Rosanna Arquette: ‘You pay the price for being outspoken'

The Guardian

17-07-2025

You've acted in some killer heels. Which have been your favourite? SarahWalesI hate high heels! I can't remember any favourites. In between takes, I'd be in slippers or Uggs. If it's ladylike to be in heels, then that's not my type of lady.
Do you think the entertainment industry still has issues with strong, outspoken, independent women? CaptainLibYou definitely pay a price for being strong, outspoken and independent. But the women whom I admire, like Jane Fonda and Ava DuVernay, are strong, independent and speak their minds.
What are your memories of shooting After Hours with Scorsese? Is it true Scorsese later advised you to work on Mike Hodges' Black Rainbow? Glider and Bauhaus66I had a great time. It was one of those experiences that lives with you. We just celebrated the 40-year anniversary. Something happens when on a night shoot. At 4am, there's a giddiness, a silliness. Working with Scorsese is a dream. And yes, we were on the set of New York Stories and he said: 'There's a script I think you should read, I love this director, Mike Hodges.' So I did it.
What was it like working with Nick Nolte in New York Stories? Kellysahero1970He was such a character. He made me laugh a lot. He is one of the most brilliant, eccentric actors I've ever worked with, and he knows how to connect. I loved him a lot.
What led you into directing, and your documentary, Searching for Debra Winger? repoman71I made it such a long time ago – gosh, 23 years ago. I was a young mother and I had my career. I wanted to talk to other female actors who were balancing their life with their art. That's kind of the exploration of the documentary: how do we do it all? Something always seems to take the back seat. For me, it was hard to put motherhood in the back seat. I remember my daughter's third birthday. I was supposed to have the day off, but we overshot filming, so I wasn't going to be able to fly home from Vancouver and I was absolutely devastated.
I thought: 'This is the most horrible thing. I'm gonna miss my daughter's birthday. It's not worth being an actress.' But then her dad flew her up to surprise me. It got me thinking: how do you make sure your marriage doesn't take a back seat to your career? It reminds me of Michael Powell's The Red Shoes, where she can't make that decision between choosing her life or her art, and she ends up dancing in front of a train. So I think I was just exploring that with other women, asking them how they do it, and it ended up being a really great conversation. I'd like to revisit it now. It's a whole different world.
What was it like making Desperately Seeking Susan, as Madonna went from hip, underground dance act to global superstar? And were you tempted to keep the jacket? HenleyRegatta and thatneilguyShe exploded as we were making the film. It was pretty intense and overwhelming for her, but she handled it great. She wasn't a global superstar yet. She became one while we were doing that. She had hits, but then I remember looking at her on the cover of Rolling Stone on set and thinking: 'Wow!' And I did end up keeping the jacket, but I gave it to Peter Gabriel's daughters and now we can't find it, which is a bummer, as I'd like to have donated it to a museum.
I saw you recently, speaking at the No Kings rally in west Hollywood. Have you always been an activist? PaulMarinerI grew up in a family of activists. My mother was an activist. My father was an activist. Our whole family are activists in some way, shape or form. Civil rights, human rights, and the planet's rights are really what I fight for. And, more than ever now, because I'm living in a country that unfortunately is becoming what seems like an authoritarian dictatorship. It's very frightening.
What was your experience of working on the 1996 Welsh/Hollywood short, Valley Girls, and what did you think of the very quintessentially Welsh turns of phrase? johnnylewisIt was such a long time ago, I can't even remember doing this. Is that terrible? I can't remember a lot of the things I did. I just don't really go and look at my work afterwards. I did see Pulp Fiction in a hotel recently. It was past my scene, so I watched the rest of it. But I don't sit and secretly watch myself.
I absolutely love the 1988 Luc Besson movie, The Big Blue. Was the shoot as sun-kissed and blissful as I've always imagined or was it a real slog being dragged to all those beautiful locations? 11LFO11It was nine months of sun-kissed and blissful. My daughter [Zoë Bleu Sidel] is about to star in Luc Besson's Dracula – A Love Tale, with Christoph Waltz and Caleb Landry Jones. She had to screen test and go through all the process that actors go through. She's the same age I was when I did The Big Blue, which seems wild.
What was it like working with John Cleese in Silverado? PeteTheBeatI would call him 'The Professor'. He was such a wonderful man and suggested books because I was very upset that I'd never been to college. So he was like my professor.
If you had a time machine, like in your new film Futra Days, where would you go? TurangaLeela2I'm still trying to learn how to be in the present. But, if I had a time machine, I'd probably turn back time to the last election in America.
Am I gonna be in trouble if I say that? Because it seems like you can't say anything. I'm just trying to understand: are we in America? Are we in Russia? That's what seems to be happening here.
Do you do Rosanna by Toto at karaoke? McScootikinsGod, no. Please. It would be so embarrassing. I've done Patti Smith, and Nirvana. If I do anything, I'll do that.
Has there been a role you wanted that would have taken your career to new heights? Kal_85Years ago, before it became the gigantic movie, there was an incredible script called 3000, that I was going to do with Sean Connery. It ended up going away and then coming back in its new form: Pretty Woman with Julia Roberts and Richard Gere. It originally didn't have a happy ending. I've heard my sister [Patricia Arquette] tell the same story. Apparently, she was also up for it, but was too young. I dunno. Maybe?
Futra Days in on digital platforms from 21 July