The Best Time Monica Broke Character On Friends
As one of the most popular and critically acclaimed sitcoms of all time, "Friends" is an easy candidate for several rewatches by its fans over the years. Since the series ended in 2004 — after 10 consistently strong seasons — "Friends" shows no signs of losing its popularity. After all, it's availability on HBO Max keeps it relevant as time goes on and new, younger audiences find the sitcom and fall in love with it, just like several generations before them.
The key element that makes the show so timeless, despite its undeniable '90s aesthetic, is the character-driven humor, acted to perfection by each of the cast members: Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, and David Schwimmer.
Despite all of the characters' loveable and endearing personalities, fans always end up choosing a favorite character. For many, that's Monica, the neurotic control freak of a professional chef with a kind and compassionate nature underneath her Type A personality. Courteney Cox shines in the role of Monica, making the character as hilarious to viewers as she is possessive. That kind of stellar performance doesn't always happen on the first take. Here's one of the best times Cox broke character on "Friends."
Monica trips over her words
In an early scene of Season 1, Episode 4, "The One with George Stephanopoulos," Phoebe is asleep on the couch at Central Perk, while Monica and Ross, sitting on either side of her, comment on it. Monica says, "How does she do that?" Ross responds, "I cannot sleep in a public place." Monica then comments that Phoebe looks so peaceful, just before Phoebe startles awake — and scares Monica in the process.
It turns out this scene originally had more lines to it, and it's unclear why it was made shorter. However, it's one of the cut lines that Courteney Cox is unable to get through without messing up. In a hilarious blooper reel, Cox has to restart her line, trying to respond to Ross' claim that he can't sleep in public by reminding him that when he was little, he "slept through the Grand Canyon" — several times over.
During the first take, she stumbles over one of the words and you can hear someone off camera tell her to go again. Cox responds, "This will be five, ten takes. You know it's gonna happen." During the second take, she gets through the line, but seems as if she's not happy with her delivery. Then, Cox puts down the coffee mug she was holding and says, "I'm gonna try it without the coffee cup." Lisa Kudrow retorts, "That's it." But on the third take, she stumbles on the word "grand." Realizing her mistake, she starts to exclaim, "Oh ffffff," while throwing her hands up in exasperation.
It's a charming and amusing series of takes, as Cox clearly tries her best to get the words out. We'll never know if that line was cut out of the final version because Cox just couldn't get it right.