Kathleen turner calls controversial friends role a 'challenge,' 'never considered' hiring trans actor

Kathleen Turner is recounting her time on _Friends_. Starting in 2001, Turner played Helena Handbasket — Chandler Bing's parent — on the beloved series. Though it's now understood

that the character was a trans woman, throughout the show, Chandler (Matthew Perry) and other characters referred to Helena as Chandler's "father." In re-examining the role,

Turner, now 68, said there wasn't ever a plan to cast a transgender actor as Helena. "There was no question of casting a trans person or a drag queen – it was never

considered," Turner told _The Guardian_. "It never crossed my mind that I was taking a role from someone." When asked if she'd ever reprise the role, Turner responded,

"Probably not. But I certainly don't regret having taken it. It was a challenge!" Turner previously stated the role was pitched to her as "the first woman playing a man

playing a woman" in a conversation with _The Gay Times_. Helena, who appeared in four episodes of _Friends_, was called "gay" or a "drag queen" on the series — and

was never formally referred to as transgender. The character has been highly scrutinized as the years have passed, with even the show's co-creator, Marta Kauffman, expressing regret for

how the character was portrayed. In 2022, Kauffman confirmed Helena was intended to be a transgender woman. "We kept referring to her as Chandler's father, even though

Chandler's father was trans," Kauffman said in a conversation on BBC World Service's _The Conversation_. "Pronouns were not yet something that I understood. So we

didn't refer to that character as 'she.' That was a mistake." _NEVER MISS A STORY — SIGN UP FOR __PEOPLE'S FREE DAILY NEWSLETTER__ TO STAY UP-TO-DATE ON THE BEST OF

WHAT PEOPLE HAS TO OFFER, FROM JUICY CELEBRITY NEWS TO COMPELLING HUMAN INTEREST STORIES._ Kauffman also pledged $4 million to the African and African American Studies department of Brandeis

University last year, acknowledging a lack of diversity in the _Friends_ cast. "I've learned a lot in the last 20 years," she told the _Los Angeles Times_. "Admitting

and accepting guilt is not easy. It's painful looking at yourself in the mirror. I'm embarrassed that I didn't know better 25 years ago."