Although she takes her work very seriously indeed, Helen has no way been dazzled by her recent successes and her feet remain firmly on the ground. And she also confesses that she is still star struck by actors she admires.
This is one of the reasons why she was so excited about heading for Dublin where she
joined a stellar cast that included Academy Award winner Kevin Spacey and Linda Fiorentino, of The Last Seduction fame, to film Ordinary Decent Criminal.
'The attractions were hugely obvious,' beams Helen 'From a purely personal point of view I'd never worked with a star as big and famous as Kevin Spacey and it seemed an excellent opportunity to do so.
'And to be in a feature film that was funny and exciting and action-packed and to play opposite those people, what a great opportunity!"

'This isn't, however, a-big screen debut for Helen who is best-known for her roles in Cardiac Arrest, An Unsuitable Job For A Woman, Cold Feet, and of course, Friends.  She appeared alongside Sean Connery's son Jason, in a low budget version of Macbeth.  But that movie never received a wide distribution, so Ordinary Decent Criminal will be seen by many more cinemagoers.
But, initially, Helen was not entirely confident that she would be cast in the movie, because when she auditioned she was preparing for another, much more intimate, production.
'The director, Thaddeus O'Sullivan was very kind and saw me when I was eight months pregnant,' she says.  And he had a vision that I might regain some kind of slenderish shape.  So I did this film almost straight after having my daughter and it was a nice little part to get back into acting with.' Helen says that she managed to cope with the double roles of actress and new mum because, when she went to Dublin to film the movie, her mother came too.
My mum was brilliant and looked after my baby Nell, who was only three weeks old when I stated work on the film. It wasn't too bad because usually I was only on set for half a day at a time. It worked out brilliantly. I felt slightly guilty, as all mothers do when they first go back to work, but I quickly, got over that.  It was fine. But then I didn't work for six months... I couldn't get a job,' she says with a chuckle.

In Ordinary Decent Criminal - which is based on the story of real life gangster Martin Cahill - Helen and Linda Fiorentino play sisters Lisa and Christine, who have a very bizarre domestic Lifestyle - they share Michael Lynch, the character played by Kevin  Spacey.
 'I think Lisa is a bit of a flirt,' says Helen. 'She's a woman capable of sharing a man with her sister; so they have  huge common understanding, and a link in that they both love this one man.' 
But While she understands what motivates the film's characters, Helen can't imagine life imitating art.  'Share a man with my sister? No way!' she says. 'I love my sister, but no way!  This is a very, very strange and amazing relationship. 
'Because it had to be so taken as given and so natural, you just think "this is normal, this is absolutely fine." It does take a lot of getting your head round but you replace your own understanding of what a relationship is with that one. It's a odd situation. but it's easy to play.' 
In the film, Helen acts it a bedroom scene with Kevin Spacey. "Yes, I had to kiss Kevin  Spacey,' she grins.  'But we didn't socialize hugely during the making of the film, because I breast feeding my child.'

In her climb up the showbiz ladder; Helen - who originally wanted to be a ballet dancer - has had her stint of coping with the less glamorous side of acting. Early in her career she was Toyah Wilcox's understudy in a touring production of Amadeus. Unfortunately for Helen she never got a moment in the limelight during that stage run. 'Toyah was never sick once, so basically I sat in the wings reading books and getting into Mozart,' she says.  After breaking into TV, Helen was spotted by the makers of hit American sitcom Friends and flown over to Hollywood for a  guest role in the show. I like Friends but I don't watch that much telly' says Helen by way of explaining why she got a bigger kick from being part of a Kevin Spacey movie. 'I love the cinema and have seen Kevin Spacey in many films. So it was a huge exciting draw to work with him.  He is an excellent actor.  So, for me this film was more exciting than Friends.
Next we'll see Helen in the latest series of the award-winning ITV series Cold Feet.  The actress is often asked to compare experiences of being in Friends and Cold Feet, but insists that there is little similarity between the two productions.
'Friends was not like reality for me it was unlike any other experience I've ever had. whereas Cold Feet has been part of my twenties experience really.  So they hugely different experiences.'
You can't ever imagine Helen Baxendale heading out to live in Hollywood. 'No, not really,' she agrees. 'That's because my home is here and my family is here. I feel European.'