* Sky TV Guide
* January 1999
For Courteney Cox, Friends brought world recognition and Hollywood hits. But this month on Sky, she is back on our screens as Monica, in a brand new series. Richard Arnold find out why Courteney still wants to be one of the gang.
Rachel, Ross, Joey, Phoebe, Monica and Chandler. You would have to have been hiding under a rock for the past four years not to know exactly who these six friends are. Now entering its fifth series on Sky One this month – a series that includes a special 100th episode – Friends has confounded critics who predicted it would have a very limited future. Thanks to its idenitifiable characters, sharply-written scripts and fabulous hairstyles, the show is now an international phenomenon, topping the US sitcom charts and making millionaires of its hitherto unknown stars.
Last season, Sky One viewers were left on a knife edge as palaeontologist Ross dropped a clanger louder than the peal of church bells by slipping ex-girlfriend Rachel’s name into his wedding vows. As the new series kicks off, Ross is in hot pursuit of his English bride Emily, while Rachel is left holding the honeymoon tickets. Meanwhile, dizzy masseuse and part-time singer Phoebe is heavily pregnant with her half-brother’s surrogate triplets.
But the story line that left Friends aficionados agog was the simmering sexual tension that family boiled over between office manager Chandler and neurotic chef Monica, played by Courteney Cox.
“Yeah, Chandler got a little obsessed with the fact that I won’t go out with him. But I do think that Monica is ready for another relationship,” teases Courteney, who remains tight-lipped about what the future holds for her screen alias and neighbourly beau.
Her discretion comes as no surprise, given the fact that the TV star knows only too well that one loose tongue is all it takes to get the rest of the world talking. Early last year rumours were rife when the snake-hipped Courteney and Matthew Perry were snapped mid-kiss during their visit to the UK. But both stars have been linked with a roster of famous names.
“I’ve never been attracted to the polished kind of guy, who looks like he spends all his time in the gym,” says Courteney. “For a long time, I was only attracted to men who were charismatic and funny. I found myself really wanting them to love me, and I was constantly afraid that I’d be boring them. But I’m more attracted to the bad boy. I think it’s the dark side of me – I just look in someone’s eyes to see what lies behind them.”
Since the break-up of her five-year relationship with Batman star Michael Keaton three years age – the man she describes as the love of her life. – Courteney’s consorts included Christian Slater, Scream co-star David Arquette and Scream 2’s Live Screiber.
Of Michael Keaton, Courteny admits: “No matter how fed up I was, Michael could always just make a little face and crack me up. Humour is so important. I really did think our relationship was it.”
More recently old flame David Arquette has been back on the scen and rumour has it that wedding plans are afoot, according the the US National Enquirer. But whatever the outcome, romance and passion are important parts of Courteney’s life. “In private, I am passionate about everything to do with love and sex,” she says. “I’m a sexual person, but I don’t think about it all the time.” And Courteney is optimistic about her future. “You know, I’m from Alabama and I really thought that by the time I turned 30, I’d be married with two kids. But things change. I’m 33 now and all my friends from school are raising kids and I’m not. I’m sure one day I will, but not right now. There’s a time for everthing.”
Thanks to her role as conniving TV hack Gail Weathers in the slasher flicks scream and the sequel Scream 2, Courteny has been the most successful of all the Friends cast in making the leap to the big screen. “I knew Scream was a smart move for me, but at the end of the day, you never know what will do well. I loved the fact that Gail was so different from Monica,” says the star, whose only gripe about her Friends fame is that her character was once voted the least popular of the sextet. “Everyone has an opinion; and they love to rate all the different characters in magazines. I’ve just got to remember that it’s Monica they are talking about, not me.”
Courteney is soon to star as Kenneth Branagh’s ‘alien’ wife – who is really a man – in Alien Love Triangle, directed by Trainspotting’s Danny Boyle, so there has probably never been a better time for her to go for a permanent transition into the world of movies. Fortunately for Friends fans, however, a million dollar bonus and a massive weekly pay hike should keep Courteny Cox shackled to the Friends set well into the next millennium.
As to whether she will also be shackled to Chandler, we will just have to wait and see. Luckily, though, her co-star, Matthew perry is more than happy with the prospect. “I’m all for it,” he reveals. “those two having a relationship could be very interesting because they’re the most neurotic of the group. And, anyway, Courteney’s pretty hot, and if I get that story line, I’ll be able to kiss her a bunch of times.”
COURTENEY’S BEST FRIENDS
Matthew Perry (Chandler Bing) – After a perid hooked on painkillers following a jet-ski accident, Matthew is back on top form – and his character’s wit is as razor sharp as ever. “Chandler’s a guy who’s just not comfortable in his own skin,” says Matthew, “so he’s got a great excuse to be funny.” When it comes to dating, Matthew’s own timing has always been spot on. Previous conquests include Baywatch beauty Yasmin Bleeth and movie star Julia Roberts. An most recently, he’s been spotted canoodling with TV executive Jamie Tares.
Jennifer Aniston (Rachel Green) – The antiques-filled mansion, the lover and the career – whoever said that you can’t have all your boxes ticked at once obviously hadn’t reckoned on Jennifer Aniston. As Rachel, her will-they-won’t-they relationship with Ross has Friends fans hooked, and her next flick, Office Space, directed by Mike Judge, creator of Beavis and Butt-head, looks set to do the same. Meanwhile, off-screen speculation is rife that she will tie the knot with boyfriend Brad Pitt later this year.
David Schwimmer (Ross Geller) – David’s doe-eyed look should have been a clue for Friends bosses that he was the most likely to bolt from the fold when the Friends mania reached its peak. “I really have no desire to be a magastar. I’d like to have a normal life like anyone else, and if that means losing this career then it’s what I’ll do,” says David Schwimmer, who threatened to give it all up when he fell for Australian songstress Natalie Imbruglia. Sure enough, the pressure of long-distance love proved too much for Natalie, who fell for her music producer. These days, David is romancing the Israeli actress Mili Avital, who he met on the set of his latest film, Kissing a Fool.
Matt LeBlanc (Joey Tribbiani) – Amid sex, rock and roll and even a rumour that he was dead, former Levi’s model Matt LeBlanc has emerged victorious from the spectulation that has dogged his life since Friends hit the big time. He recently annoced his engagment to British model Melissa McKnight, and swears his bad boy days are over. “She’s one in a million: bright, beautiful and perfect for me,” he says. Recently Matt proved a success on the big screen too, as Don West in Lost in Spsce, alongside William Hurt and Gary Oldman. The film hit the number one spot at the box office, toppling Titanic.
Lisa Kudrow (Phoebe Buffay) – Like Ross, she may be the friend who lives alone, but no-one could accuse Phoebe of being left out in the cold. The popularity of Emmy Award-wimming Lisa Kudrow continues to soar, and life couldn’t be happier at home, either. Married to French-born advertising executive Michel Stern, Lisa gave birth to a baby boy in May – just as American fans were gripped by the end-of –season finale of Friends, with a heavily pregnant Phoebe listening to Ross and Emily’s wedding in London from the end of a mobile phone.