Information about Monica Geller

Monica Geller
First appearance	The Pilot
Last appearance	The Last One
Cause/reason	End of series
Created by	David Crane Marta Kauffman
Portrayed by	Courteney Cox Arquette
Information
Aliases	Monana Rossanne Rossannadana The Crazy Plate Lady Harmonica Big Fat Goalie
Gender	Female
Age	35 (by end of series)
Occupation	Chef
Family	Jack Geller (father) Judy Geller (mother) Ross Geller (brother) Emma Geller-Green (niece) Ben Geller (nephew)
Spouse(s)	Chandler Bing
Children	Erica and Jack (adopted)
Relatives	Cassie (cousin) Fran (aunt) Althea (grandmother) Sylvia (aunt)

Monica E. Geller (born April 22 1969) is a fictional character on the popular US television sitcom Friends (1994-2004), played by Courteney Cox Arquette. Monica was known as the "Mother Hen" of the group and her Greenwich Village apartment was one of the group's main gathering places. She tended to look after her friends and was known for her obsessive personality and competitive nature.

History

Monica is the younger sister of Ross Geller, the high school friend of Rachel Green, the former roommate of Phoebe Buffay, and eventually, the wife of Ross' college friend Chandler Bing. Over the course of Friends, it was revealed Monica began life as an extremely overweight child, ballooning up to 255 pounds by high school. Monica was shown in her earlier "fat" stage in flashback scenes in a few episodes, with Courteney Cox Arquette wearing a fat suit.

Monica met Ross' friend Chandler when he and Ross were in college. After overhearing Chandler call her fat, Monica lost the excess weight sometime during her freshman year of college. Chandler originally suggested that she should become a chef, which she eventually did. Monica and Chandler got together in London during the Season 4 finale; they were married in Season 7.

Monica initially shared her New York City apartment with Phoebe Buffay, who moved out before the series actually began, fearing their relationship would be strained by Monica's obsessive neatness. For most of the series, Monica's roommate was Rachel, her friend from Lincoln High School. In the Friends pilot episode, Rachel left her fiancé Barry Farber at the altar and moved in with Monica. Monica met Joey Tribbiani when he moved in with Chandler, who lived across the hall from Monica.

Chandler and Monica

Monica began an affair with her close friend Chandler in London, at Ross's disastrous wedding to Emily at the end of Season 4. Season 5 revealed that she initially turned to Chandler for comfort after a guest at Ross's wedding reception mistook her for Ross's mother. They kept their relationship secret for a while but eventually Joey found out. The rest of the group then found out one by one, until everybody knew. Monica and Chandler fell in love and eventually moved in together, forcing Rachel to move out of Monica's apartment. The two married and, in the final episode, watched as their adopted twins, Erica and Jack, were born.

Monica and Chandler almost didn't get engaged because one of Monica's ex-boyfriends, Dr. Richard Burke (played by Tom Selleck) came back into her life. Richard was significantly older than Monica (21 years) but the two fell in love during Season 2. They broke up at the end of that season because Monica wanted marriage and children, and Richard was not interested in having children again. A chance meeting with Monica during Season 6 rekindled Richard's passion, and he told her that he was willing to have kids if it meant he could be with her, but Monica decided his reluctance would doom their relationship. When Richard discovered that Chandler was going to propose to Monica, he stepped aside so the two of them could be together. Monica and Chandler had a romantic wedding -- aside from Joey's questionable attire (and his marrying them), and discovering that Rachel was pregnant.

Personality

Cleanliness

"Neat Freak" Monica is comically obsessive about the state of her apartment and loves cleaning (she described the dry cleaner as her Disneyland). This personality trait became progressively exaggerated as the series progressed. Examples of this tendency include:

• She categorizes her towels into 11 sections, with examples being "Everyday use," "Fancy," "Guest," and "Fancy Guest." ('The One with the Embryos')
• She labels everything from dishes to photographs.
• Chandler was able to wake her up by announcing that he "probably won't spill coffee grounds all over the kitchen floor" when going for a cup of coffee.
• When Ross tells her that an ex-girlfriend has an incredibly messy apartment, Monica is unable to sleep knowing about it.
• In Season 1, she tried to act like she was a "kook" and didn't care about organization when she left her shoes out in the living room, but stayed up all night wondering if she should go and get them.
• In another episode it is learned that she has supplies for cleaning cars, when she doesn't even have a car, because there was a dirty car parked out front of the building. She went ahead and washed it, along with six others.
• Also in one episode in Season 5 Rachel didn't want to go to an eye doctor appointment, and tried to stop Monica by knocking over a box of cereal making a mess. Monica at first pretends not to be bothered by it and they leave the apartment. However, Monica then re-enters seconds later, yelling "Chandler!" causing Chandler to clean it up.
• She is obsessive to the point that she even cleans her cleaning supplies, using a dustbuster to remove dirt from a vacuum cleaner and wishing there were an even smaller vacuum to clean the dustbuster.
• In Season 10 when Phoebe explains to her that they couldn't meet up because she was 'cleaning and organizing' her apartment for Mike to move in, Monica 'forgets' this and goes round to Phoebe's apartment, she just happens to have her label maker on her.

Competitiveness

Monica is highly competitive, once allegedly throwing a plate in a fit of rage during a game of Pictionary, and once declaring that "rules help control the fun!" When Joey and Ross were once just casually tossing a ball back and forth in Joey's apartment, Monica joined in and turned it into a super-competitive challenge to see how long they could go without dropping it. Sometimes, however, she takes her competitive nature too far. One of the most dramatic examples of this was when Monica impulsively gambled her and Rachel's apartment during a trivia game created by Ross. When she and Rachel then lost the final question, they were forced to swap apartments with Chandler and Joey.

Monica also demonstrates athletic prowess, which, coupled with her competitive streak, makes her formidable against the guys, especially in Foosball. During the group's holiday in Barbados, Monica became obsessed with beating Phoebe's boyfriend Mike at Table Tennis, and the two became engaged in a marathon match lasting hours. Sometimes, however, Monica becomes too rough. While attempting to give Chandler a sensuous massage, she hurts him to the point of his crying out. Also, in their youth, Monica broke Ross's nose when a game of touch American football turned ugly in an attempt to win the "Geller Cup." The said cup was then thrown in the lake on holiday. What Ross didn't know until "The One with the Football" was that Monica dove in the lake to retrieve the cup.

Bossiness

Monica is notoriously bossy. She is often referred to as such by her friends. Her bossiness is best seen in her relationship with Chandler, where she frequently won the upper hand in any disputes. After they got together, she explained to him that "You don't get to win anymore."

• When Monica became Phoebe's wedding planner, she ordered the events run on "military time." She also angrily tapped her watch and cleared her throat when Phoebe's speech ran too long, disguising it when the other friends looked at her.
• In Season 5, she and Phoebe co-coordinated Rachel's surprise birthday party, and Monica put herself in charge of everything. Phoebe got upset about this, so Monica put her in charge of the cups and ice.

"Fat Monica"

It is revealed early in the series that she had been obese as a child and teenager. Among the embarrassments young Monica had to endure included:

• When she was in Kindergarten they apparently had to get a Junior High schooler to go on the see-saw with her.
• When she joined the Brown Birds (a Girl Scouts-esque organization) she ate all the cookies she was supposed to sell, forcing her father to buy them.
• When she was a goalie for the field hockey team, her nickname was "Big Fat Goalie."
• Her oversized high school band uniform was a special project for the home ec classes.
• When she wanted to guess the recipe of Phoebe's grandmother's chocolate chip cookie, she bakes over 20 batches of cookies. She then says that she had never baked so many cookies since 9th grade. When Phoebe asks if it was for a bake sale, she says, "No, it was just a Friday night."
• After being sent to her room without dinner, she ate the macaroni off of a jewelry box she had made.
• The Geller family dog, ChiChi, had to get knee surgery because, as Ross explains, "you were the 200 pound 11 year old who rode her."
• When Phoebe gave Chandler and Monica an arcade game as their wedding present, Monica states that her favorite game at the arcades was a game where you put a coin in, pulled a leaver and you would win a candy bar, Chandler then revealed that it was in fact a Vending Machine. To which Monica replied; "Don't feel bad for me, I won every time!"
• Ross was once insulted for how fast he ate, and he responded: "I grew up with Monica. If you didn't eat fast, you didn't eat!"

Monica kept the weight until she was 18, then lost it after she overheard Chandler call her "fat" at a past Thanksgiving. The writers of the series often used flashbacks to show the overweight Monica (with Courteney Cox wearing a fat suit). In one episode, when the group watched an old prom video and were surprised to see her weight, Joey yelled "Some girl ate Monica!" Monica tried to stick up for herself, claiming the camera adds ten pounds. Chandler was quick to retort, "So how many cameras are actually on you?" In another episode where the gang remembers their past Thanksgivings, one reveals why Monica lost all the weight. In an alternate reality storyline during the show ("The One That Could Have Been"), Monica was still overweight, but nonetheless kept her occupation as a chef and still ended up in love with Chandler, who was a freelance writer.

Employment

Monica is a chef, and, as with most areas of her life, she is obsessive and competitive about it. Originally, she merely worked as a poorly paid chef at a restaurant called Iridium. After accepting a promotion, she was fired for accepting a gift from a food distributor. Monica remained unemployed for a while before getting offered a job at a 50's theme restaurant called the Moondance Diner. At this time, Monica reveals that she worked at the famous Cafe des Artistes when she said "I was a sous-chef at Cafe des Artistes. How can I take a job where I have to make something called Laverne and Curly fries?" At the Moondance Diner, Monica wears a blonde wig, rollerskates and massive fake breasts (the same diner set was used in the first Spider-Man movie, in which Mary Jane was a waitress). While working at the diner, she met millionaire Pete Becker who used his money to open a restaurant and appoint Monica as head chef. After the relationship failed due to the consequences of Pete's desire to become the "Ultimate Fighting Champion," Monica began a short-lived catering business with Phoebe.

Monica was eventually hired as head chef at a local restaurant, Alessandro's, putting an end to the catering business. At first, her employees disliked Monica due to the fact that three of them were the children of the previous head chef, coupled with a fairly vicious review she had published in a local newspaper about the restaurant. However, Monica hired her friend Joey as a waiter, solely to fire him, thereby appearing to be a tough boss. It apparently worked, as her problems with her employees were reduced. She left Alessandro's when Chandler's firm required him to relocate to Tulsa, Oklahoma; however, when she contacted a job-hunter about Tulsa restaurant openings, she found out about, and accepted, her new job as head chef at Javu, an upmarket restaurant in Manhattan, forcing her to remain in New York

Geller family

Monica is Ross Geller's younger sister, and although they are quite affectionate of each other, there is a great deal of competition between the two. Ross was always going overboard while playing pranks on her in the process, being very mean to her as a child. Although she has since forgiven him, they often fall back into childish brother/sister arguments. In many episodes, Ross and Monica resorted to an odd childhood gesture whereby they would knock their fists together with their thumbs pointing outward (as an alternative way of giving the finger). Some of the other friends eventually picked up this habit.

In Season 9 they both shockingly find out that they have kissed each other at a party back in their teenage years. Ross explains that he went into his bedroom in the dark and kissed Rachel (who was buried under a pile of coats) while she was passed out on his bed. Chandeler then explained that he left Rachel in his room, which meant Monica was the one asleep in Ross's room. Ross was confused and saying that Rachel was buried under a bunch of coats, then Monica replied "I WAS the pile of coats!" Ross is then very disappointed that Monica was his "first kiss with Rachel" while Monica was even more disappointed that Ross was her "first kiss ever."

Monica and Ross are especially competitive when their parents are around and Monica feels her parents favour Ross. Judy Geller tends to be especially critical of Monica and has sometimes forgotten that she has two children. In one episode, Ross and Chandler each place fake entries on their internet college forum about the other. Chandler states that Ross has died, and during a phone call between Ross and his mother, while trying to reassure her that he is not dead, he says, "Even if I had died you wouldn't be left childless." His mother has obviously forgotten about her daughter as Ross looks up to the camera and sharply states "Monica!" obviously reminding her of her daughter's existence.

Other occurrences of Monica feeling neglected by her family include:

• her parents not wanting her to make the main toast at their 35th wedding anniversary party (they prefer Ross's speeches because they make people cry)
• having her childhood room turned into a gym while Ross's was untouched
• having all of her old mementos destroyed by water damage in her parents garage, while Ross's all remained in perfect condition (although her dad gave her his Porsche to make it up to her, much to Ross's jealousy). Also, in the episode, 'The One With Phoebe's Birthday Dinner,' Monica states, in surprise, 'Mom's Here!' saying she wanted to lunch with her but she said she was out of town.

Judy Geller also is always telling Monica to get married. Monica's father is Jewish and, although she almost never shows any religious or ethnic identification, she is sometimes identified as Jewish by others in the group, and Ross talks about getting Monica a Hanukkah present several times. Monica also mentions that she had a Bat Mitzvah.

During the Season 8 finale in the hospital, Judy Geller ignores Monica when she waves to her. Her mother also once referred to Rachel as the daughter she never had.

Age

Monica mentions her age in several episodes. The references are not precisely consistent but can be harmonized with a birth date in April 1969.

In Season 1's "The One With the Ick Factor", which aired on May 4 1995, Monica says she is 26. Worth noting is the fact that this is the episode which has her lying about her age to her boyfriend, who was revealed to be a senior in high school at the time. When she eventually reveals her true age, she says she's "25... and 13 months."

In Season 2's "The One Where Ross and Rachel...You Know", which aired on February 8 1996, Monica says she is 27. She could be projecting her age forward to a not-too distant 27th birthday in April, 1996.

In Season 3's "The One With the Jam", which aired on October 3 1996, Monica says it took her 28 years to find a man (Richard) she could have spent her life with, and she's not waiting another 28. This is a bit inconsistent, but Monica could be speaking in approximate terms and if at this point she were age 27 1/2, she would be midway through her 28th year.

In "The One Where They All Turn Thirty", Monica is shown wearing her engagement ring on the day of her 30th birthday. Since her birthday is April 22 1969, this conflicts with the fact that she was 31 when she got engaged in The One with the Proposal, Part 2 (aired on May 18 2000).

Relationships

• Husband: Chandler Bing
• Ex-Boyfriends: Paul, Fun Bobby, Ethan, Allan, Dr. Richard Burke, Pete Becker, Kip
• Brief Relationships/Dates: Chip Matthews, Stewart, Julio, Timothy Burke

Production

Courtney Cox Arquette originally auditioned for the part of Rachel Green, but landed in the role of Monica. Leah Remini auditioned for the role of Monica. Maggie Wheeler also auditioned for the part but ended up playing recurring character Janice instead. Actress Jami Gertz was offered and declined the role of Monica before Friends went into production.

The role of Monica was originally conceived as the oldest of the friends, but was changed after Courteney Cox Arquette was cast. Ironically, Cox Arquette is the second oldest member of the Friends cast.

Monica's apartment was one of the main focal points of the series. Many critics of the show began to question how Monica could ever afford the apartment on a chef's salary, so the writers of Friends came up with the explanation that she illegally sublet the apartment from her grandmother, who had moved to Florida. In the series finale, Chandler remarks to his newborn child, "Thanks to rent control, it was a friggin' steal."

Early in the series, the writers were going to have a relationship between Monica and Joey rather than Chandler. This can be picked up on the fact that she had a crush on Joey when he first moves in and is even sneaked in when it's revealed that Monica was looking for Joey on the night of Ross' wedding, not Chandler.

Monica says the first lines in the series.

Friends
Main characters	Rachel Green (Jennifer Aniston) Monica Geller (Courteney Cox Arquette) Phoebe Buffay (Lisa Kudrow) Joey Tribbiani (Matt LeBlanc) Chandler Bing (Matthew Perry) Ross Geller (David Schwimmer)
Other characters	Gunther (James Michael Tyler) Janice Litman Goralnik (Maggie Wheeler) Guest stars Recurring characters Significant others
Settings	Central Perk
Music	"I'll Be There for You" by The Rembrandts Discography
Spin off	Joey
Miscellaneous	DVD releases Awards and nominations Episode list Running gags Director list