Courteney Cox Is Binge-Watching Friends to Prep for Reunion: 'I Have Such a Bad Memory'
Courteney Cox has found a perfect way to pass the time while cooped up at home during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
The Friends actress, 55, was a remote guest on Wednesday’s Jimmy Kimmel Live!, during which she revealed that she’s been watching old episodes of the beloved NBC TV series that made her a household name.
“People love the show so much, I decided to binge-watch Friends,” Cox said. “I just started season one!”
She explained she came up with the idea after meeting with producers for HBO Max’s upcoming Friends reunion and realizing there was a lot about the show she had forgotten.
Musician Charlie Puth and Australia’s Instagram queen Celeste Barber had also recently quizzed Cox on trivia, she noted, to hilariously bad results.
“I kept getting asked all these questions about Friends,” Cox said. “I don’t remember even being on the show! I have such a bad memory! I remember obviously loving everybody there and having fun, and I remember certain times in my life. But I don’t remember episodes. I would never pass, I would fail every test!”
“By the end of this quarantine I’m going to know so much about it,” she said.
Asked by Kimmel if she knew what character she played, Cox said, “Yes, it’s Monica, I do know that.”
But that’s one of the only things she did seem to remember. During an impromptu Friends trivia game Kimmel put Cox through, the actress hilariously came up short, getting beat by Kimmel’s cousin Anthony despite the game’s questions all being related to Cox’s character Monica.
“This is so embarrassing,” Cox said.
Charles Sykes/Invision/AP/Shutterstock Courteney Cox
RELATED: Friends Reunion Special at HBO Max Postponed amid Coronavirus Pandemic
Cox was meant to have taped the Friends reunion special with costars Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer, Matthew Perry and Matt Le Blanc on March 23 and 24 — with the entire cast returning to the comedy’s original soundstage, Stage 24, on the Warner Bros. Studio lot in Burbank, California, for a celebration of the series — but filming has been postponed.
The unscripted cast reunion special, along with all 236 episodes of the series, was set to be available to subscribers at the launch of HBO Max in May.
While the special’s been delayed, Cox did tell Kimmel that before things got bad, nearly all of the cast got together in one room to plan for the filming.
“We had a meeting, except for David Schwimmer who was in New York, so we were all in the same room, which was really funny,” Cox said.
Of course, that’s not the first time they’ve all been back together since the show wrapped in 2004. The cast has remained close off-screen, staying in contact and even all getting together for a dinner in last year. Cox, Aniston, and Kudrow have remained particularly close, often posting photos together of their hangouts on social media.
“They have really leaned on each other,” an insider previously told PEOPLE. A show source added that even when the former costars are separated, “they follow each other’s lives. The fact that they have been there for each other in happy and in sad times says a lot.”
RELATED: Courteney Cox Shares Photo of the Friends Cast’s ‘Last Supper’ Before Filming Final Episode
Meanwhile, also on Kimmel, Cox opened up about how she’s been passing the time in her Southern California home during the coronavirus scare.
“I’ve been locked in for quite awhile now, I think almost two weeks,” Cox said. “The weekends aren’t so bad because I love to stay home. But during the week, I just, I get so angry and anxious. And it’s so slow.”
She went on to tour her pantry and refrigerator for Kimmel, admitting her daughter Coco has gone through a lot of the “junk food” they bought.
“We need to go to the grocery store — which is the scariest part, getting out in that store,” Cox said.
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