Alexandra Holden

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.