How Alexandra Holden Really Felt About Working With David Schwimmer On Friends
For ten seasons, Friends thrived and it was all thanks to the main six of the series. However, along the way, there were some impressive guest stars, along with forgettable ones as well.
In the following, we're going to take a closer look at Ross' brief love interest on the show, Elizabeth, aka Alexandra Holden. Getting to work alongside David Schwimmer was a career-changing opportunity, and that was only amplified with Bruce Willis also starring on the show, playing the role of her father, Paul Stevens.
We'll take a closer look at why Holden's stint on the show got off to a controversial start. In addition, we'll reveal details about her time alongside David Schwimmer. We're going to start things off by taking a look at what the others had to say about working with David.
David Schwimmer Received Lots Of Praise From Other Guest-Stars On Friends
Working as a guest star on Friends came with a lot of pressure. That held true for some of the most establishes acts in Hollywood, especially for those that didn't have the experience of working in front of a live audience.
Throughout the history of guest stars and supporting characters, none of the main cast ever got bashed for having an ego. Instead, they received a lot of praise and that was especially true for David Schwimmer. The likes of Jane Sibbett praised Schwimmer for his talents on set.
"I saw David Schwimmer do the most incredible take,” she said. “I'd never seen anybody do comedy like that. He literally took the longest take with his comedy. I just thought, oh my goodness, I have to work with this man. He is brilliant.”
The same held true for Sibbett's partner on the show Jessica Hecht, who also had respect for Schwimmer.
“I loved working with David,” she said. “He's really smart about bits. Like, he understood how to make all the funny stuff more funny, and how to set it up.”
Without a doubt, working with Schwimmer was a positive experience. However, it seems like things got off to a questionable start for Alexandra Holden.
Alexandra Holden's Stint On Friends Started With A Controversial Audition With David Schwimmer
It was a career-changing opportunity for Alexandra Holden, getting called in to read lines with David Schwimmer. At the start, there was a chemistry read for Holden. This is typically done to see how two actors are together, and if it works. Although it did in fact work as Holden got the role on the show, the circumstances were extra stressful.
According to Holden, she was given an odd request by the producers prior to her audition, which only made things that much more stressful for the young actress.
“I got called in to do a ‘chemistry read’ with David Schwimmer. It was terrifying because the producers told me to come in looking ‘as hot as possible’. I didn’t know what to do with that information. It sent me into a tailspin.”
This would lead to a sleepless night for the actress trying to figure out what to wear. “Stayed up all night trying to figure out what to wear. Now that I’m older, I wouldn’t be happy getting that message.”
Nowadays, we assume this type of advice would not be given prior to an audition. Nonetheless, as for her time on the show, it came across as positive and exciting given Bruce Willis' involvement.
Alexandra Holden Didn't Have Anything Negative To Say About Her Time With David Schwimmer On Friends
Holden had a couple of memories related to her time on Friends. One of them involved David Schwimmer and his excitement for Bruce Willis' cameo on the show. Holden recalls, “The next day we showed up to work and I was in my dressing room and there was a bang bang bang on my door,” she explains. “I open it and there was David and he’s like, ‘Oh my God, did you hear?’ I thought there was a fire but he just yelled, ‘Bruce Willis!’ And then he went bounding down the hallway to tell everybody else.”
As for her chemistry with Schwimmer, the two meshed well together on-set. Holden also recalls a certain punchline being added at the last second, and killing it with the live audience.
“We had done a take for the audience and it was good, but then the writers came over to me,” says Holden. “They said, ‘This time when Ross says, ‘I was just thinking about your dad,’ say ‘Well whatever works for you.’ It totally killed because the audience wasn’t expecting it — it’s such a testament to the writers, how they could come up with new jokes on the fly.”
As for the negatives, Holden revealed that those behind the scenes encouraged her to change styles. Holden herself admits that her fashion sense wasn't all that great at the time. She was told to dress 'cuter'.
SOURCES - EW & Huffington Post
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