Earlier in the week, on her last Monday before turning 60, Courteney Cox posted a small video, just 15 seconds long, on his Instagram profile. In front of her not inconsiderable 15 million followers, the actress, born in Alabama and settled in Los Angeles, was seen dancing under the phrase: “Asking my mother how she danced in the eighties.” Her face seemed a little tense in the first seconds, until shortly after she unbuttoned her sweatshirt and began to move more happily with other movements. The two dances she performed were the ones that brought her fame in the nineties and made her become a world-class actress in the 2000s. The first was the one that Monica Geller, her character in Friends, dances in a famous sequence from the series with his brother Ross (David Schwimmer); the second, the one she performed with Bruce Springsteen in the famous video clip of the song Dancing in the darkin 1984. Both were the shootings of a then twenty-something rookie who now, four decades later, has reached star status but who has not finished letting go of those beginnings that today have taken her to the hills of Hollywood.
Courteney Cox reaches 60 becoming an absolutely recognizable performer within the star system, but with that weight that affects so many actors (often actresses) who have had stratospheric fame in their first roles and who, for one reason or another, have not fully succeeded in adulthood. After being discovered in the series family entanglements in 1982 (starring a very young Michael J. Fox, whose girlfriend he played in the last two seasons) and after the popular Springsteen video of 1984, Cox hit hard with Friendsand everything seemed to be on track when she landed the role of reporter Gale Weathers in scream in 1996, a saga that started when she was in the well-known series and that later lasted in 2011, 2022 and 2023, although without the same pull. Then, too, her roles seemed to deflate.
It has been difficult to see Cox, a talented actress with a great comedic streak, in films that reach theaters or in anything more than a couple of episodes in a row of a series. In the 20 years that have passed since Friendsher only notable role has been that of divorced mother Jules Cobb in the comedy Cougar Townwhich ran for six years, from 2009 to 2015. Since then, with the exception of the pair of sequels to scream, his acting life has been very limited. But not his role in the Hollywood world, which has given him a star on the Walk of Fame just a year and a half ago.
Although his career is in downturn, Cox as a character is not. Because in the end what sells the most about Cox is Cox herself. Her image has become linked to one of the most important series in the history of modern television, and she knows it and takes advantage of it. Her social networks attest to this, and her public appearances as well. What Courteney likes is Monica. Of the six posts she has posted on her social profile since May, three of them make references to Friends. In addition to her daughter Coco and her partner, the musician Johnny McDaid, a good part of her photos are with Jennifer Aniston and Lisa Kudrow, two of her best friends, but also her co-stars in the series. .
In fact, when she unveiled her star in Hollywood, in February 2023, it was the two of them who accompanied her, in addition to actress Laura Dern, another good friend. “They are wonderful friends and they are family. We are like sisters,” said an emotional Cox when inaugurating her recognition. “I love you so much and it’s lovely that you’ve come out and shown up for me in public the way you often do in private.” For her part, Aniston assured in her speech: “We feel very honored to be here today to speak on your behalf as your coworkers, your friends and your family, your sisters. And that has happened since we have known you, for a long time. It’s been that way since we met, almost 30 years ago. No, not 30 years, it must be a typo,” she joked.
The Gellers have led the group, although in very different ways. David Schwimmer was the one who, in the third season, proposed to his five colleagues to negotiate collectively to achieve better, and equal, salaries for all of them. They started charging $22,500 per episode; In the eighth season, each one earned a million. But he has practically disappeared from the popularity map, with chosen projects and little public presence. Cox, on the other hand, also lives up to his role—despite the fact that in the initial auditions for Friends opted for Rachel Green’s, which Aniston finally won—but in a much more public and personal way. As her colleagues have often explained, she was and is the glue of the group. “We have to take care of ourselves. That’s what she instilled in all of us, what’s in our DNA, that we support and love each other,” Aniston said at that ceremony, and Kudrow claimed that that was what had made them “one of the most united casts.” , loving and supportive of each other from, I would say, the history of television.” So much so that, in an evident tone of humor, he has even cleaned the stars of her friends.
The actress probably exploits her more than the others, but what is undeniable is that, as for the rest of her colleagues, the alliance between Cox and Friends It is already unbreakable. The death of Matthew Perry last October only demonstrated it: not only did he die, for millions of people around the world Chandler Bing also died. A man to whom the series gave a lot, but also took it away, with constant addictions to alcohol and drugs during filming that took a very expensive toll on him. He hasn’t been the only one. His fictional girlfriend has admitted that she barely remembers anything from that time. “I don’t even remember recording the series, I have a terrible memory,” he commented in 2020 in an interview with Jimmy Kimmel. “Obviously, I remember having a great time and loving everyone and I remember certain stages of my life. “It was there, yes, but I don’t remember the episodes.” Friends gives, Friends remove.
