Courteney Cox, the guest on this episode of The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast, is one of the most popular and prolific actresses of her generation. While she is best known for playing Monica Geller, the OCD mother-hen on the beloved NBC sitcom Friends from 1994 through 2004, and the ambitious TV reporter Gale Weathers in the Scream films released in 1996, 1997, 2000, 2011 and 2022 (with another on the way in 2023), she has also done standout work on FX’s drama series Dirt from 2007 through 2008, TBS’s sitcom Cougar Town from 2009 through 2015, and, most recently, Starz’s comedy-horror series Shining Vale.
On Shining Vale, which debuted in March, Cox plays a wife, mother and author whose mid-life personal and professional struggles lead her family to relocate from their New York apartment to an old house in Connecticut, where her troubles only get worse.
Over the course of this episode, which was conducted virtually in front of a group of students at Chapman University, 57-year-old Cox reflected on some of her early breaks, like being hired to dance opposite Bruce Springsteen in a music video and playing the girlfriend of Michael J. Fox’s character on Family Ties; how she first heard about Friends, and why she asked to play Monica instead of Rachel; how her prior work on Friends and in the Scream films, as well as personal frustrations that she felt during the years after Cougar Town, helped to prepare her for her role on Shining Vale, which she describes as the most layered and challenging she has ever played; and much more.
