Many of Courteney Cox's leading roles have been long-standing ones. Whether these roles were part of TV series or franchise films, much of the actress' history includes playing a role for multiple years. Cox is arguably best known as Monica Geller from the hit sitcom, Friends, with her role as Gale Weathers from the Scream franchise coming in at a close second. During her tenure as Gale, Cox appeared in every Scream film.
Outside of her two most famous roles, she has also appeared in another sitcom Cougar Town, where she played a wine-loving Jules Cobb. Another notable role for Cox was her stint as a tabloid editor in the FX drama Dirt. Her most recent role comes from the Starz horror-comedy Shining Vale, which was just renewed for a second season this past May. Regardless of what character name you know Cox by, you know that her performance will be as fierce as she is. Here are five of Cox's best performances, ranked.
5 Shining Vale
Shining Vale is a horror-comedy series that was just renewed for its second season. The Starz show features Cox as Patricia Phelps, a former wild child who became famous by writing raunchy female empowerment novels. Her family moves from a city to a small town after Pat cheats on her husband. The new house they move into has a terrible past history. Pat is the only one who can feel the house's history as she claims she is either depressed or possessed. She is unfulfilled in her life and looking for more out of her life. Like most haunted houses, the demons haunting the home begin to feel more real.
4 Dirt
Dirt was an FX TV series that ran for two seasons back in 2007. The show was produced by Cox and her then-husband David Arquette. The series revolves around Lucy Spiller (Cox) and Don Konkey (Ian Hall). Lucy is the editor-in-chief of Dirt and Now Magazines, with Don acting as the freelance photographer. Most of the episodes focus on Lucy's never-ending quest to find celebrity newsworthy stories for her magazine. Lucy is a workaholic who is dedicated to her job, her best friend, and her brother.
3 Cougar Town
Cougar Town is similar to friends in the respect that it was a comedic series surrounding a group of friends. The coffee has been changed to wine, New York to Florida, and new "friends". The show ran from 2009-2015, where it started off with ABC, before being picked up by TBS in 2013. Cox plays Jules Cobb, a recently divorced, single mother who is now facing the world of dating. She is coined a "cougar" by dating younger men, hence where the name of the show comes from. Her signature thing is to drink a generous-sized glass out of wine out of cutesy-named glasses.
2 Scream Franchise
Unfortunately, not all of Cox's roles have painted the actress in the best light. In the slasher franchise, Scream, Cox's character is less than likable. She plays a cutthroat journalist who will stop at nothing to get the story. At least, that is who she is in the first film, but like most semi-antagonistic characters, they can have a change of personality. By the end of the franchise, she has teamed up with Sidney (Neve Campbell) and Dewey (David Arquette), whom she later marries both in real-life and in the franchise. Cox has played Gale since 1996 and has reprised her role in the sixth installment, which, per IndieWire, will drop in 2023.
1 Friends
Friends is easily Cox's most notable performance. Monica Gellar has been a fan-favorite name since the show first debuted back in 1994. Monica was perhaps the most stable of the six-person group. As a chef living in New York, she often had to help her friends with their struggles. She also had one of the best romantic storylines. Whether you were Team Richard or Team Chandler, Monica's relationships were highly important to the show. As a neurotic, clean-freak, Monica's character was also very relatable as one moment she would be stress-cooking and the next having a beer with her best friends while sitting in wedding dresses.