‘Friends’ star Courteney Cox admits navigating empty nest phase has become ‘harder’
Cox, 60, shares her only daughter with ex-husband David Arquette

“Friends” actress Courteney Cox is learning how to navigate life as an empty nester.

Cox, 60, admitted she didn’t initially understand how difficult the transition would be.

“It’s weird because people get upset the first year your kid goes off to school,” she said at the Inc. 5000 45th Annual Conference & Gala, according to People.

Courteney Cox, known for her role in “Friends,” navigates emotional empty nest syndrome and joked that her daughter “doesn’t talk to me anyway.” (Getty Images)

“I was like, ‘What’s the big deal? She doesn’t talk to me anyway. She’s always in her room.’”

Cox said she now understands how tough it is to send her daughter Coco Arquette, 20, away to school. (Getty Images)

Cox continued to explain that she now understands how tough it is to send daughter Coco Arquette, 20, away to school.

“I was like, ‘What’s the big deal? She doesn’t talk to me anyway. She’s always in her room.’”

— Courteney Cox

“Then she comes home after her first year in college … she was all mature and talking more,” Cox added. “And, I mean, she’s incredible. She’s a really special, smart, funny kid.

“But then I was like, ‘I don’t want you to go back to college.’ … The second year was harder for me.”

Cox shares her only daughter with ex-husband David Arquette.

Cox shares her only daughter with ex-husband David Arquette. (Getty Images)

In June, Cox and Arquette took to Instagram to celebrate their daughter’s 20th birthday.

“Happy birthday to my beautiful, sweet, kind, sensitive and creative Coco. You never cease to make me laugh. I love you sooooo much co to the lo,” Cox wrote on Instagram with a carousel of photos of her daughter throughout the years.

Arquette posted a video montage of Coco on social media at the time.

“Happy Birthday Coco!!! I love you and can’t believe you’re 20 today! I hope you have the best birthday and celebrate your brilliance!!!!”

Cox’s recent comments at the event come nearly a year after “Friends” co-star Matthew Perry died.

On “Friends,” Cox and Perry’s characters, Monica and Chandler, eventually became a couple. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images for AFI)

In May, she spoke out about her beloved friend.

“I think he’s probably one of the funniest human beings in the world. He’s just so funny. He is genuinely a huge heart. Obviously struggled,” she told “CBS Mornings” at the time.

“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.”

On “Friends,” Cox and Perry’s characters, Monica and Chandler, eventually became a couple, sharing intimate and hilarious moments in the latter half of the series.

Perry died in October 2023 at age 54. His cause of death was determined to be from the “acute effects of ketamine” and an apparent drowning at his home.