Alexandra Holden

Alexandra Holden Headshot

Actress

Birth Date: April 30, 1977

Age: 47 years old

Birth Place: Northfield, Minnesota

A slim, blonde actress who has sportingly played down her good looks for the sake of character in several projects, Alexandra Holden has been working steadily in film and television since the mid-1990s, but is probably best known for her 2000 recurring stint as Ross Geller's student-turned-girlfriend on the popular NBC sitcom "Friends."

Hailing from Minnesota, Holden moved to Los Angeles shortly after her 18th birthday. After a year without an acting job, the young hopeful was ready to return home, but just before she headed out, she landed a recurring role on the NBC sitcom "Mr. Rhodes." While the series failed to live up to its hype and didn't finish out its first season, it proved a good jumping off point for the actress, who went on to land roles in the films "The Last Time I Committed Suicide" (1996, aired on Cinemax in lieu of wide theatrical release in 1997) and "In & Out" (1997).

Playing the best pal of Breckin Meyer's California-bound small-town boy in "Dancer, Texas" and starring as a sexy scientist in the Aerosmith video "Hole In My Soul" raised her profile some in 1998, before she had a breakout role as the anorexic reigning beauty queen in the comedy feature "Drop Dead Gorgeous" (1999). Set in her native Minnesota, the black comedy had some of its darkest and most riotously funny moments thanks to Holden, who pulled out all the stops in her portrayal of the emaciated and incapacitated perfect pageant princess.

After a cameo in "EDtv" (1999) and a recurring role on ABC's "Once and Again" (2000), Holden hit the big time with a recurring role on "Friends." As Elizabeth, the co-ed professor Ross (David Schwimmer) inappropriately dates, the actress did a nice job balancing her character's very adult feminine wiles and her juvenile quirks. Beautiful and forthcoming, she was alluring enough that Ross would risk his job, but at the same time she irritated him with her unwillingness to commit, tendency to perform childish pranks and her running-wild, spring break behavior caught on tape. When Bruce Willis guested as Elizabeth's father on the series, Holden got her first taste of superstardom, but it's a safe bet that it won't be her last. 2001 saw the actress join the ensemble of the dark teen comedy "Sugar & Spice" playing Fern, the new cheerleader recruit who is allowed on the squad despite her apparent lack of skill and soap as a trade for arms.

When a group of cheerleaders (Marley Shelton, Mena Suvari, Rachel Blanchard, Melissa George, Sara Marsh) decides to rob a bank in order to support an expected baby, their quest for guns leads them to Fern, whose father lowers the bill in return for his daughter having a spot on the squad. Stringy hair, bad posture and a dirty face almost made Holden unrecognizable, and unlike most movies of the genre, her transformation was neither quick nor completely successful, but her character was able to contribute significantly to the heist. Next up for the actress was a recurring role on Fox's "Ally McBeal" in 2001.

Lensed in 2000, the horror thriller "Wishcraft" promised to win the actress a genre following, while the 2001-lensed mystery "American Gun" would cast her as the granddaughter of James Coburn's sharp-witted World War II vet out to solve the murder of his daughter. In 2002, along with appearing in small, adventurous indies like the thriller "Purgatory Flats" and the comedy "Moving Alan" Holden was seen by large mainstream audiences opposite Rob Schnieder in the gender-bending comedy "The Hot Chick" as Lulu, one of the gal pals of the body-swapped sorority girl, and she also made an impression as a Hollywood party girl who suffers a girsly fate in an opening sequence of the acclaimed HBO series "Six Feet Under." The actress was next cast as Mandy Moore's man-hungry best friend Scarlett in the teen romance "How to Deal" (2003).

Credits

Loaded

Actor
April
Movie
2015

Always Watching: A Marble Hornets Story

Actor
Rose
Movie
2015

Zoe Gone

Actor
Alicia Lynne
Movie
2014

In a World...Stream

Actor
Jamie
Movie
2013
92%

Vegas

Guest Star
Dawn Fields
Series
2012
67%

The Mob Doctor

Guest Star
Show
2012

Man Up!Stream

Guest Star
Rebecca
Series
2011
21%

Franklin & BashStream

Guest Star
Debbie Wilcox
Series
2011
61%

Lovely Molly

Actor
Hannah
Movie
2011

Let Go

Actor
Kelly
Movie
2011

Covert AffairsStream

Guest Star
Series
2010
93%

Rizzoli & IslesStream

Guest Star
Lydia Sparks
Series
2010

Healing Hands

Actor
Natasha Waverly
Movie
2010

NCIS: Los AngelesStream

Guest Star
Series
2009

Drop Dead DivaStream

Guest Star
Becca Holt
Series
2009
78%

Royal PainsStream

Guest Star
Zoey Hill
Series
2009

The MentalistStream

Guest Star
Crystal Hargrove
Series
2008

Dark Reel

Actor
Scarlett May
Movie
2008

Private PracticeStream

Guest Star
Laura Larson
Series
2007

All the Days Before Tomorrow

Actor
Alison
Movie
2007

Friday Night LightsStream

Guest Star
Suzy
Series
2006
97%

A Trick of the Mind

Actor
Jamie
Movie
2006

Special

Actor
Maggie
Movie
2006

Farewell Bender

Actor
Amber
Movie
2006

A Dead Calling

Actor
Rachel Beckwith
Movie
2006

BonesStream

Guest Star
Margot Sandoval
Series
2005
90%

Grey's AnatomyStream

Guest Star
Series
2005
84%

Everything's Gone Green

Actor
Movie
2005

Everything You Want

Actor
Jessica Lindstrom
Movie
2005

Window Theory

Actor
Kate
Movie
2005

Tru Calling

Guest Star
Series
2003
39%

Cold CaseStream

Guest Star
Series
2003

NCISStream

Guest Star
Brooke Fenten
Series
2003

How to Deal

Actor
Scarlett
Movie
2003

Dead EndStream

Actor
Marion Harringt
Movie
2003
75%

CSI: MiamiStream

Guest Star
Series
2002

The Hot ChickStream

Actor
Lulu
Movie
2002
21%

American Gun

Actor
Mia Tillman
Movie
2002

Purgatory Flats

Actor
Sunny Burkhardt
Movie
2002

Uprising

Actor
Show
2001

Six Feet UnderStream

Guest Star
Rebecca Leah 'Becky Maxwell' Milford
Series
2001
81%

Sugar & Spice

Actor
Fern
Movie
2001

Wishcraft

Actor
Samantha Warren
Movie
2001

CSI: Crime Scene InvestigationStream

Guest Star
Series
2000

Once and Again

Guest Star
Series
1999

Drop Dead Gorgeous

Actor
Mary Johanson
Movie
1999
47%

GuinevereStream

Actor
Angelic Girl
Movie
1999
86%

Dancer, Texas Pop. 81

Actor
Vivian
Movie
1998

Cracker

Guest Star
Show
1997

Ally McBealStream

Guest Star
Series
1997
61%

The Last Time I Committed Suicide

Actor
Vicky
Movie
1997

In & OutStream

Actor
Meredith
Movie
1997
73%

Mr. Rhodes

Actor
Show
1996

FriendsStream

Guest Star
Elizabeth Stevens
Series
1994
78%