Did David Arquette Inspire This ‘Friends’ Storyline About Monica’s Boyfriend?
Friends star Courtney Cox and her ex-husband David Arquette had a long, complicated relationship. Though the two are close now and co-parent their daughter Coco, they’ve moved on in their personal lives. Is there any truth to the rumor that Arquette inspired a Friends storyline?
Courtney Cox and David Arquette were married 14 years
In the 1990s, two rising stars, Cox and Arquette, appeared in the cult classic film Scream. And, while it wasn’t love at first sight for both (Cox wasn’t impressed in the beginning), they eventually fell in love.
The two married in 1999 and tried for years to have a baby. After a few miscarriages, the couple welcomed daughter Coco in 2004. The relationship, like many, had its ups and downs. By 2010, they separated with Arquette citing his immaturity as part of the decision.
“It breaks my heart,” he said via Us Weekly. He also said he was “not the one that called this separation in order.”
“I’ve been begging Courteney to get back with me. She’s conflicted too,” he said.
The actor elaborated on how he knew it was the end with Cox telling [Arquette] she didn’t want to “be his mother anymore.” Their divorce finalized in May 2013. But, there’s one side of Arquette that may have hinted at potential issues in their relationship earlier than previously thought.
Arquette’s new documentary follows an interesting journey
Over the last many years, Arquette hasn’t had too many credits to his name aside from a few indie films. A new documentary — You Cannot Kill David Arquette — sheds light on why.
In 2000, Arquette appeared in a World Championship Wrestling episode of Thunder to promote his movie, Ready to Rumble. The two-episode event gifted Arquette with the WCW World Heavyweight Championship title. Diamond Dallas Page previously held the title.
As champion, Arquette appeared two more times in Slamboree and Nitro. The latter is where Cox appeared, saying that Arquette’s new career move is “dangerous” as she begs him not to continue. Of course, it’s likely part of the greater wrestling storyline but may have held some truth.
A few more interactions occurred after. Once World Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Entertainment (WWF/WWE) bought WCW, that championship was revealed to be a top reason for Nitro‘s failure. Critics deemed the stunt as detrimental to the franchise and credibility.
Likewise, the damage it did to Arquette’s acting career and health both took major hits. In 2018, after healing from a heart attack, the star decided to give it another try.
Ever since then, Arquette’s been on a quest to prove his place in the wrestling world. You Cannot Kill David Arquette, which follows the journey, is streaming on the Documentary Plus platform.
Did Arquette inspire an ‘Friends’ episode?
As some Friends fans may recall, Cox’s character Monica experienced something similar to the show when her boyfriend Pete Becker quits his job to become a UFC fighter. Arquette doesn’t think that’s a coincidence.
“The Friends writers always sort of picked little things from our lives and then they would find their way into storylines,” Arquette told Digital Spy.
“They’d change it a little bit every time, like it would be someone having trouble having a baby because Courteney and I had to go through in vitro a lot, so that made it into the storyline.”
Arquette added that writers knew about his excitement for wrestling and, at the time, “MMA was starting to become big at the time too.” This is likely how Pete Becker’s journey came about without directly plagiarizing Arquette’s life.
“They were aware of all of our personal stuff,” he said. “A lot of Friends storylines have really personal details, they would sometimes swap them for other characters, but it was all stuff they’d hear about or stuff people are going through.”
With this news, stories of all the Friends characters feel a little too real.
