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"I don't think I'm beautiful
Right now if I walked by a mirror I'd go 'Oh my gosh-dog'"
Behind one ever-so-slightly neurotic, obsessive but likeable Monica Geller is one determined, vaguely obsessive and neurotic, but likeable Courteney Cox...
Skulking - perhaps rather more than she'd like us to know - behind Courteney Cox's smart Manhattan image is a simple Southern gal hailing from Birmingham, Alabama who had to have elocution lessons to help her lose her accent. And she lost it enough to convince the producers of Friends that she was their perfect Monica. Originally the show's producers wanted her for Jennifer Aniston's role, but Cox persuaded them otherwise. It's hard to imagine her as the ditzy, sexy, spoilt Rachel. In fact it's hard to imagine any of the characters in Friends being played by someone else. Having just finished the fourth season on Sky One - the final episode was filmed in London recently - one of the questions the cast are getting asked a lot at the moment is how long can it continue? Courteney hopes they'll make it to another two or three seasons before one of the funniest and seminal sitcoms in years calls it a day. And when that day comes, out of all cast it's perhaps easiest to imagine Courteney reinventing herself. After all she has been at this Hollywood business for quite some time, starting with a somewhat unusual debut. She was the first person to say "period" on American TV when, as a teenager, she did a commercial for Tampax. "I was just 19 when I did that ad, and didn't think anyone would see it. Well, they did and wrote in from all over congratulating me. I was so embarrassed!" One of Courteney's more difficult Monica storylines, although it did have its hilarious moments, was the brake-up of her relationship with her much older boyfriend Richard (played by Tom Selleck). Strangely, it mirrored real life events for Courteney. Her long-standing on/off affair with Batman actor Michael Keaton, more than a decade her senior, finally came to an end two years ago. With regret, she describes him as a great guy who was simply at a different point in his life compared to her. "We finally concluded we were not meant for each other, I want kids, but he's already been there and done that. I've slowly recovered and am dating again. Now I'd really like to have a kid before I'm 35." Since the break-up she's been linked with Counting Crows singer Adam Duritz, who she insists is just a good friend. She also denies any romance with actor Christian Slater, another 'good friend'. Unlike the other members of the friends cast who are struggling to strike gold on the movie front, Courteney is enjoying huge success with the Scream movies (Scream 2 is currently on cinema release). "I'm so proud of my work in this movie," she said when the original Scream was released. "It's pretty scary. It spooked me and I knew what was coming next!" Scream 2 promises even greater thrills and chills... As she grow older - she's 34 this month - Courteney's famous bony but beautiful image grows more pronounced, her miniscule 105lb, 5'5 frame even more defined. Does she starve herself to get those Faye Dunaway cheekbones, is the questions often asked? It's an accusation she's keep to deny. "Everyone says I'm to thin, but I eat lots of chocolate. I just have a fast metabolism and would never throw up my food or take laxatives." She's certainly often seen tucking into great mounds of nosh, and she's equally passionate about exercise, often rushing in for interviews and meetings in sweats and porting a post-workout glow. And, rather boringly, she's overly modest about her stunning good looks. "I don't think I'm beautiful. Right now if I walked by a mirror I'd go 'Oh my gosh - dog'." Some dog! Courteney lives alone in Los Angeles with only her dog Rags for companionship. It's a deliberate move. She admits to hating the idea of a conventionally stable relationship - "I have a fear of commitment. it's my biggest problem" - and finds it hard to settle. "I need to see change constantly," she recently replied to queries about why she has to decorate, redecorate and even move homes so frequently. "When I feel like I've taken things to the limit, then I need to move on. I get bored quickly."
