Monica Geller based the six main characters on some of their own friends and family; Monica is based on Kauffman herself. Observing that each main character was originally written as a "one-note stereotype", Jonathan Bernstein of "The Daily Telegraph" identified Monica as the group's "uptight fun-killer". When "Friends" first aired, the majority of its earliest episodes revolved around Monica, via whom each character appears to be interconnected; "Friends" stars the character's brother, her best friend, her former roommate and her two neighbors socializing in Monica's apartment. In the pilot, Monica is dumped almost immediately after sleeping with her new date Paul on
Monica Geller believes that Cox's own cleanliness closely resembles her character's; at times the actress would clean her co-stars' dressing rooms. Cox also shares the character's motherly nature. The actress enjoyed portraying Monica she was able to "bring more of my own personality to her, and I've never really been able to do that before." Starpulse.com observed that "As Monica, Cox never quite enjoyed the sort of watercooler storylines that co-star ... Jennifer Aniston had with David Schwimmer as the on-again, off-again Rachel and Ross." At one point, Cox had begun to regret her decision to accept the role of Monica over