Courteney Cox was and remains the beautiful actress who we first met when she starred as Monica Geller on the smash-hit television series Friends. The star of Cougar Town will turn 54 in June this year and looks just as glamorous as ever. But for a long time, Courteney Cox felt that plastic surgery was the only answer to remaining relevant in the entertainment business. In understanding why Courteney Cox’s face changed so much within a matter of years, it’s crucial to try and empathise with her personal situation.She was the second oldest cast-member of Friends, aged 30 when the show was in it’s first season. The show lasted for 10 seasons and finished in 2004. Courteney was 40, an age where many women start to worry and become overly critical of their looks, and her decade long role on a much-loved television show had come to an end. She was working in an industry where being young and sexy was the key to success, and where having a plastic surgeon on speed dial was commonplace. To understand Courteney’s regret and her return to a more natural look, let’s dive into her transformation from the 1990s to the present day.
10. Covergirl for Tiger Beat Teen Magazine
Date: February 1984
Overview: Courteney would have been about 20 years old in this picture (taken from her own Instagram @courteneycoxofficial) This shot really puts her ‘Before & After’ looks into perspective – she’s barely out of her teenage years and has had no work done here. This look is totally fresh faced.
2. ‘Dancing In The Dark‘ Music Video
Date: 1984
Overview: At around the 2:30 minute mark, who should we see? That’s right, the gorgeous Courteney Cox sans fillers or cosmetic work! She’s up on stage with The Boss dancing in a muscle shirt and blue jeans and looking gorgeous while she does it.
3. The Tampax Commercial
Date: 1985
Overview: Fun fact, Courteney Cox was the first woman to say ‘period’ on television in place of the term ‘menstruation’. Hell yeah Courteney, normalise those bodily functions! You can see from the commercial that she looks completely normal and surgery free, so no botox for Courteney Cox here yet.
4. “Starring Courteney Cox as Monica Geller”
Date: Circa 1994
Overview: This was taken around the early 1990s during the beginning of Friends. Sure, Courteney’s face looks different to the previous pictures, but here it’s just a case of her thinning out as she matured and wearing her hair longer
5. At The Turn of The Century
Date: Courteney attends the First Annual Project ALS Fundraiser in 1999.
Overview: Courteney looks different but that’s just because she’s embracing the 90s beauty trends – thin eyebrows and chunky accessories.
6. The 54th Emmy Primetime Awards
Date: Courteney and best buddy Jennifer Aniston attended the 54th Emmy Primetime Awards on 22 September 2002.
Overview: After four previous nominations during its first seven seasons, Friends finally won the Outstanding Comedy Series without a directing and writing nomination. It was around this time, towards the end of Friends that Courteney recalls self-doubt creeping in. “I grew up thinking appearance was the most important thing. That as long as I looked OK, I would be OK, which got me into trouble” she explained to NewBeauty. “I was trying so hard to keep up, and that actually made things worse.”
7. Season One of Cougar Town
Date: Circa 2009
Overview: During the early to mid 2000s, experts speculate that Courteney started experimenting with botox and filler. “I think there’s a pressure to maintain [your looks] not just because of fame, but just being a woman in this business,” she explained to wilderness survival guru Bear Grylls when she appeared on his program Running Wild. in 2016. “Getting older, I don’t think that’s the easiest thing. But I have learned lessons. I think I was trying to keep up with getting older and trying to chase that. It’s something you can’t keep up with.”
During the episode she expressed regret for all the cosmetic work she had had done in the past. “Sometimes you find yourself trying, and then you look at a picture of yourself and you go, ‘Oh god, I look horrible,'” she lamented. “I have done things that I regret, and luckily there are things that dissolve and go away. So that’s good because it’s not always been my best look.”
8.“Layered and layered”
Date: Courteney attends the 2006 ‘FOX Summer TCA Party”
Overview: In retrospect, Courteney says she thought her surgery and cosmetic procedures were gradual, but in fact they ended up making her look overworked. She told NewBeauty “The next thing you know, you’re layered and layered and layered. You have no idea because it’s gradual until you go, ‘Oh sh*t, this doesn’t look right.’ Cox also said, “It’s worse in pictures than in real life. I have one friend who was like, ‘Whoa, no more!’ I thought, I haven’t done anything in six months. I didn’t realise.”
9. Courteney Cox Now
Date: Posted to Courteney’s Instagram on 12 February 2019 to celebrate Jennifer Aniston’s birthday.
Overview: Today, Courteney has reverted back to living a cosmetic/surgery free life. She let her fillers dissolve and consequently feels more comfortable in here own skin. “I’m as natural as I can be. I feel better because I look like myself. I think that I now look more like the person that I was,” she explained. Cox also told US Magazine “I have done things that I regret, and luckily they’re things that dissolve and go away. So, um, that’s good, because it’s not always been my best look.”
10. It’s A Dog-Eat-Dog World
Date: 19 May 2019
Overview: Courteney Cox seems to be hands-down winning at life these days. She and her ex-husband David Arquette do an excellent job of co-parenting their teenage daughter Coco. Courteney has been a loving relationship with John McDaid, lead singer of Snow Patrol, since 2013. Her Facebook series ‘9 Months With Courteney Cox’ has been an eye-opening look into 10 different couples experience of pregnancy, and we can’t wait for Season 2!
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