Contact Enhanced > Categories

Monica Elizabeth Geller-Bing (born April 4, 1969) is a fictional character on the popular U.S. television sitcom Friends (1994–2004), played by Courteney Cox. Monica was known as the "Mother Hen" of the group and her Greenwich Village apartment was one of the group's main gathering places.

Background

Monica was born April 4, 1969. Monica is Ross's younger sister, and the daughter of Jack and Judy Geller. Monica, like the rest of her family, is Jewish. She had a slightly difficult childhood, characterized by the bickering which took place between her and her brother (some culminating in memorable events such as the Geller Cup, which took place every Thanksgiving). She also had (and still has) a difficult relationship with her parents, who unconsciously favor Ross over her on various occasions. (Her father did try to fix this by giving her his Porsche in The One Where Rosita Dies.) High school was a difficult time for Monica, who gained a substantial amount of weight and peaked at 255 pounds. She had few friends; her best friend being Rachel Green. For prom, she even had a date: Roy Gublik. Her first kiss, however, was (by accident) her brother, Ross.^[5] She met Chandler Bing at her parents' house on Thanksgiving Day, 1987. She initially had a crush on him (even became a chef because he told her that he liked her macaroni) until she overheard him referring to her as Ross' "fat sister." The shock was so great for her that she became determined to take off all her extra weight by the next time he would see her. She accomplished this goal by Thanksgiving, 1988.^[6] She unintentionally got back at him by dropping a knife and severing one of his toes during a failed attempt to seduce him.

After college, Monica pursued life in New York as a chef at Iridium. She also lived with Phoebe Buffay, across the hall from Chandler. She would later date, marry, and raise her adopted twins Erica and Jack, with Chandler. Phoebe moved out because she was worried that their friendship would suffer due to Monica's obsessive tidiness. She had a crush on Joey Tribbiani when he first moved in with Chandler, although he repelled her by stripping naked in her apartment the day they met^[7].