Helen Victoria Baxendale (born 7 June 1970) is an English actress of stage and television. She is known for her roles as Rachel Bradley in the British comedy dramaCold Feet (1997–2003) and Emily Waltham in the American sitcomFriends (1998–1999).
Baxendale was born on 7 June 1970 in Pontefract, West Riding of Yorkshire.[1][2] Baxendale's parents were teachers at a comprehensive school. Her sister is the screenwriter Katie Baxendale.[3]
Aged 27 Baxendale was cast in a recurring role in Friends as Ross Geller's girlfriend, wife and ultimately ex-wife Emily Waltham. She appeared in fourteen episodes throughout Season 4 and early Season 5. Speaking to The Independent in 2022, Baxendale said "I saw those people in Friends, for example, and thought: I don't think that life is really what I want. They were hounded. They weren't able to walk into a supermarket and buy something..." On the attention she received for being in Friends, she said, "This thing… this programme that I happened to be in for a few episodes. The whole thing was bonkers."[3] Director James Burrows said about Baxendale "...was nice but not particularly funny. Schwimmer had no one to bounce off. It was like clapping with one hand."[4]
Post Friends
Other notable roles include Lorna Johnson in Truth or Dare alongside John Hannah, Caroline Meagher in The Investigator alongside Laura Fraser, and Julie Matthews in Curt Truninger's Dead by Monday. She was nominated for another Scottish BAFTA in 1997 for her role as Lorna Johnson. Dead by Monday won the Angel Award for Best Film at the Monaco International Film Festival in 2003 and the Portland Festival of World Cinema award for best feature film in 2001. She played Pandora Braithwaite in Adrian Mole: The Cappuccino Years in 2001 and "Maggie" in the multiple award-winning Bolse Vita. She appeared in Saving Nellie, a physics programme running on Teachers TV. From 2007 to January 2008 she starred in Swimming with Sharks alongside Christian Slater at London's Vaudeville Theatre.[1]
In 2010, Baxendale appeared in the pilot episode of Dirk Gently as Susan Harmison. In January 2011, she co-starred with Trevor Eve in the three-part ITV drama Kidnap and Ransom, filmed on location in South Africa.[5] Later in 2011, she starred as DCI Marion Bettany in Val McDermid's radio crime drama Village SOS.[6] In 2012 she reprised her role in the second episode. She then appeared in the Inspector George Gently episode "The Lost Child" alongside Mark Gatiss. From 2012 to 2019, she starred in Cuckoo as Lorna, the mother in-law of the titular Dale 'Cuckoo' Ashbrick. In 2020 she played housekeeper Meggie McGregor in Noughts + Crosses.
Due to Baxendale's first pregnancy, and that she lived in the UK rather than the US, her character was written out of Friends earlier than the writers had originally intended. She appeared in only 14 episodes, despite her character dating, marrying, and divorcing Ross Geller, one of the show's six leads.[10][11]
^Bright, Kevin S.; Marta Kauffman; David Crane. (2004). Friends: The Complete Fourth Season DVD audio commentary for "The One with Ross's Wedding". [DVD]. Warner Home Video.
