Courteney Cox: Designing woman

Dressed in black on the white sands of Miami Beach, Courteney Cox struck a pose during a recent photo shoot. The camera was on her, but she's the one hyper-focused. "I always say, 'I suffer from acute awareness,'" she said. "I do notice things. I can't help it." Like her interviewer's attire. "Is that a built-in cuff?" she asked. 

It's that attention to detail that in part inspired the admitted "neat freak" to create a new line of scented beauty products for the home, called Homecourt. "Everything from surface spray, to clean your surfaces, your counter tops, your whatever; it is hand soap, hand cream, dish soap, room deodorizer."

So, why a line of cleaning products? "Well, you know, I played that character, Monica," Cox laughed. "She was a neat person, and guess who else is? Me."

Homecourt is a full-circle moment for the 59-year-old Alabama native. Cox studied design and architecture in college, before deciding to pursue a very different creative career. 

"I moved to New York. I started modeling. I'm only 5'5", but I did stuff like book covers. I got my hair cut really short. It changed my whole look."

Next, the first of a few big breaks, when Cox was chosen to appear with Bruce Springsteen in the 1984 music video for "Dancing in the Dark," directed by Brian De Palma. "I guess he hired me because I was authentically nervous and genuinely not a good dancer, but I was shy. And it worked," she said.

It worked wonders, with Cox landing a recurring role on "Family Ties" with Michael J. Fox: "The nicest guy," she said. "He's so talented; he taught me so much."

Then, in 1994, came "Friends," a show about a group of twenty-somethings in the city …  a series that changed everything. "That show, thank God for that show!" Cox laughed. "That was at that tail end of when I'm really running out of money. I got an audition. I went in and I read the pilot and I said, 'This is great.' But you didn't know how special it was. But then when you put this cast together and our incredible writers, it was lightning in a bottle."

Lightning in a bottle that launched a meteoric career, from the "Scream" film franchise, "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" and "Cougar Town," to becoming a producer, director and entrepreneur. Through it all Cox has remained herself … caring, candid, and deeply empathetic.

She's still very close to the co-stars that were with her when it all began. Thirty years after "Friends" debuted, and twenty years after the series finale aired, Cox posted on Instagram that she was "forever grateful."

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"I'm just grateful that I had that opportunity to work with such wonderful people, and to live the life that I have now," she said. "That was my family. I mean, we went through everything. Those ten years were everything – they're my family."

One of the members of that family, Matthew Perry, who played Chandler Bing, died last year at 54. Asked what stands out most about him, Cox replied, "I think he's probably one of the funniest human beings in the world. You know, he's just so funny. He is genuinely a huge heart, obviously struggled. I'm so thankful I got to work so closely with him for so many years. He visits me a lot, if we believe in that."

"I know you're a spiritual person, which makes that statement very interesting," said Vigliotti. "So, you still feel his presence?"

"Oh yeah. You know, I talk to my mom, my dad, Matthew – I feel like there are a lotta people that are, I think, that guide us," Cox said. "I do sense, yeah, I sense Matthew's around for sure."

Friends are always close by …. Jennifer Aniston and Lisa Kudrow were with Cox when she was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Jokingly, Cox couldn't resist giving it a little polish.

And it's that shine that she hopes to share with Homecourt. "We don't think of our home as an extension of us, but it is," Cox said. "How much time do we spend at home? So, why skimp on the things that are so important? I just think people should treat their home the way they treat themselves."

      
For more info:

• Homecourt
• Follow Courteney Cox on Instagram

      
Story produced by Gabriel Falcon. Editor: Karen Brenner. 

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• Courteney Cox

Jonathan Vigliotti

Jonathan Vigliotti is a CBS News correspondent based in Los Angeles. He previously served as a foreign correspondent for the network's London bureau.

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