Courteney Cox Just Shared How She Recreated the "Friends" Turkey Scene
"I think there are so many health issues about actually putting a turkey on someone's head."
Being someone's lobster. A "moo" point. Pivot! Friends has given us plenty of quotes and moments that will go down in pop culture history, but there is one scene in particular that Courteney Cox is reminded of every single year. In the Friends Season 5 Thanksgiving episode, which aired in 1998, Cox's character, Monica, put a turkey wearing sunglasses and a Fez on her head and did a little shimmy dance all to win over Chandler (Matthew Perry). And with that, Thanksgiving history was made. Well, for this year's Thanksgiving, Cox decided to recreate the moment—and it wasn't easy.
On Dec. 6, Cox shared a behind-the-scenes video of herself remaking the iconic Friends Thanksgiving scene for Instagram. It involved a huge turkey, a pair of sunglasses, towels, what appears to be plastic wrap or a shower cap, and a lot of swearing. After all, it's just not natural for the cavity of a turkey to be stuck on top of a human head. TV magic made it look easy 22 years ago, but Cox admits, in the real world, not so much.
Read on to find out the truth about the original scene and how the "don't try this at home" moment came together. And for more on another Friends alum, check out This Is the Nickname Jennifer Aniston's Closest Friends Call Her.
The original Friends scene did not feature a real turkey.
The turkey head moment happened in Season 5, Episode 8, "The One with All the Thanksgivings." Monica wanted Chandler to forgive her for being the reason he lost his toe on Thanksgiving when they were younger, so she tried to make him happy by dancing with a turkey on her head. While she still had the turkey on, he blurted out that he loved her for the first time.
But the truth is, that turkey was not real. "We wanted—I especially wanted—a real turkey," writer Greg Malins told Entertainment Weekly in 2016. "The prop department did their due diligence, but it didn't exist. The biggest turkey ever for sale is not big enough to fit a human head. I remember them coming to us and saying, 'We have to build it.' So we made it out of foam."
Director Kevin S. Bright said the foam turkey was "very expensive" to create. "There were vents, and it had mesh so Courteney and Matt could see out of it," he explained.
"I think there are so many health issues about actually putting a turkey on someone's head," co-creator David Crane pointed out.
Bright added that the meat "would need to be refrigerated between takes, and it's going to be under hot lights—you're going to put that on Courteney Cox's head? I don't really think so."
Oh, how wrong they were.
But when Cox recreated it on Thanksgiving this year, she did use a real turkey.
For Thanksgiving 2020, Cox posted a video on Instagram that showed her new take on the Friends scene. She started her video by wishing everyone a happy Thanksgiving, but soon zoomed in on her mouth and said in a frustrated voice, "If I get one more g****** gif with that turkey on my head dancing like f****** a fool, I'm just going to snap."
She inserted the gif of her dancing, and continued, "So, anyway, since I'm the symbol of Thanksgiving, here you go. Hope it makes you happy." Cue Cox with a turkey on her head shimming to the Friends theme song.
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But struggled to (re)make the magic happen.
About a week and a half after Thanksgiving, Cox shared a behind-the-scenes video of how the turkey remake came to be. She captioned the post "The (gross) truth!" The video begins with the message "Vegan discretion advised" and then shows Cox with plastic over her face as someone helps her position the turkey just right on her head. (Seriously, don't try this at home.)
At different points, Cox says, "That bone hurts," "It's so disgusting," and "Hold on, can't breath" as a couple of people try to help her. Eventually, though, they were able to get the turkey on well enough that they could make the video. Just know, she went through a lot for this.
Also, you should know, Cox did eat that turkey for dinner, as a final clip reveals her bird roasting in the oven.
It seemed to be worth it based on the reaction.
Judging by the comments on the video, Cox's remake really did bring joy to a lot of people. But given how popular the original gif is, it's no surprise that people loved it, including a lot of fellow celebrities. Lisa Kudrow, who played Phoebe on Friends, commented, "You DID THAT!!" Will & Grace star Sean Hayes wrote, "Haha! Love it. Love you." Reese Witherspoon, who played Rachel's little sister on the show, said, "Love you sister!" David Beckham, a huge Friends fan, added, "OMG this just made my day." And Queer Eye star Tan France kept it simple with "Bahahahahaha" and a heart emoji. And for more on Friends, check out 30 Celebrities You Forgot Appeared on Friends.
