Courteney Cox is going back to where it all began.
On June 9, the “Friends” star posted a clip on Instagram in which she has a bit of fun with the “Asking my parents how they danced in the ‘80s” trend when she re-created her classic dance scene from Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark” video.
The clip begins with Cox, 59, in jeans and a sweat jacket while the words “Asking my mom how she danced in the 80’s” appear on the screen.
She flails her arms a little while uncomfortably bopping along to “Smalltown Boy” by Bronski Beat before she shakes her head and unzips her jacket to reveal the “Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band” T-shirt she wore in the “Dancing in the Dark” video, while the song plays. She then starts dancing the exact same way she did in the legendary 1984 video.
The post, which was also shared on TikTok, then shifts to a clip of Cox onstage with Springsteen in the original video.
“1980’s dancing…in the dark,” Cox captioned the post, which garnered kudos from some pretty well-known people.
“You win! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️,” Jennifer Garner commented.
“👏🏽💃🏼😂,” Cox’s “Friends” co-star Jennifer Aniston wrote.
“♥️Right?! It just doesn’t get better than this, @courteneycoxofficial @jennifer.garner said it: You win!” concurred Jane Sibbett, who played Carol, the ex-wife of David Schwimmer’s Ross on “Friends.”
“Perfection!” Bangles lead singer Susanna Hoffs wrote.
“legendary! 🔥,” commented Ricki Lake.
“Kids still got it,” gushed Oscar winner Patricia Arquette, whose brother David was married to Cox from 1999 until 2013.
Cox’s appearance in the “Dancing in the Dark” video, shot during an actual show in St. Paul, Minnesota, essentially kick-started her career. In the video, directed by Brian De Palma, Cox, who was an obscure actor at the time, was selected at a casting call to play a fan at a Springsteen concert who is pulled onstage by the Boss himself and dances with him. Springsteen recalled the story in his memoir, according to Minnesota’s Star Tribune.
Cox reflected on the experience in a 2017 interview with Sam Jones for “Off Camera.”
“I was so nervous and embarrassed,” she said.
“I didn’t want to dance in front of 30,000 people,” she added.
Drew Weisholtz is a reporter for TODAY Digital, focusing on pop culture, nostalgia and trending stories. He has seen every episode of “Saved by the Bell” at least 50 times, longs to perfect the crane kick from “The Karate Kid” and performs stand-up comedy, while also cheering on the New York Yankees and New York Giants. A graduate of Rutgers University, he is the married father of two kids who believe he is ridiculous.
