to find actors that felt like they lived in that particular time period, as well, which was an interesting thing.”

15. One actor was unhappy with the amount he was paid for the film

John Candy, who was a huge comedy personality in the US when Home Alone came out, made a brief appearance as Gus Polinski, but reportedly received just $414 for a day’s work of shooting.

Director Chris Columbus said there was “certainly a little resentment on John’s part” about the amount he was paid.

He told Insider: “It was a deal between him and John Hughes at the time. I never met John Candy before he came on the movie. I don’t know if John ever got any kind of compensation from Fox.”

16. When there was a snowstorm early on into filming, the schedule was readjusted to capitalise on it

According to an episode of The Movies That Made Us, a snowstorm happened on the second day on set, so the team quickly seized the moment to shoot the scene where Kevin is reunited with his family on Christmas morning.

The flurries were enhanced with potato flakes to make it look like it was snowing more than it was at that moment in time.

Kevin was reunited with his mum Kate on Christmas morning

17. They had to bring in snow machines for the rest of the film, which proved expensive

After the snow storm, the team had to bring in snow machines to match it for the rest of the movie. However, associate producer Mark Radcliffe told Chicago magazine that whenever the snow melted, “we were spraying ice, and then they had problems with ice. The next thing, they were literally laying bags of ice to try and create snow.”

18. This caused some problems for the location team

James Giovannetti Jr, second assistant director, added: “We had refrigerated semitrucks of shaved ice coming to the set. There must’ve been about 15 guys dumping tons of ice in the yard every day. We may have even got water in the house, because when it started melting, it started seeping into the basement.”

19. Some of the film was improvised – including one iconic moment

Kevin’s reaction after putting on the aftershave gave the film an instantly iconic moment that has been used on promotional material ever since.

However, Macaulay didn’t act the moment out as originally intended by the director.

The famous Home Alone scream was never intended to turn out the way it did

Chris Columbus told Insider: “If you put something on your face that burns, most people move their hands right away. So my direction to him was when you pat your face, move your hands and scream. And I think it was the first take, he kept his hands on his cheeks.

“It’s funny, the iconic moment from Home Alone was an accident.”

John Candy, who played Gus Polinski, also loved to improvise and Chris said he took his cameo appearance “and ran” with the scenes.

He told Entertainment Weekly: “We’d do a couple scripted takes and then we would improvise about four or five other takes, and a lot of the improvisation ended up in the film.”

Such examples included the moment where Gus is seen talking to Kate about being left in the funeral home alone with the corpse all night.

20. The tarantula on Marv’s face was actually real

Actor Daniel Stern recalled how the crew initially told him they had a rubber tarantula that they could use, but they also had a real one that “was real nice and showed it walking across the trainer’s arm”.

He asked if the crew could remove the spider’s “stinger,” to which he was told it would die.

“And I said yeah, but if you don’t take it out, I’ll die,’” he recalled to The Hollywood Reporter. “But everyone seemed cool with it, so I just had them put the friggin‘ tarantula on my face.”

21. However, his scream wasn’t dubbed, as many people believe

Many reports over the years have claimed Daniel was asked to mime the scream that Marv lets out upon seeing the spider so as to not scare the creature, with it then later dubbed into the film in the edit.

However, Daniel revealed that actually wasn’t the case, as he did the scream there and then, take after take.

“I asked if that would spook the spider, but I guess tarantulas can’t hear,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “Again, I was committed fully to that movie … I wanted to hit a home run in every scene.”

The complete Home Alone collection is available to stream on Disney+. HuffPost may receive a share from purchases made via links on this page.

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1. Home Alone was written in just over a week

2. But it took much longer to find the right Home Alone house

3. Some interior scenes were filmed in the real house, while others were shot on sets

4. The family who lived in the house remained there during filming

5. Kevin’s treehouse was specially built in the house’s garden for the film

6. The flooded basement scene was filmed in a school swimming pool

7. The Macallister family never actually made it to Paris

8. The airport scenes were particularly “nail biting” for the director

9. The adult actors didn’t always act opposite Macaulay Culkin

10. Joe Pesci even did his best not to interact with Macaulay when the cameras weren’t rolling

11. The film was written with Macaulay in mind to play Kevin

12. Robert De Niro was considered for the role of Harry

13. Filming the stunt sequences was not as funny as it looks on screen

14. However, the stunts were not the hardest part of the shoot

15. One actor was unhappy with the amount he was paid for the film

16. When there was a snowstorm early on into filming, the schedule was readjusted to capitalise on it

17. They had to bring in snow machines for the rest of the film, which proved expensive

18. This caused some problems for the location team

19. Some of the film was improvised – including one iconic moment

20. The tarantula on Marv’s face was actually real

21. However, his scream wasn’t dubbed, as many people believe