HOLLYWOOD, Calif. -- When you move seven times in 10 years, you should know a thing or two about home decorating.
Like Courteney Cox and David Arquette, the Hollywood power couple behind Mix It Up, a new Trading Spaces-like series airing in the U.S. on WE: Woman's Entertainment.
Cox is the one with the moving bug. "To me, it's a way to just get rid of stuff," she told TV critics Tuesday. "I don't have much memorabilia in my life, which is not good. David, on the other hand ... we have napkins from his grandfather, Charlie Weaver."
Arquette admits he's the pack rat. He's the one stocking the couple's karaoke room, where you'll find a pinball machine, Donkey Kong, Pac-Man, Foosball, a pool table, a big disco ball and even a stage to sing on.
Arquette has all his "homies" on display -- little toy gangstas -- as well as hundreds of Russian matrioshka dolls. "There's five or seven in each one, so you do the math," he says.
Back when they were dating, Cox and Arquette were like the Odd Couple. They'd always crash at her place "because there was actual food in the refrigerator ..." said Cox, "... and you didn't have to sit on pizza boxes," said Arquette.
Cox's house was stocked with carefully chosen antiques. Arquette's pad, according to Cox, was stocked with people he didn't even know watching his TV. "David's a lot younger than me," Cox offered by way of explanation.
She's 39, he's 31; they met on the set of Scream in 1996 and married in 1999.
The clash in style (or lack of style) is really what the series is all about. How couples "mix it up" after they decide to move in together.
What you won't see on the show is Cox and Arquette. As creators and executive producers of the series, they both insist they're very hands-on but neither wanted to grab any face time. They want the focus to be on the various designers they hired and the couples who get booted out of their own spaces for 48 hours as they mix, match and make over.
Cox didn't want to just throw in a cameo or two of her adjusting sofas or scrubbing up in the kitchen. The fact that their star power would be the one thing that might set this show apart from the 30 dozen home makeover shows didn't seem to matter. Hey, you tell them they're wrong.
You won't see any of their famous pals, either, like Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt, although Cox says Pitt is quite the craftsman. "I just admire Brad's work. When I go to their house, I just can't believe the ideas that he has and accomplishes."
Cox looked cool and relaxed in a low cut black blouse with a gold teddy underneath. Arquette looked respectfully goofy in a suit. Their opposite attraction seems as strong as ever. Arquette described Cox as assertive, direct and "the realest person I've ever met." Cox said Arquette is "the sweetest person" with "the biggest heart." Awwwww...
Cox says that 10th and final season on Friends "is going to be very emotional." The final 18 episodes start this fall. The decision to do one more year came after hours of talks in the various Friends' stars dressing rooms. "There's six of us and we all stick together," she said. "So we had to make sure that we were all ready to go at the same time."
Then there was that million-dollar-a-week paycheque. Arquette said his wife worked her tail off during the hiatus on a small indie film called November. The entire budget was $300,000. "It was incredible hours, you know, nights, and when she got done with it she's like ... you know, she couldn't wait to get back to Friends," said Arquette.
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