Friends fans around the world were delighted recently when Lisa Kudrow and Jennifer Aniston joined Courteney Cox as she received a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame.
The accolade, which honours her 40 years in the entertainment industry, came a week ahead of the release of Scream VI, in which the actress reprises her role as reporter Gale Weathers.
As well as her former Friends co-stars, Courteney, 58, who played Monica Geller in the hit sitcom, was supported on her special day by her daughter Coco, 18, and her partner, Snow Patrol’s Johnny McDaid.
The actress listened as Jen, 54, paid tribute to her, saying, “To be friends with Courteney is to be family with Courteney. When we met her she was immediately inclusive, warm, loving, interested in everything about you.”
She added, “You’re one of the funniest human beings on the planet earth. Nothing makes me happier than a Courteney joke. Thank you for enriching our lives with your work. We are so proud of you.”
Lisa, 59, went on to say that it was because of Courteney that the cast – which also included Matt Le Blanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer – became so tight, saying, “She really set us up to become one of the closest, most loving and supportive casts in, I’ll say, the history of television.”
She ended her glowing tribute with, “Courteney, we just want to say that we are deeply, deeply proud to know you. You are the definition of a truly beautiful, talented, and, what’s most important, a truly good and decent human being. Thank you for enriching our lives personally.”
While Friends is undoubtedly what Courteney is best known for (along with her five co-stars, she famously earned a whopping million dollars an episode for the last two series), she’s equally loved by horror fans who can’t get enough of Gale, her Scream alter ego.
The star has appeared in all six of the slasher movies, the first of which was released in 1996 at the height of her Friends fame. And the Alabama-born star – who's first taste of fame came at age 20 when she landed a part in Bruce Springsteen’s Dancing In The Dark video – hasn’t lost her enthusiasm for the horror franchise.
Talking about her latest outing as Gale, the actress said she has an exciting encounter with the dreaded Ghostface, revealing, “I’ve obviously been stabbed many times and all that, but this time, to work with Ghostface and not know who’s under the mask, it was really fun.”
Aside from giving her a lucrative sideline away from Friends, her involvement in the Scream films also changed Courteney’s life on a personal level as it’s where she met her ex-husband David Arquette.
Talking about their romance, David, 51, who played Deputy Sheriff Dewey Riley in the films, said, “We met on Scream 1 and on Scream 2 we were kind of on-and-off dating. And by Scream 3 we were married.”
While it was love at first sight for David, the actor admits he had to work hard for Courteney’s affection, saying, “I had to trick her. I’m a little too wild for her. She deserves someone who is more together.”
The “tricking” certainly worked and the pair were married for 11 years, during which time they had their daughter, Coco. But Courteney spoke publicly about her difficult journey towards motherhood. Opening up about her miscarriages, she said she became pregnant “pretty easily”, but had a “hard time keeping them”.
After undergoing IVF, she and David had their only child in 2004, but six years later they announced they were separating. She said at the time, “He’s my favourite person in the world. No matter what happens in our future, he’s my very best friend.”
David, who entered a rehab facility to get help with his alcohol addiction in 2011, admitted his wife was tired of looking after him. “She says that to me, ‘I don’t want to be your mother any more.’ I appreciated that,” he said previously. “I respected that. I’ve been going to therapy. I’m trying to grow up.”
Their attempts to repair their relationship failed and they finalised their divorce in 2013, agreeing to share custody of Coco.
Today, Courteney’s relationship with her daughter is something she cherishes. During an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show last year, the actress told the host how sad she was about her daughter leaving home to go to college.
Last week, as she gave her acceptance speech at the Hollywood Walk Of Fame ceremony, Courteney said it “meant the world” to her that her daughter could be there to witness her big moment.
She said, “I just want you to know you shine your own unique light and I love you so much and I’m so proud of you. I’m proud to be your mom.”
One person who will certainly have provided Courteney with a shoulder to cry on as she faces this new chapter as an empty nester is her partner Johnny McDaid, who she got together with 10 years ago after being introduced by their mutual friend Ed Sheeran.
Talking about his matchmaking, Ed said, “I introduced her to my best mate Johnny, who I wrote Shape Of You and Bad Habits with. She invited me round her house and I just kept going round and then one day I brought Johnny and he didn’t come home.”
Courteney credits the musician with teaching her “to be a better person”. Describing Johnny, 46, she said he is “a great listener”, adding, “I’ve never met someone more patient. He’s a great advice-giver. I love his heart, his intentions, his morals. He’s extremely talented and obviously musical, but he’s a poet and a writer. He’s just so smart and I find that really sexy. And then he is gorgeous.”
Courteney, who starred in Cougar Town, playing a divorced mum of one, is almost as well known for her age-defying looks as she is for her acting. But the star has been open about the fact that she “tried to chase that [youthfulness] for years” and now regrets tampering with her looks.
“There was a time when you go, ‘Oh, I’m changing. I’m looking older’ and I didn’t realise that, oh s**t, I’m actually looking really strange with injections and doing stuff to my face that I would never do now,” she said.
And talking about the big birthday that she’ll be celebrating next year, it sounds like the actress has finally come to terms with getting older. “There’s nothing wrong with being 60,” she said. “I just can’t believe it.
"Time goes so fast. There’s no question that I am more grounded. I’ve learnt so much in my life – what to enjoy, what to try to do more of and what to let go of.”
Good for you, Courteney!
