Courteney Cox finally got her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Monday, with Friends co-stars Jennifer Aniston and Lisa Kudrow joining her to celebrate. Cox’s longtime friend Laura Dern also spoke at the ceremony, which saw Cox get teary-eyed by the end. Cox began her Hollywood career in the mid-1980s, but the role of Monica Geller on Friends made her a superstar.
After Dern opened the ceremony, Aniston took the podium, recalling how Cox was the most famous member of the Friends cast when the series started. Cox, 58, famously appeared in Bruce Springsteen’s 1984 “Dancing in the Dark” music video before she landed several TV roles. She also starred in Masters of the Universe, Cocoon: The Return, Family Ties, Mr. Desitny, and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, all before Friends began.
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“I was really nervous to meet her because I was a huge fan,” Aniston recalled of meeting Cox, reports The Hollywood Reporter. “I remember seeing her at the Flowering Tree, a yogurt store that we would go to. I panicked, I sweat, and I just didn’t know what she was going to be like when we got our job.”
Aniston also praised Cox’s “intense” attention to detail, just like her character Monica. “You really want to hope that you don’t have any kind of like a stain or a spot on a wall or that a pillow is out of place or a hair or something that needs to be plucked,” Aniston said. “I’m just saying thank God this star is straight.”
Kudrow noted how Cox’s experience had a major impact on the rest of the Friends cast. “Courteney, we just want to say that we’re deeply, deeply proud to know you,” Kudrow said with Aniston by her side. “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.”
“And as fans, we want to thank you for making us laugh,” Aniston continued. “Watching you onscreen and just in life in general, you’re one of the funniest human beings on the planet Earth. Nothing makes me happier than a Courteney joke and always making us smile, and thank you for enriching our lives with your work. We are so proud of you. We love you. You’re sisters from another mister, and we love you.”
After the ceremony, Cox told PEOPLE it felt “great” to have Aniston and Kudrow at the ceremony. “They’re such wonderful friends of mine and they’re family to me, so it felt really comfortable… they’re my sisters,” Cox said. The three recently joined Matthew Perry, Matt LeBlanc, and David Schwimmer for HBO Max’s Friends: The Reunion.
Cox‘s career is a prime example of perseverance paying off in Hollywood. She teared up as she accepted the Walk of Fame star honor, especially as she shared a story about how her career almost ended before it began. With about two weeks left before she ran out of money, her father suggested she move back to Alabama. “The next day I got Family Ties. This will make me cry because I do love my dad, but I just want to say that I know he’s really proud of me, and it does look like I’m here to stay,” she said just as her star landed on the sidewalk.
Cox also thanked all those who have helped her throughout her career, before mentioning her “longest and most important projects,” her boyfriend Johnny McDaid, and her daughter Coco, whom she shares with ex-husband David Arquette. Cox stars in the upcoming Scream VI, which hits theaters on March 10.
