Audience: What are the advantages that you derive, even today, from having been in the credits of the most famous sitcom?
Courtney Cox: Honestly, I haven’t changed much in my lifestyle. I get appointments with the doctor and a table in restaurants faster. But apart from these very pleasant little privileges, success has not transformed my life.
Which Friends episode stood out to you the most?
The one in which Monica proposes to Chandler in marriage. We were in the middle of negotiations for our salaries and we weren’t sure that the show would continue as the negotiations were intense! It was a very moving and very scary shoot. But my best memories are the lunch breaks with Lisa Kudrow and Jennifer Aniston. We ate the same salads, we drank the same drinks, we shared the same centers of interest!
“I was a mother for the actors of Friends”
Is it true that on the set of Friends, your colleagues called you “mom”?
Yes, because I hated conflicts and I only sought to federate, pamper and cocoon. Like Monica, I am a little directive and frankly a perfectionist. There was a lot of me in her, like being very manic or screwing up a lot of love affairs.
It seems that between each season, you spend your time fixing up houses?
When I was younger, I dreamed of becoming an architect! I have always loved decorating my home. At the time of Friends, I bought old buildings and started renovating. Before, I moved about every two years. That’s how I learned to do the coatings, to handle the brush and to unclog the pipes.
Monica wasn’t one to be pushed around. And you ?
The same ! I was born in Alabama. They don’t raise kids in cotton there. I am the youngest of four children. So I had no choice but to make my hole. I remember one day my elders locked me out on the porch after dragging me out of the shower naked. See the atmosphere, you had to impose yourself!
“Little, I was not popular!”
And how was school?
I was not very popular. No boy invited me to the high school prom. The kids kept making fun of my last name. I’ve always hated that surname, but when my dad died, I thought keeping the Cox name was a way of honoring him.
They say your 17-year-old daughter, Coco, is your carbon copy.
Coco is as manic as me. She has always been very square. At 2 years old, she stored her slippers neatly parallel under her bed. She loves to give orders and she has an innate taste for decoration. Both of us can’t stand the idea of a wall remaining blank. We must systematically leave our mark, our imprint.
You waited until you were 40 to be a mother, was that a choice?
In life, I calibrate my schedule to the minute, but if there’s one thing I’ve never been able to manage, it’s my hormones. It was even a mess! I also had several miscarriages. It’s the kind of experience I don’t wish on any woman. It’s very hard because you tend to project yourself into the future and then, suddenly, without being prepared for it, you have to mourn this extension of yourself.
So you must have lived through the milestone of 40 years with the arrival of this miracle baby!
Not at all, I was on the verge of depression. At that age, especially in Hollywood, you already smell like mothballs. When I started filming Cougar Town, I didn’t understand these women who were trying to find a man younger than them. But, once separated from David (note: actor David Arquette), I could understand that we could have this temptation!
He has the reputation of being a real teaser, is that what seduced you?
I made my life with a truly extraordinary guy. When Coco was celebrating her birthdays, we didn’t need to hire a clown. He had this touch of eccentricity that made me crack up. In his wardrobe, there were disguises of vampires, frogs, chickens or giant sandwiches. He was always a big kid.
Is it true that you had undergone therapy before you separated?
I have no shame in admitting it. Before we got married, I was already followed by a shrink and David too. Once united, we told ourselves that we had to face our inner demons together. We talked about our childhood, our doubts, our impulses, our repulsions. It is besides Jennifer Aniston who gave me the address of my shrink.
You once said that the word “family” triggered knee-jerk reactions in you. Why ?
My father and my mother loved me with all their hearts, but no longer got along. Between them, it was war. I saw them tear each other apart and in the evening, when they came to bed with me, they talked to me about the importance of the family and the moral values that had to be defended. Only, the speech did not stick with reality.
If, tomorrow, you found yourself face to face with a 20-year-old Courteney Cox, what would you advise her?
I would tell him, I would tell myself, “Never meddle in other people’s business! Don’t get into a fight! If you’re told a secret, don’t tell anyone!”
Key dates
1. June 15, 1964
Courtney is the youngest of a family of four children. She studied in Alabama before leaving for New York at 18.
2. 1994
After several appearances in sitcoms, she obtains the role of Monica Geller in Friends. The series was an immediate success.
3. 2013
Divorced from the father of her daughter Coco, after fourteen years of marriage, she fell in love with the Irish musician Johnny McDaid, of the group Snow Patrol.
4. January 2022
She is now showing the latest Scream alongside her ex David Arquette and actress Neve Campbell. Success guaranteed!
see also: Zapping: Jennifer Aniston breaks Instagram with her Friends selfie
Interview by Frank Rousseau, in Los Angeles. Public