Ross and Rachel’s relationship on Friends hit many a speed bump over the course of the show, from their infamous break to Ross’s whole wedding with his British girlfriend Emily, played by Helen Baxendale. But it turns out that the Emily plot line was dramatic for the cast and crew off-camera, too.

The show’s director, James Burrows, revealed in his new memoir that the comedic chemistry between Baxendale and David Schwimmer, who played Ross, was barely there, which made their relationship less convincing, per Entertainment Weekly.

In the book Directed By James Burrows, the director wrote that Baxendale “was nice, but not particularly funny,” so it was a struggle to make her seem like she could compete with Jennifer Aniston‘s Rachel character during her 14-episode guest-stint on the show.

“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,” Burrows wrote.

“Schwimmer had no one to bounce off. It was like clapping with one hand,” Burrows added.

He said they debated recasting the role, but ran into logistical issues with deadlines while shooting the fourth season of the show. Unfortunately, it sounds like a situation where they tried to pivot but couldn’t.

Of course, in the end, Ross ended up saying Rachel’s name at the altar when he should have said Emily’s, dooming the relationship.

Baxendale has distanced herself from Friends after seeing how obsessed the media was with the cast of the show. She said in 2022, “I saw those people in Friends, for example, and thought: I don’t think that life is really what I want. They were hounded.”

Instead, she has made a career acting primarily on British television, out of the eyes of the American media.