I don't think I'm too thin at all. I understand when people say, 'Well your face gets gaunt,' but to get your bottom half to be the right size, your face might have to be a little gaunt. You choose your battles.

A couple of years later Cox signed a deal with ABC Studios (formerly Touchstone Television) to star in her own series. but did not complete her architecture course opting instead to pursue a career in modeling and acting. Her early film roles include Masters of the Universe (1987) and Cocoon: The Return (1988).

Cox has also worked as a director on her sitcom Cougar Town and the television movie Talhotblond. She is best known for her roles as Monica Geller on the NBC sitcom Friends Gale Weathers in the horror series Scream and as Jules Cobb in the ABC/TBS sitcom Cougar Town for which Courteney Cox earned her first Golden Globe nomination.