Courteney Cox Talks Dating, David: "He's Not a Malicious Person"

Cougartown opens up about demise of her marriage, her hope to one day reunite with Arquette and how their daughter remains their No. 1 priority

By Gina Serpe Mar 15, 2011 5:15 PMTags
Courteney Cox, Harper's Bazaar CoverHarpers Bazaar

David Arquette had his chance to speak out. A few chances, actually.

Now it's Courteney Cox's turn to talk about the demise of her marriage (not that it's necessarily over), why she wasn't upset at David running his mouth to the press, and why she's in no rush to jump back into the dating pool.

Cox's reasons for calling time (at least temporarily) on their vows was more or less put forth by Arquette during his media blitz earlier this year. Turns out, he was relaying her feelings pretty accurately.

"I think every relationship has a point where you stop and reevaluate," she told Harper's Bazaar. "Are you happy? Have you grown together or apart? What do you share interests in? I think that's a normal thing to do, but it's so much harder when it's done publicly.

"The thing is, when you get older, it's more about compatibility than it is about love," she went on. "I think it's more about needing just a kind of peace and stillness. I'm kind of all over the place, and I need grounding. I want to be calm. I want to change a lot. I want to live not outside but inside. It's nothing with David; it's just what I'm searching for."

Though, to be clear, she's not actively searching at the moment. In addition to once again denying any relationship with her Cougartown costar and supportive pal Brian Van Holt, Courteney doesn't seem to be in any rush to put herself out there.

"I have no desire right now. I'm not saying never. It just seems weird. I don't even know how that would happen or how you meet people. I really don't like to go out. I'm not great at small talk. I like to go to dinner with people. I don't like to go to parties. There's a sign on my forehead: 'Exiting social life, entering into isolation.'"

Right now, she said, her No. 1 priority is daughter Coco.

"No matter what happens, she'll be okay, because she knows that she is completely safe, loved, and we'll protect that more than anything in the world."

As for David, Cox surprisingly said that she harbored no ill will toward him—neither now, as they remain friends, nor when he went on his makeshift media tour.

"If you didn't hear the Howard Stern interviews and you just read quotes, I'm sure it seemed out of context, crazy," she admitted. "I'm not saying there wasn't some crazy behavior, but if you know who David is, you know what his intentions are, how honest he is, and how big his heart is.

"You can't really get mad at David, because he's not a malicious person. He was dealing with things the best way he could. And don't get me wrong, he was on a show for entertainment. David is smart, and David is also a showman. He knew what he was doing. I don't know what's going to happen, but I don't think he'll be doing more Howard Stern anytime soon. He's not out to harm. But I'm his biggest protector. I can't help it."

She also can't help that his bedroom activities were made common knowledge, but that too is something that she doesn't seem to have a problem with.

"He absolutely did nothing that wasn't in the boundaries of what we set for our separation, so there's nothing to judge," she told the magazine. "I may not have known about it, but that's the only difference."

As for their possible future together, Courteney certainly isn't closing the door completely.

"We loved each other so much, and if anything I feel like we've been extremely successful at marriage. If it doesn't work out, I will have huge waves of pain about failing in that department. But right now I don't have that because I don't know what the future holds and I guess because I have strong feelings for him."