Courteney Cox: Cool Cox

Q: What does David think?

A: If I gained or lost 50 pounds, he would notice, but he doesn't care about stuff like that. He doesn't want me to be some big whale, but who knows, maybe he wouldn't mind that either.

Q: Magazines are always covering what you wear and what makeup you have on. Does this seem strange to you?

A: Like, who cares? If you could really believe magazines and believe that this makeup artist actually uses this product, that would be great. If someone has a great product mat actually tightens up the skin under your eye, tell me. I'd like to make a newsletter about really great products.

Q: Let me put you on the spot what product would you endorse as really working?

A: For the most part, products don't work, but you can find certain ones that do. Something that really works is Phytomer--their whole line, from the body to the face. It's French and very hard to find.

Q: If their sales rise after your endorsement gets out, what do they owe you?

A: If they want to throw me a bone and send me a night cream, I'll take it, because it's pretty expensive. But that only happens when I, like, say my favorite candy bar is Butterfinger, then I get a big box of Butterfingers. It doesn't happen with the good stuff.

Q: Speaking of good stuff, how much was the new Jaguar in your driveway?

A: Considering it's a Jaguar, it was inexpensive. They start at around $43,000 and you can add to it. I got the navigation system, which is really cool, plus the premium sound system, the bigger wheels. For all this I wrote a check for $56,000. Not bad.

Q: Your life is running so smoothly now, it's hard to remember that you've said you had a traumatic childhood, which was brought on by your parents getting divorced when you were 10.

A: It hit me really hard. I was at camp and I thought, "What? I'm away and I can't stop it?" I think that's why I'm a control freak. I don't like people not to give me my choice. That's my biggest pet peeve. Then I went on a mission to get my parents back together. That's why now I want everyone to get along and love each other.

Q: Because of your "Friends" character, people assume you must be neurotic. Are you?

A: Yeah. But I'm not as neurotic as I am obsessive. I think a lot. I have a very active brain that doesn't shut down easily. I'm not saying everything that comes out is smart, I'm just saying it works overtime over thinking.

Q: How important was your virginity, since you held it till 20?

A: I wanted to make sure I was really in love with someone and it was going to be a lasting relationship. And it was, it lasted a long time.

Q: Were you still a teenager when you became a model?

A: Yeah, 18. I went to New York before I graduated from high school. The Ford Modeling Agency sent me out on an interview and I got the job.

Q: What did you get out of modeling?

A: Not much. I hated it. I didn't feel like a model, ever.

Q: Did modeling make you more self-conscious about your flaws?

A: Probably, yeah. I'm so self-critical, I know I'm very lucky, but I see flaws everywhere. And that's my flaw.

Q: You've complained about having no rear end and that you don't like your freckles.

A: I'd like to have porcelain, milky, creamy skin or olive skin--you always like what you don't have. But I'm learning to love my freckles. I wasn't born with the most rounded rear end. And if I wanted it, it would take a lot of work.

Q: Since you're now married to David, do you spend much time with his sister Patricia and her husband Nicolas Cage?

A: Patricia and Nic are really good hosts and the most thoughtful people. At Easter and the 4th of July they put on the big family thing--they always have special-occasion things.

Q: Didn't you have a party at your house for Rosanna's 40th birthday?

A: Yeah, it was a Woodstock theme. "This place was so decked out. I was working on "Friends" the day they were setting up and I came home at midnight and there was a huge tent and sofas, lights, incense everywhere. It was wild.

Q: What makes a successful party?

A: Good people, good music, good food. We had a book wedding shower before we got married-- probably the most fun I had at a parry. Everybody brought a book.

Q: Any fiction?

A: I got two books by John Fante from Beth Henley, the playwright, David read one on our honeymoon.

Q: Do you have a favorite artist?

A: I'm obsessed with Kent Williams--I have six of his paintings. He's from the South, like me. I commissioned him to do a painting for above the fireplace, that's how great I think he is. I here's another artist I really want to buy a painting from, Robert Williams. I saw a painting of his for $ 100,000--wow! My sister-in-law Patricia has a lot of his work.

Q: What's your favorite film?

A: Fargo is one. Oh man, I loved that movie. Those characters were so interesting. I didn't care about the murders, just keep me in the bedroom with the couple. I also love The Way We Were--it still makes me cry. I want to tell Barbra Streisand not to try so hard when she's cooking Robert Redford pot roast--you're pushing yourself on him, can't you tell he's aloof? I saw that when I was 10 years old. I cried so hard that I had to be ushered out.

Q: So you're into movies that make you sad?

A: Give me a movie that makes me cry and I'm happy. I wept so hard at The Full Monty I thought there must be something wrong with me. It was uncontrollable. I went hack two days later with my brother and I did the same thing.

Q: What scenes made you weep in The Full Monty?

A: When the lead guy showed up when we thought he wasn't coming. When the wife said, "I love you the way you are." That type of thing. When they threw their things off and everybody saw them naked. I just love friendship stuff! People who stick up for each other, It's so rare.

Q: Were there any actresses you were particularly attracted to as a child?

A: I always loved Audrey Hepburn. When I got a little older, Bette Davis.

Q: Among movie people you've met, who has most impressed you?

A: Billy Bob Thornton and Laura Dern. Morgan Freeman.

Q: If you could choose some movie star's career, whose would that be?

A: [Thinks] Maybe Michelle Pfeiffer. She's played such interesting roles. She's been able to do so many things.

Q: What do you remember about working with Jim Carrey on Ace Ventura?

A: I met my husband on Scream, but I laughed my ass off every day on Ace Ventura.

Q: Do you still keep in touch with Carrey?

A: It's too hard in this business to keep in touch. If I see him I feel comfortable.

Q: What stands out about Cocoon: The Return?

A: I became friends with Wilford Brimley. I still have a dog, Rags, he gave me in 1988.

Q: Who's your best friend on "Friends"?

A: Jennifer and Lisa are two of my very closest friends. I love them so much.

Q: What was your reaction when Jennifer began dating Brad Pitt?

A: They were perfect for each other. He's just the nicest guy, Very special. Match made in heaven. I was very excited

Q: Is it difficult to make new friends at this stage in your life?

A: Guy friends are easy; I have a bunch of them. With girls, it's harder so come by; I recently became great friends with a girl who's worked on my house.

Q: Ahhh, your house. I hear you're a pro at buying a house, remodeling it, sometimes with your own hands, then selling it. What got you into carpentry?

A: I'm impatient. If something breaks in the house, you can call somebody, but that might take a day or longer. I'd rather try to fix it myself. I fix my own sprinklers. When we had the party for Rosanna the back lights wouldn't go on. I can't tell you how much it annoyed me. I had to fix it through the first hour of the parry. I'm tenacious.

Q: How many houses have you remodeled?

A: Five. I could never decorate my house in one style because I change so much. I drive David crazy. He loves stability. I need change, I live for it.

Q: Do you have a favorite style?

A: Modern Moroccan. I like to mix modern furniture with Moroccan. I like layers.

Q: Did you ever want to be an architect?

A: I took drafting courses during my first year at college, Mount Vernon in Washington, D.C.

Q: What tools should every woman have in her toolbox?

A: A Phillips head, a fiat-head screwdriver, a hammer, an electric drill and a pipe wrench--if something is leaking it's nice to have one of those big monkey wrenches.

Q: What about a tape measure and a level?

A: Yeah, you're right. I have four tape measures all over the house. And a level is brilliant for a woman because we care so much about leveling.

Q: What's your goal for the millennium?

A: It's good to write out your life's goals, then you get closer to getting them. I haven't done that and I don't know what mine are other than having a great family, being a great mom. That's a priority. And I really want to work. But I'm a control freak, I love to be in control, so I'd love to produce things, or at least have an equal voice.

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Lawrence Grobel interviewed Sharon Stone for the September issue of Movieline.

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