What the Hell Happened to Rosanna Arquette?

Rosanna Arquette was the first of several siblings to break into Hollywood.  Throughout the 80’s, Arquette seemed constantly on the brink of stardom.  But her big break never materialized.  There’s some memorable films on Arquette’s resume, but she was rarely the star.  Over time, the actress who inspired a hit pop song was relegated to supporting roles.  After a decade of buzz, Arquette’s spotlight faded.  Now she’s gone and I have to say…

What the hell happened?

The Arquette siblings
The Arquette siblings

Arquette was born into a family of entertainers.  Her mother was a renaissance woman who was an activist, a teacher and a therapist in addition to writing and acting.  Her father, Lewis Arquette, was a writer and actor best known for his recurring role on the TV show, The Waltons.  Her paternal grandfather was vaudeville comedian, Cliff Arquette known for his character, Charley Weaver.  The point I’m trying to make is that Arquette comes from good stock.  There’s show biz in her bones.  So it’s no wonder that she and her four younger siblings have all been bit by the acting bug.  Her Oscar-winning sister, Patricia, and youngest brother David are the most famous of her siblings.

Arquette - Having Babies II
Rosanna Arquette – Having Babies II – 1977

Arquette’s acting debut was playing a teen obsessed with boys in the 1977 TV movie, Having Babies II.  The second movie was the Empire Strikes Back of the Having Babies trilogy.  Yes, there were three TV movies from 1977-1978 and they are about exactly what you would think given the title.  All three movies are about couples having babies.  The movies were successful enough to spawn a short-lived TV series.  The TV series was also titled Having Babies but was later renamed after its lead character, Julie Farr, M.D.

Rosanna Arquette - The Dark Secret of Harvest Home - 1978
Rosanna Arquette – The Dark Secret of Harvest Home – 1978

In 1978, Arquette started showing up all over the dial.  First she appeared in the creepy mini-series, The Dark Secret of Harvest Home.  Arquette plays the fifteen-year-old daughter of a couple that moves out to the country to get away from it all.  They end up in a idyllic town with a dark secret.  Bette Davis stars as the stern community leader who may or may not be over-seeing Satanic rituals (spoiler alert: she totally is), future Growing Pains star, Tracey Gold, plays the requisite freaky kid and Danny Noonan himself (aka actor Michael O’Keefe) plays a country boy who is sweet on Arquette.

Davis gave the young actress some words of advice that stuck with Arquette:

I remember a day where a camera broke. We were in Ohio, and it was hot. The heat was really hellacious. And she kind of grabbed me, gave me a hug, and sat me on her lap, and said, ‘This is Hell. And just remember, you cannot have a career and a relationship. It will never work.’ And it haunted me all my life! And you know what? God, she was right!

Rosanna Arquette - James at 16 - 1978
Rosanna Arquette – James at 16 – 1978

Arquette also appeared in TV shows like What Really Happened to the Class of ’65? and James at 16 (pictured).  Arquette played a classmate who befriends James.  When he invites her to his house for dinner, he finds out that she is an alcoholic.  Because this was a 70’s TV program, that meant Arquette got to go completely crazy while everyone around hr politely tried to take her home and ignore her problem.

Rosanna Arquette - ABC Afterschool Specials: Mom and Dad Can't Hear Me - 1978
Rosanna Arquette – ABC Afterschool Specials: Mom and Dad Can’t Hear Me – 1978

Wow, this article is turning out to be a treasure trove of 70’s goodness.  I feel like heating up a boiling pot of fondue and taking in an Afterschool Special.  Fortunately, Arquette starred in one of those too!  In the episode Mom and Dad Can’t Hear Me, Arquette played a teenage girl who is embarrassed by her deaf parents.  It’s all right there in the title, people!

My kids are writing their own Afterschool Special titled My Dad Blogs About Actors I’ve Never Heard Of.  I’m hoping to be played by David Duchovny but I’m thinking it’s more likely to be Jim Belushi.

Rosanna Arquette - Zuma Beach - 1978
Rosanna Arquette – Zuma Beach – 1978

After that, it was back to the beach as Arquette made an appearance in the Suzanne Somers TV movie, Zuma Beach.  Somers played a fading rock star who decides to get away from it all by going to the beach.  She ends up getting involved in the lives of the local teens.

Steven Keats, Michael Biehn, P.J. Soles, Delta Burke, Timothy Hutton and Tonya Roberts co-starred.  John Carpenter, yes THE John Carpenter, was one of the writers.

Rosanna Arquette - The Ordeal of Patty Hearst - 1979
Rosanna Arquette – The Ordeal of Patty Hearst – 1979

The wave of TV appearances carried on into 1979.  After visiting the Bradford clan on the popular family comedy, Eight is Enough, Arquette appeared in the TV movie The Ordeal of Patty Hearst.  Dennis Weaver starred as an FBI agent investigating the abduction of the famous heiress.  Arquette played his daughter.

Arquette followed those up with a guest spot on The Runaways which featured her Zuma Beach co-star Michael Biehn in a recurring role.  Then she made her movie debut in the sequel, More American Graffiti.  She played “Girl in Commune”.

Rosanna Arquette - Shirley - 1979-1980
Rosanna Arquette – Shirley – 1979-1980

By the end of the year, Arquette had landed a recurring role on the family show, Shirley.  Shirley Jones of Partridge Family fame starred as a widow raising three kids.  Arquette’s The Dark Secret of Harvest Home co-star, Tracey Gold, played her younger sister on the series.  The series was cancelled in 1980 after 13 episodes aired.

Rosanna Arquette - Gorp - 1980
Rosanna Arquette – Gorp – 1980

In 1980, Arquette returned to the big screen.  Once again, it was in a small supporting role.  But at least this time, her character had a name.  Unfortunately, the movie was a Meatballs knock-off called Gorp.

What does the title mean?  No idea.  Why was a comedy about summer camp called Meatballs?  That seems to be the thinking here.  If a movie about summer camp can be called something as nonsensical as Meatballs, why not just make up a funny-sounding name for your knock off about a Jewish summer camp.  Michael Lembeck, Dennis Quaid and Fran Dresher starred.

Yeah, it’s the kind of comedy that followed in the wake of Animal House.   It bragged about being offensive as though that translated into being riotously funny.  But really, it’s Meatballs without Bill Murray.  It’s just a pile of gorp whatever that is.

Rosanna Arquette - S.O.B. - 1981
Rosanna Arquette – S.O.B. – 1981

The minor movie roles continued in 1981 as Arquette appeared in Blake Edwards show biz comedy, S.O.B.

Richard Mulligan played a producer whose last movie bombed.  Julie Andrews (Edward’s wife in real life), played the producer’s wife and star of his new movie.  At the time, Andrews was best known for playing Mary Poppins and Maria from The Sound of Music.  Her character in S.O.B. suffers from a similar problem of being seen as “America’s Sweetheart”.  So in a case of art imitating life, Andrew’s character agrees to go topless in her husband’s new movie to try to shake up her image.

William Holden played the director of the movie-within-a-movie.  Robert Preston played Andrew’s doctor.  Robert Vaughn played the president of the studio making the movie.  Larry Hagman played a studio executive.  And Loretta Swit appeared as gossip columnist.  Jennifer Edwards (writer-director Blake Edwards’ real-life daughter) played a hitchhiker who gets picked up by Holden and Arquette played her friend who comes along for the ride.

S.O.B. was “meta” before “meta” was a thing.  It’s largely based on Edwards own experiences with studio interference.  In 1970, Edwards directed the musical Darling Lili which also starred Andrews.  That film was an attempt to let Andrews shed her goodie-goodie image by having her play a femme fatale.  Edwards fought with Paramount executives throughout the making of Darling Lili.  In the end, the studio ended up recutting the movie without the director’s input.  After a couple of similar experiences, Edwards ended up leaving Hollywood and setting up shop in Europe where he went on to make the popular Pink Panther movies.

S.O.B. was a divisive movie.  It was nominated for two Golden Raspberry Awards; Worst Director and Worst Screenplay.  But it was also nominated for Best Comedy by the Writer’s Guild of America.  And it received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical.  Ultimately, S.O.B. didn’t take home any of the prizes.  The promise of a topless Mary Poppins was enough to make S.O.B. the 50th highest-grossing movie of 1981.

Rosanna Arquette - A Long Way Home - 1981
Rosanna Arquette – A Long Way Home – 1981

After S.O.B., Arquette returned to the small screen.  First, she had a guest spot on the family show, Here’s Boomer.  The show was about a dog named Boomer who goes from town to town helping people.  You know, like dogs do.  Then she co-starred opposite Timothy Hutton in the TV movie, A Long Way Home.  Hutton played an orphan who decides to track down the siblings he has been separated from.  Arquette played his supportive fiancée.

The movie starts off with text assuring the audience that although the story is fictionalized, it was inspired by actual events.  I skipped through this movie on YouTube looking for a screen capture.  I happened on the scene in which Hutton’s character on-chalantly proposes to Arquette.  Her response was classic: “Maybe we should try living together first.  That way if you don’t like me, you can get rid of me.”  In case that line of dialogue wasn’t cheesy enough, the conversation just happens to take place as they walk past a bakery with a giant wedding cake on display.

Rosanna Arquette - A Long Way Home - 1981
Rosanna Arquette – A Long Way Home – 1981

Hutton, who was abandoned by his parents as a child, responds with: “Don’t say that.  You don’t just get rid of somebody!”  And then they walk on past the bakery probably looking for another shop window with an appropriate backdrop for their continuing conversation.  She ends up storming off into a hardware store.  Don’t worry kids.  She changes her mind.

Rosanna Arquette - The Wall - 1982
Rosanna Arquette – The Wall – 1982

TV movies continued through 1982.  First, Arquette appeared in The Wall.  No, not the Pink Floyd rock opera.  This was about the uprising in the Warsaw Ghetto in 1943.  Although both movies contain Nazi imagery.

Tom Conti, Lisa Eichorn, Eli Wallach, James Cromwell and Griffin Dunne co-starred.

Rosanna Arquette - The Executioner's Song - 1982
Rosanna Arquette – The Executioner’s Song – 1982

After that, Arquette starred opposite Tommy Lee Jones in the TV movie, The Executioner’s Song.

Jones played Gary Gilmore, a real-life murderer who lobbied for his own execution.  Christine Lahti played a distant cousin who tried to keep Gilmore out of trouble.  Arquette played a 19-year-old with two kids who becomes romantically involved with the much older man.

At least one aspect of Arquette’s performance was genuine:

It was hard, because I remember the scene in the car, when he’s screaming at the car, and it really scared [the kids]. They didn’t know. I hate that. I was trying to talk to them and tell them that we were pretending, but they were too young to understand that it was just pretend. You can see me looking upset and trying to protect them. When we were finished with the take, I said, “Okay, that’s it. One take, done. I’m not scaring these kids anymore.

The Executioner’s Song was nominated for three Primetime Emmys.  Jones won for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or a Special.  Arquette was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or a Special but lost to Barbara Stanwyck for The Thorn Birds.  Even though Arquette didn’t win, the movie elevated her profile.  People were beginning to take notice of her.

Among those taking notice was the rock band, Toto.  Arquette was dating the band’s keyboard player at the time when they released a hit single barring her name.

Fans assumed the song was about the actress.  How could it not be?  Her name is Rosanna Yeah!  The band initially “played along” with the fan theory.  But later they recanted claiming that the song was based on “numerous girls” that David Paich, the writer of the tune, had known.  Bummer!  I don’t know about you but I am going to go on pretending the song is about Arquette.  I have been operating under that assumption for over three decades and I’m not ready to change my thoughts on the matter to better fit reality.  Sorry, David Paich.

The music video in which the band is enclosed in a chain link fence while a blonde girl who resembles Arquette twirls around in a red dress got a lot of play in the early eighties.  I used to think the girl was Arquette, but it’s not.  It’s  Cynthia Rhodes who was cast opposite John Travolta in the Saturday Night Fever sequel, Staying Alive and after that played Penny in Dirty Dancing.

Rosanna, which I think we can all agree is totally about Arquette no matter what some songwriter says, won Record of the Year at the Grammys and peaked at #2 on the Billboard charts.  Number 2?!?  The songs that topped Rosanna were  “Don’t You Want Me” by The Human League and “Eye Of The Tiger” by Survivor.  Okay, well, those are some pretty great songs.

So you may be asking yourself if Rosanna wasn’t written about Arquette, which pop song did the actress inspire.  Hang on, skippy.  I’m getting to that.

Rosanna Arquette - Johnny Belinda - 1982
Rosanna Arquette – Johnny Belinda – 1982

Arquette’s third and final TV movie of the year was Johnny Belinda.  The movie was based on a 1940 stage play which had previously been adapted to the big screen in 1948 and as a TV movie starring Mia Farrow in 1967.

Arquette played a deaf-mute whose family resents her because her mother died giving birth to her.  Richard Thomas of The Waltons played a kindly doctor who figures out that Arquette is actually deaf, not mentally impaired as her family assumed.  Dennis Quaid played a town hooligan who assaults Arquette when she attempts to resist his advances.

In 1983, Arquette started bouncing between TV and movie roles.  First she appeared in an episode of the Catholic anthology show, Insight.

Rosanna Arquette - Baby It's You - 1983
Rosanna Arquette – Baby It’s You – 1983

Arquette landed her first starring role on the big screen in John Sayles’ period romance, Baby It’s You.

Vincent Spano played an Italian-American who is obsessed with cars and Frank Sinatra.  Arquette played a high school student in 1966 who falls for Spano.  Stop me if you’ve heard this before.  He’s from the wrong side of town.  She’s college-bound.  Boy meets girl.  Boy loses girl.  I wonder what happens next.

Baby It’s You was John Sayles’ first movie distributed by a major Hollywood studio.  Although Paramount released the movie, they didn’t produce it.  All of the major studios passed on the script because they didn’t like the ending.  Paramount fought with Sayles to make the ending more upbeat.  When he refused, they dumped the movie in theaters with very little promotion.

The supporting cast includes Robert Downey Jr, Tracy Pollan and Matthew Modine.  Most of Downey’s performance ended up on the cutting room floor:

I had four weeks work in Baby It’s You, and I told all my friends I was now, officially, a major talent and film star. And then they cut my scenes out. You don’t even see me except in one scene-you see me in the background until this self-indulgent actress leans forward to try and get more camera time . . . My friends called it Maybe It’s You.

Despite positive reviews, Baby It’s You flopped at the box office.  It only cost $3 million to make, but it grossed less than $2 million dollars.

Off the Wall - 1983
Off the Wall – 1983

After that, Arquette played a liquored up vixen who picks up a couple of hitchhikers in the little seen 1983 “comedy” Off the Wall.  Arquette’s character drives recklessly and then abandons the hitchhikers to take the fall for her crimes.  Later, she feels bad for getting the boys locked up in prison and decides to break them out of jail.

The movie was panned by critics.  Roger Ebert wrote, “Off the Wall is beneath contempt — one of the most lame-brained movies of recent years. It appears to have been produced, written and directed by people who have contempt for their audiences, disregard for the talents of their actors and, worst of all, no sense of humor.”

He was especially incensed over the way the movie wasted the talents of Arquette, “If I had never before seen her in a movie, I’d assume she was just another interchangable Identikit sexy blond. But I have seen her before: She played Gary Gilmore’s young girlfriend in the made-for-TV movie The Executioner’s Song, and gave a wonderful performance.”

Rosanna Arquette - One Cooks, the Other One Doesn't - 1983
Rosanna Arquette – One Cooks, the Other One Doesn’t – 1983

The year ended with another TV movie.  In One Cooks, the Other Doesn’t, Joseph Bologna finds himself living with his ex-wife played by Suzanne Pleshette.  Proving that he has all the balls in the world, he brings along his new fiancée played by Arquette.

This being a 1983 TV movie, Bologna differentiates between his two gorgeous wives according to their cooking ability.  Pleshette cooks.  Arquette doesn’t.

1984 slipped by with Arquette appearing in a single TV movie titled The Parade.  But 1985 was going to be a big year.  Let’s check it out!

Rosanna Arquette - The Aviator - 1985
Rosanna Arquette – The Aviator – 1985

Arquette kicked things off opposite Christopher “Don’t Call Me Superman” Reeve in George Miller’s period drama, The Aviator.

Reeve played a bare-knuckled macho man who flew planes in the early days of aviation, the 1920’s.  He’s more used to flying mail and objects than to the idea of taking on a passenger.  Even if it is a rich man’s daughter played by Arquette.  Things go wrong and Reeve crash-lands the plane on a mountain populated by hungry wolves.

Reeve was actually a qualified pilot and did a lot of his own flying in the movie.  He was entering what was supposed to be the post-Man of Steel phase of his career.  But The Aviator kicked off a string of box office disappointments that would eventually send Reeve back to the Superman franchise one more time.

Rosanna Arquette - Desperately Seeking Susan - 1985
Rosanna Arquette – Desperately Seeking Susan – 1985

Next, Arquette found herself in the middle of a pop culture revolution when she starred opposite the Material Girl in Susan Seidleman’s comedy, Desperately Seeking Susan.

Arquette played a bored housewife looking for adventure.  She becomes interested in a stranger who she reads about in the personal ads.  She follows one of the ads to try to meet the stranger whose life sounds more interesting than her own.  Madonna played the mystery woman, Susan.  It turns out, Susan is wanted by the mob.  But when Arquette starts to emulate Madonna’s style, she gets caught up in the intrigue.  Aidan Quinn, Laurie Metcalf and John Turturro co-starred.

The movie was originally intended to star Diane Keaton and Goldie Hawn with Hawn playing the mystery woman and Keaton playing the housewife.  But the studio decided they wanted to try to appeal to a younger audience.  Arquette expressed an interest in playing Susan and was surprised to discover the producers wanted her for the lead instead.

The decision to cast Madonna as Susan was largely motivated by budget.  Madonna had two hit records under her belt and a brief appearance in the movie Vision Quest.  But she was still unproven as a movie star.  Ellen Barkin, Melanie Griffith  and Jennifer Jason Leigh were all considered for the part.  Singer Suzanne Vega also auditioned.  The fact that there were two female leads made casting the male lead challenging.  Producers wanted Kevin Costner and Dennis Quaid to read for the part, but they refused.

Arquette was proud of the fact that the movie was a rarity for its time.  The producers, writers and director were all female along with the two leads:

It just didn’t happen like that. You didn’t see films with women running them in every way, shape, or form.

She recalled one instance when the estrogen level on the set may have been a little too high:

I remember that one of the producers, Sarah Pillsbury, had just had a baby, and there was a discrepancy during filming about whether Roberta had amnesia at this point in the film or not. There was this back-and-forth bickering. Because it was shot out of sequence, and we’d be confused about whether she still had amnesia. So we were all in a little huddle, and… we were all weeping! [Laughs.] I’ll never forget that. It was, like, ‘There you go: This is why they don’t have movies done with all women.’ That just cracked me up. It was only just that one moment, but we were all in such a hormonal state trying to work this thing out. And then we all laughed. It was, like, ‘Okay, this is silly, let’s get back to work. So we figured it out, we went back to work, and it was all good.

Desperately Seeking Susan was marketed as “the Madonna movie”.  Arquette won a BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actress despite the fact that she was clearly the film’s lead.  She was also nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical but lost to Kathleen Turner who won for Prizzi’s Honor.

If Arquette was upset about being overshadowed by a pop star in her first major leading role, she doesn’t show it.  She remembered Madonna having a great deal of star power early on:

She had no acting experience. But she certainly had a presence. She was becoming the biggest thing in the world as we were doing the film. So she wasn’t that big, but she was this presence on MTV, so I kept seeing the “Lucky Star” video and just being obsessed with how gorgeous she was. She has that star quality. She really does. It’s like Angelina Jolie, where she walks in and you just go, “Wow…” She has it. And she always had that presence.

Critics responded well to the movie and it was a hit at the box office.  In 2007, Desperately Seeking Susan was adapted into a stage musical featuring original music by Blondie.

Rosanna Arquette - Silverado - 1985
Kevin Costner and Rosanna Arquette – Silverado – 1985

Continuing a busy year, Arquette showed up in a supporting role in Lawrence Kasdan’s Western revival, Silverado.

Scott Glenn and Kevin Costner played brothers in the old West who team up with cowboys played by Kevin Kline and Danny Glover.  Together, they take on a ruthless lawman played by Brian Dennehy.  Arquette played a woman from a wagon train who catches Kline’s eye.  John Cleese, Jeff Goldblum, Linda Hunt and Jeff Fahey co-starred.

Critics liked Silverado, but they didn’t love it.  It opened poorly at the box office ranking seventh behind The Explorers.  But it ended up being a modest hit based on positive world of mouth.  It failed to revive the Western, but it has developed a cult following over time.

Rosanna Arquette - After Hours - 1985
Rosanna Arquette – After Hours – 1985

Next, Arquette starred opposite Griffin Dunne in Martin Scorsese’s crime comedy, After Hours.

Dunne played a meek word processor who meets a girl played by Arquette in a coffee shop.  Later that night, Dunne decides to pay Arquette a visit in her Soho apartment.  Instead, he meets her roommate played by Linda Fiorentino, a sculptress who makes paperweights that resemble bagels.  From there, Dunne goes on a series of late night misadventures.  Spoiler warning, the following trailer gives away an important plot point:

After Hours was at least partially based on a monologue that appeared on the radio show, NPR Playhouse.  Plot points and even some dialogue are lifted directly from Joe Frank’s 1982 monologue “Lies”.  Frank later sued the film’s producers and received a large cash settlement.

Arquette remembers having fun making After Hours despite working late into the night:

Oh! Probably the most fun I’ve ever had working, even though we were all so exhausted. Because we did night shooting. The whole thing was done at night. So, basically, you’d start work at 4 in the afternoon and go to 5:30 or 6 in the morning, ’til the sun rose. It was such a fun time. Sleep deprivation can make you a little kooky.

Originally, Scorsese was unavailable to direct After Hours.  Tim Burton was the producer’s second choice.  However, Burton stepped aside when Scorsese became available due to production delays on The Last Temptation of Christ.  At the time, Scorsese was at a career crossroads.  In the 70’s, Scorsese had made a name for himself with gritty dramas like Mean Streets and Taxi Driver.  In the 80s, the director struggled with big budget disappointments like New York, New York, The Last Waltz and The King of Comedy.  (The critically revered Raging Bull helped keep Scorsese relevant).

Scorsese said he observed that Hollywood movies were becoming increasingly commercial.  So he sought to reinvent himself with the edgy, low-budget comedy, After Hours.  He borrows heavily from the likes of Hitchcock and Kafka giving the movie a twitchy paranoia.

The movie is really a showcase for Arquette.  She is called upon to be a girl so enticing that she lures Dunne into a secret world of danger.  

Despite mostly positive reviews, audiences didn’t know what to make of After Hours.  It is largely considered to be one of Scorsese’s most under-rated movies.

Rosanna Arquette - 8 Million Ways to Die - 1986
Rosanna Arquette – 8 Million Ways to Die – 1986

1985 was a big year for Arquette.  She appeared in some pretty high profile projects.  But she was overshadowed by Madonna in Desperately Seeking Susan and her role in Silverado was small.  She needed to capitalize on her buzz if she wanted to take her career to the next level.  In 1986, she tried to do just that.  Her first attempt was in Hal Ashby’s crime drama, 8 Million Ways to Die.

Jeff Bridges starred as an alcoholic detective who is struggling to stay on the wagon.  He is invited to a private gambling club where he meets a prostitute played by Alexandra Paul.  She asks him for help but ends up being kidnapped while Bridges is watching.  Andy Garcia plays the baddie and Arquette plays the prostitute who helps Bridges take him down.

Oliver Stone wrote the original script based on the detective stories of Lawrence Block.  The script was then given to legendary screen-writer Robert Towne for a rewrite.  Ashby then had the actors throw away the script and improvise anyway.  Stone was very displeased with the final version of the film.  He wanted to have his name removed, but it was too late to do so.  Towne was able to use a pseudonym, David Lee Henry.

The studio, PSO Entertainment, fired Ashby as soon as principal photography wrapped.  They ended up assuming creative control after that.  8 Million Ways to Die was Ashby’s last theatrical release.  It was not a great end to a career that included Harold and Maude, The Last Detail, Shampoo, Coming Home and Being There.

Critics thought the movie stunk.  It currently holds the dreaded zero-percent ranking on Rotten Tomatoes.  It didn’t fare any better at the box office.  8 Million Ways to Die grossed just over a million dollars on a budget of $18 million.

Rosanna Arquette - Nobody's Fool - 1986
Rosanna Arquette – Nobody’s Fool – 1986

Later that year, Arquette starred opposite Eric Roberts in the romantic comedy-drama, Nobody’s Fool.

Arquette played a lonely woman who is miserable after a difficult break-up.  She seeks escape in the form of an acting workshop put on by a traveling Shakespeare troupe.  Roberts played a stagehand who pursues her.  But she’s still dealing with her complicated feelings for her ex.

Nobody’s Fool was written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Beth Henley.  It played in less than 300 theaters and grossed about half a million dollars.

1986 probably wasn’t what Arquette had in mind for her career.  She was 0-2 at the box office.  But she did get to make her first appearance on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.  She took the opportunity to compliment Carson’s posterior.

Rosanna Arquette - Saturday Night Live - 1986
Rosanna Arquette – Saturday Night Live – 1986

Another sure sign of stardom is getting to host Saturday Night Live.  Arquette got to do that in the Fall of 1986.  The episode became historic for being the first episode in the series history to be pre-recorded.

The episode was scheduled to air on October 25, 1986.  But NBC had broadcasting rights to the World Series between the New York Mets and the Boston Red Sox and Game 6 went into extra innings.  The show went ahead and recorded in front of the live studio audience.  But it wasn’t broadcast until two weeks later on November 8.

Rosanna Arquette - Saturday Night Live - 1986
Rosanna Arquette – Saturday Night Live – 1986

When the episode finally did air, it included an “apology” from Mets pitcher Ron Darling.  He described the feeling in the locker room after their World Series win.  He said at first the guys were excited until they realized that they had preempted SNL and then the mood turned glum.

So remember when I said that Arquette did just maybe inspire one pop song?  In 1986, Peter Gabriel released the song In Your Eyes which may or may not have been about Arquette who was his girlfriend at the time.

Gabriel has never confirmed or denied this.  Arquette’s brother, David, made the claim on The Howard Stern Show.  But I have also seen it refuted by one of the album’s producers.  So believe what you want to believe.  I’m giving Arquette partial credit for both songs.

Rosanna Arquette and Steve Guttenberg - Amazon Women on the Moon - 1987
Rosanna Arquette and Steve Guttenberg – Amazon Women on the Moon – 1987

In 1987, Arquette was part of the star-studded sketch comedy movie, Amazon Women on the Moon.

The movie consists of twenty-one skits directed by five different directors;  Joe Dante, Carl Gottlieb, Peter Horton, John Landis and Robert K. Weiss.

Arquette appeared in the sketch “Two I.D.s” which was directed by Horton.  She is on a blind date with Steve Guttenberg and subjects him to a few unusual tests.  You can’t be too careful when “the Gute” shows up at your doorstep.

Reviews were mixed to negative with critics complaining that the bad sketches outweighed the good ones.  The movie bombed at the box office.  It only played in 50 theaters and opened in 13th place.

Rosanna Arquette - Trying Times - 1987
Rosanna Arquette – Trying Times – 1987

On TV, Arquette appeared in an episode of the PBS comedy anthology, Trying Times.  The show consisted of twelve unrelated half-hour comedies.  Arquette appeared in the first episode, A Family Tree, which was directed by Jonathan Demme and featured David Byrne of the band, The Talking Heads.

The episode was written by playwright Beth Henley who had written Nobody’s Fool in which Arquette starred.

Rosanna Arquette - The Big Blue - 1988
Rosanna Arquette – The Big Blue – 1988

In 1988, Arquette starred in Luc Besson’s aquatic drama, The Big Blue.

The Big Blue is a heavily fictionalized account of the lives of two free divers; Jacques Mayol (played by Jean-Marc Barr) and Enzo Maiorca (played by Jean Reno).  In real life, both men were diving champions at about the same time.  In the movie, they are childhood friends who competed against each other and pushed each other past their limits.  Arquette played Mayol’s girlfriend.

The Big Blue was extremely popular in France.  It played in theaters in its home country for over a year and was the most financially successful French film of the decade.  In the original version of the film, the ending is left up to the audience.  But for the American version of the movie, a happy ending was added because that’s how we roll.

It didn’t matter.  American critics were divided over whether the film was visionary or dull.  American audiences had no such division.  The Big Blue opened in twelfth place in the US sandwiched between Big (which had been in theaters for twelve weeks) and Clean and Sober (which was in its second week of release).  Fortunately the movie had already made its money in its home country.  Unfortunately, that didn’t help Arquette cement her status as an American movie star.  But I imagine she never has to pay for diving lessons in France.

Rosanna Arquette - Promised a Miracle - 1988
Rosanna Arquette – Promised a Miracle – 1988

Arquette returned to television for the TV movie, Promised a Miracle.

Judge Reinhold and Arquette played parents who throw away their son’s insulin because they believe that God will heal his diabetes.  A young Giovanni Ribisi played their boy who *spoilers* is not healed by faith.  The story is based on a real life tragedy.

I remember seeing this one on TV. There were only three networks to choose from at the time. Fox was still an upstart and cable was primarily for reruns.  Back then, TV movies were still kind of a big deal which is why they could land movie stars like Arquette and Reinhold.

Arquette was very passionate abut the project:

I’m proud of CBS for saying yes to this movie.  This is an important story to tell.  I took this on because a lot of children are dying in the United States this way, and it’s wrong.  It’s OK for people to have faith and believe in God. We’re not putting down the church or Christianity. God gave people the intelligence to create medicine to heal. It’s really tragic when a child has to die because of negligence. What a terrible mistake! These people blew it. It should never happen again.

Arquette met the parents the movie is based on.  She found the meeting to be difficult, “I wanted to look Mrs. Parker in the eye as a human being and try to understand, but in my heart I didn’t understand.”

So, give your kids medicine, okay?

the more you know
Rosanna Arquette - New York Stories - 1989
Rosanna Arquette – New York Stories – 1989

In 1989, Arquette reunited with her After Hours director, Martin Scorsese, for the anthology movie, New York Stories.

New York Stories combined the talents of legendary directors Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola and Woody Allen.  Each director made a short set in New York.  Scorsese’s segment was called Life Lessons.  It starred Nick Nolte as a talented painter and Arquette as his protege with whom he is romantically involved.  Steve Buscemi played a performance artist with whom Arquette is also involved.

Nolte’s character’s paintings were actually the work of artist Chuck Connelly.  Scorsese obviously appreciated Connelly’s work since he chose to use it in his movie about an extremely talented painter.  The director was planning to to take several paintings with him when he went back to LA to try and line up some buyers to help the struggling artist out.  But just before he left, Connelly gave an interview in which he was critical of New York Stories in general and Scorsese in particular.  Scorsese decided not to try to sell Connelly’s paintings and the artist soon fell into obscurity.

Critics generally like New York Stories.  As with any anthology, some segments were better-received than others.  Scorsese’s Life Lessons was the clear winner.  Allen’s Oedipus Wrecks was seen as a welcome return to comedic form.  But Coppola’s middle sequence was universally derided.  Life Without Zoe brought the critical consensus from positive down to mixed.

As you might expect, New York Stories played well on the coasts and poorly in the fly over states.  It ended up grossing around $10 million dollars on a $15 million dollar budget.

Arquette - Black Rainbow
Rosanna Arquette – Black Rainbow – 1989

Later that year, Arquette starred opposite Tom Hulce and Jason Robards in the supernatural thriller, Black Rainbow, which surprisingly enough is not about a gay African-American superhero.

Arquette played a medium who performs in a traveling show with her alcoholic father played by Robards.  During one performance, she predicts the violent death of a local man.  When her prediction comes true, she becomes a target herself.  Hulce played a reporter who is initially skeptical of Arquette’s mystical abilities.  He goes from investigating her claims to trying to protect her from the killer.

Black Rainbow was directed by Mike Hodges whose career had cooled off since his debut with Get Carter.  In 1980, he directed the camptastic Flash Gordon.  Critics generally considered Black Rainbow to be Hodges’ best movie in years.  But financial woes in both the US and the UK prevented it from receiving a full theatrical release in either country.  Instead, it played in a handful of theaters and film festivals before being dumped on video.

By this point, it had been four years since Arquette made her big splash in 1985.  At that point, she seemed poised to be a major movie star.  But by 1989, she hadn’t appeared in anything that general audiences were likely to have seen except for hosting Saturday Night Live.

Rosanna Arquette - Sweet Revenge - 1990
Rosanna Arquette – Sweet Revenge – 1990

In 1990, Arquette took a swing at a broad romantic comedy in Sweet Revenge.

Carrie Fisher played a successful attorney who is tired of supporting her ex-husband, a failed writer played by John Sessions.  If he remarries, she no longer has to pay him alimony.  So she does what any sensible person would do.  She hires Arquette to seduce and marry her ex.

Sweet Revenge didn’t get a theatrical release in the US.  Instead, it debuted on the cable channel, TNT.  That’s not so sweet.

Arquette also appeared on the British TV show, The Play on One.  Each episode was a taped stage play.  Arquette appeared in the two-person show, Don’t Hang Up.  She played an actress in New York who is confined to her apartment due to a physical limitation.  David Suchet played a London playwright with a fear of crowds.  The two strike up a long distance relationship over the phone.

Rosanna Arquette - Playboy Cover - 1990
Rosanna Arquette – Playboy Cover – 1990

Arquette also appeared on the cover of Playboy magazine and in a nude pictorial.  The actress claims that was not her intention when she posed for the photos.  She was doing a photo shoot for Traveller magazine when photographer Burt Stern convinced her to go topless.  According to Arquette:

I was in a bathing suit in Florida with Burt Stern, the great photographer who shot Marilyn Monroe on the beach with a sweater, and we smoked a joint and the bathing suit kept coming off in the water and I just ripped it off and was very comfortable with being naked.  If anything, they’re not even great photographs, they’re ugly photographs. They stencilled the Playboy bunny on my T-shirt… so we sued them.

Arquette said she had no idea about the pictures being sold to Playboy until the magazine was on the shelves.  She said she was embarrassed because  she first saw the cover when she was on her way back from Walt Disney World with her boyfriend at the time, Peter Gabriel, and his young children.

Suddenly I’m, like, there on the cover… It was in the stands. I had no idea. The relationship broke up right after that, not because of that.

Despite the lawsuit, Arquette appears to be willing to autograph covers of the magazine.  I found more than one image for this cover on which she had signed “Peace”.

Rosanna Arquette - Almost - 1990
Rosanna Arquette – Almost – 1990

Arquette finished the year with the Australian romantic comedy, Wendy Cracked a Walnut which was later retitled …Almost.

Arquette played a bored wife whose husband (played by Bruce Spence) is out on a road trip filled with comic mishaps.  While he’s away, she fantasizes about several romantic situations involving a dream man played by Hugo Weaving.

Five years after her big break, Arquette was virtually absent from American movies.

Rosanna Arquette - Flight of the Intruder - 1990
Rosanna Arquette – Flight of the Intruder – 1991

In 1991, Arquette returned to mainstream American movies in John Milius’ action flick Flight of the Intruder.

Danny Glover, Willem Dafoe and Tom Sizemore played pilots running dangerous missions in Vietnam.  Brad Johnson (who?) starred as a pilot whose best friend and navigator is killed in action.  He’s like Maverick if Maverick were played by some guy from the Left Behind movies instead of one of the biggest movie stars in the world.  When not-Maverick goes to visit not-Goose’s widow, he finds Arquette playing not-Meg Ryan.

Milius described Flight of the Intruder as one of the worst experiences of his directing career.  Paramount, the studio that made Top Gun, wanted Milius to make a movie that would repeat its success.  This lead to a power struggle between the director and the studio.  In a reversal of the usual dynamic, Milius claims he wanted to spend less money than the studio:

That was Paramount with the Paramount control, and they tried to control every aspect of it. I’d spent more money than I’d ever spent before, because they told me how much I was going to spend on it. They didn’t let me control it. I would have made that movie for at least $5 million less.

Really, spending $5 million less wouldn’t have helped Flight of the Intruder at the box office.  Paramount pulled the movie from its original release date in the summer.  After the outbreak of Operation Desert Storm, the studio dumped Flight of the Intruder in the dead zone of January.  Critics panned the movie and it flopped at the box office.

Rosanna Arquette - Son of the Morning Star - 1990
Rosanna Arquette – Son of the Morning Star – 1991

Arquette followed up Flight of the Intruder with the TV movie, Son of the Morning Star.  Gary Cole starred as General George Custer and Arquette played his spouse.  Originally, Arquette’s Silverado co-star, Kevin Costner, was set to play Custer.  But Costner ran into delays on a movie project which lead to Cole taking the part.  The ratings for the mini-series were dismal.  ABC had a similar project about Gettysburg in development, but after seeing the ratings for their Custer series, they dropped Gettysburg.  It was picked up by Ted Turner who released it theatrically.

Rosanna Arquette - The Linguini Incident - 1991
Rosanna Arquette – The Linguini Incident – 1991

Arquette ended the year by starring in the little-seen The Linguini Incident.

Arquette played an aspiring escape artist obsessed with Harry Houdini.  In the meantime, she works at a restaurant with David Bowie who is trying to get her to marry him under the pretense that he needs a green card.  But really, he is trying to win a bet.  Frustrated with their jobs, Bowie and Arquette decide to rob the restaurant they work for.

The Linguini Incident continued the trend of Arquette starring in movies that would never be noticed by critics or audiences.  She had fallen off the pop culture radar.

Rosanna Arquette - Fathers and Sons - 1992
Rosanna Arquette – Fathers and Sons – 1992

Arquette continued flying under the radar in the 1992 crime drama, Fathers and Sons.

Jeff Goldblum starred as a single dad who moves to a small seaside town after the death of his wife.  Goldblum struggles with raising his son who is getting into heavy drugs and a criminal lifestyle.  Arquette played a psychic who meets Goldblum while he is jogging on the beach.  She predicts that a serial killer will murder Goldblum’s son.

Rosanna Arquette - In the Deep Woods - 1992
Rosanna Arquette – In the Deep Woods – 1992

Serial killers continued to menace Arquette in the TV movie, In the Deep Woods.  In this one, Arquette’s friend is murdered by a serial killer who targets successful women.  She is then contacted by a private investigator played by Anthony Perkins who claims he is working on the case on behalf of the parents of another victim.  But his behavior is odd and Arquette begins to worry that maybe Perkins is, well, psycho.  Nah, he seems like such a nice boy.  I’m sure he’s on the up and up.

Jean-Claude Van Damme and Rosanna Arquette - Nowhere to Run - 1993
Jean-Claude Van Damme and Rosanna Arquette – Nowhere to Run – 1993

It’s a sad commentary on the state of Arquette’s career that in 1993 co-starring opposite the Muscles from Brussels could be seen as a step up.  But that’s exactly what it was when Arquette starred with Jean-Claude Van Damme in Nowhere to Run.

Van Damme played an escaped convict who has nowhere to run but into the arms of a widow played by Arquette.  Arquette’s character has problems of her own.  She is raising two boys and fighting off a powerful land developer who will stop at nothing to buy her farm.  When thugs show up to chase her off her land, Arquette discovers it’s helpful to have a heavily accented martial artist living in her barn.

Arquette didn’t care for her co-star and was very vocal about it in interviews.  She stated very plainly that she only agrred to be in the movie because her options were limited.

As is typical with Van Damme movies, critics were unimpressed.  Nowhere to Run ended up in fourth place at the box office behind Alive.  It grossed just over $20 million domestically which was disappointing given the movie’s budget.  But it did better overseas.

Rosanna Arquette - The Wrong Man - 1993
Rosanna Arquette – The Wrong Man – 1993

Arquette followed up her Van Damage with a starring role in the low-budget thriller, The Wrong Man.

Kevin Anderson (who?) starred as a convict on the run in Mexico.  He meets up with a couple played by Arquette and John Lithgow.  If you’re Lithgow and you’re married to someone who looks like Arquette, you have to expect a certain amount of shenanigans when a scruffy young sailor comes knocking at your door.  And that’s exactly what happens here.

The Wrong Man screened at Cannes and then headed straight for late-night cable rotation.  Arquette’s movie career was on life support.  Fortunately, it was about to get a shot of adrenaline.

Rosanna Arquette - Pulp Fiction - 1994
Rosanna Arquette – Pulp Fiction – 1994

In 1994, Arquette landed a small but memorable role in Quentin Tarantino’s crime drama, Pulp Fiction.

Pulp Fiction contained several overlapping stories told non-sequentially.  In what could be considered the main storyline, John Travolta and Samuel L Jackson played hitmen under the employ of a mob boss played by Ving Rhames.  Travolta is tasked with taking Rhames’ wife out for a night on the town.  But the wife, played by Uma Thurman, overdoses when she dips into Travolta’s drug stash.  Fearing for his life, Travolta drives Thurman to his drug dealer’s house.  Eric Stoltz played the dealer who helps Travolta revive Thurman.  Arquette played Stoltz’s argumentative wife.

Arquette auditioned to play Thurman’s role.  When that didn’t work out, she was offered the smaller part of the dealer’s wife.  Pam Grier was considered to play that part.  But Tarantino didn’t think audiences would find it believable for Stoltz to yell at her.

Pulp Fiction premiered at Cannes where it won the top prize, The Palme d’Or.  Critics praised the movie for its inventive story-telling and it became a hit at the box office.  Come awards season, Pulp Fiction was pitted against Forrest Gump.  Gump came away with most of the wins.  Pulp Fiction only took home one Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.  But the movie has had a lasting impact.  The rest of the decade was filled with Tarantino wannabes.  Even today, its influence can be felt.

Arquette’s role may have been minor.  But she had one of the most memorable lines in the movie.  The scene in which Thurman overdoses was so intense that a viewer at the New York Film Festival had a heart attack!  The scene ends with Arquette getting to deliver a punchline that released all that building tension.

Arquette relished the opportunity to work with Tarantino:

I love to see the humor in things, so for me, it was really fun and effortless. I do have a dark sense of humor anyway, so that was fun to do that. He’s a master director and writer, but what he was able to do and how he’s become that is because he puts together his cast and he rehearses like it’s a play. We had all of this rehearsal time, so you could work things out and discover and play.

Pulp Fiction revived Travolta’s career and made Thurman and Jackson into household names.  It didn’t have as dramatic an effect on Arquette’s career, but it reminded casting directors that she was out there and that she could do more than make out with Jean Claude Van Damme.

Rosanna Arquette - Nowhere to Hide - 1994
Rosanna Arquette – Nowhere to Hide – 1994

But before Arquette could move on to bigger and better things, she had to star in the TV movie, Nowhere to Hide.  Surprisingly enough, Nowhere to Hide is not a sequel to Nowhere to Run.  In this one, Scott Bakula plays an FBI agent who informs Arquette that her ex-husband has mafia connections.  Additionally, he has put out a contract on his ex.  Bakula takes Arquette into protective custody and before you can say “witness protection” sparks start to fly.

Rosanna Arquette - Search and Destroy - 1995
Rosanna Arquette – Search and Destroy – 1995

In 1995, Arquette had a supporting role in the adaptation of the stage play, Search and Destroy.

Arquette’s After Hours co-star, Griffin Dunne, reprised his role from the original stage production.  He played a desperate man who has ruined his business and owes back taxes to the IRS.  Arquette played his wife who strongly encourages him to practice abstinence.  Following advice from a self-help guru played by Dennis Hopper, Dunne decides to adapt a novel into a movie.  He ends up having an affair with Hopper’s assistant.  Together, they approach a wealthy tycoon played by Christopher Walken for finances.

Illeana Douglas, John Turturro, Ethan Hawke and Martin Scorsese (who was dating Douglas at the time) co-starred.  Despite the talented cast, reviews were mostly negative and the movie never got a wide enough release to earn any money.

Rosanna Arquette - Crash - 1996
Rosanna Arquette – Crash – 1996

In 1996, Arquette added to her indie cred with a supporting role in David Cronenberg’s Crash.

James Spader starred as a movie producer who has an open marriage with his wife played by Deborah Kara Unger.  They spice up their sex lives by sharing details of their extramarital affairs.  One day on his way home from work, Spader is in a fatal car accident.  The driver of the other car is played by Holly Hunter and she introduces Spader into a bizarre culture of car crash fetishists.  Arquette played a member of this group with leg braces and a very unusual scar on the back of her leg.

Despite the dark subject matter, Arquette said she had a good time working on Crash:

I loved working with Cronenberg. He does these very kind of twisted, intense films, but he’s sort of a soft-spoken, really nice, normal guy. You’d never think the stuff was coming out of him. [Laughs.] It was a very strange time. My baby was 1 year old, and I was breast-feeding, yet here I was doing this weird, dark film. But I had a great time working with Holly Hunter and James Spader. Just wonderful actors. It was a good time.

The movie and the book it was based on were both extremely controversial.  There were calls to have the movie banned in England.  In the US, there was no such outcry.  It’s not that audiences in the US are more open to the idea of sexual arousal through violent car crashes.  It’s just that most people in America had never heard of the movie.  Critics were divided but Crash did win the Special Jury Prize at Cannes.

Rosanna Arquette - Homicide: Life on the Street - 1996
Rosanna Arquette – Homicide: Life on the Street – 1996

And right on cue it’s time to start the guest spots on crime procedural TV shows.  On Homicide: Life on the Street, Arquette played a widow who claims she knew her husband had died in a car crash before the police even told her.

Rosanna Arquette - Gun - 1997
Rosanna Arquette – Gun – 1997

Arquette had a full plate in 1997.  First, she appeared opposite a pre-Sopranos James Gandolfini in an episode of Robert Altman’s anthology series, Gun.  Arquette played a housewife who is having an affair with a writer played by Peter Horton.  Gandolfini played her over-protective husband who also happens to be packing heat.

Rosanna Arquette - White Lies - 1997
Rosanna Arquette – White Lies – 1997

Next, Arquette appeared in the little-seen romantic comedy, White Lies.  Lawrence Gilliard Jr. starred as a guy who pretends to be an art student so he can pick up girls at the Guggenheim Museum.  Julie Warner played an assistant director of a SoHo gallery who wants to sell his paintings.  Gilliard plays along by purchasing artwork from a junkie painter played by Arquette and then giving them to Warner to sell.  That might cross the line from “white lies” into “fraud” but it’s a rom com so who cares?

Rosanna Arquette - Gon Fishin' - 1997
Rosanna Arquette – Gone Fishin’ – 1997

Arquette made an increasingly rare appearance in a mainstream Hollywood movie in the buddy comedy, Gone Fishin’.

Joe Pesci and Danny Glover, two thirds of the Lethal Weapon crew and one eighth of the franchise’s star power, played two friends who go fishing.  That may sound dull, but the movie’s promotional material assures me that this is one wacky fishing trip.  I’m sorry, fishin’ trip.  Arquette and Lynn Whitfield play a couple of women who help out Pesci and Glover when they get stranded.

Arquette was also filming Crash at the same time she was filming Gone Fishin’.  She flew back and forth between Florida and Toronto to work on both films.  Forget jet-lag.  She must have gotten whiplash from bouncing between a creepy Cronenberg drama and a crappy fishing comedy.

Critics hated Gone Fishin’.  Entertainment Weekly dubbed it a “big mistake.”  The movie currently holds a 4% approval rating.  A single review by Steve Crum of the Dispatch-Tribune saves the movie from flat-lining at zero percent.  The movie’s poster contains a two word quote from the Chicago Tribune that says “Big laughs”.  The critic isn’t named, just the paper.  Which may lead one to believe that famed Chicago Tribune critic Gene Siskel gave Gone Fishin’ a thumbs-up.  He didn’t.

The review was actually written by John Petrakis, a lesser-known critic for the paper.  Here’s the full context surrounding his use of the words “big” and “laughs”:

It is testimony to the superior acting skills of Joe Pesci and Danny Glover that Gone Fishin’ registers more than a blip on the summer movie radar screen. They can’t rescue Gone Fishin’  from mediocrity (Olivier and Gielgud couldn’t have pulled that off), but they make it good fun, thanks to moronic moments that provide a decent share of big laughs.

Somehow “moronic moments” and “mediocrity” didn’t make it on the poster.  Gone Fishin’ opened in third place behind Addicted to Love which was in its second week of release.  Gone Fishin’ wasn’t a hit, but it was Arquette’s most visible project since Pulp Fiction four years earlier.

Rosanna Arquette - Trading Favors - 1997
Rosanna Arquette – Trading Favors – 1997

Next, Arquette appeared in the direct-to-video misfire, Trading Favors.

Devon Gummersall played an uptight high school senior who thinks his dreams have come true when he meets a hot older woman played by Arquette who agrees to buy him beer.  (Cuba Gooding Jr. showed up as a store clerk).  Arquette and Gummersall end up shacking up which sounds like a pretty sweet deal for him.  But it turns out she is an escaped convict who is mixed up in some serious criminal activity.

The AV Club lamented the state of Arquette’s career in their review noting: “There’s something kind of sad about watching an actress of Arquette’s stature play the Shannon Tweed role of direct-to-video temptress.”

Rosanna Arquette - Deceiver - 1997
Rosanna Arquette – Deceiver – 1997

Arquette ended the year with an appearance in the twisty thriller, Deceiver.

Tim Roth played a rich man accused of cutting a prostitute in half.  Renee Zellweger played both halves of the prostitute.  Michael Rooker and Chris Penn played detectives investigating the case.  Roth’s character is a rich alcoholic prone to memory loss and fits of violence.  He uses his wealth to investigate the detectives.  He finds out that Rooker cheated on his wife (played by Arquette) and Penn owes gambling debts to a bookie played by Ellen Burstyn.

Reviews were mostly negative.  Roger Ebert admired the craft but found the story too clever for its own good:

By the time the final twist comes along, it’s as if we’ve seen a clever show in which the only purpose, alas, was to demonstrate the cleverness.

Deceiver received a limited release in just over 200 theaters and earned around a half million dollars.

Rosanna Arquette - I Know What You Did - 1998
Rosanna Arquette – I Know What You Did – 1998

Arquette kicked off 1998 with the TV movie, I Know What You Did.  I know what Arquette did too.  She appeared in a lot of movies and TV shows most people have never heard of like this one in which she played a lawyer who specialized in defending accused rapists.

Rosanna Arquette - Buffalo 66 - 1998
Rosanna Arquette – Buffalo 66 – 1998

Arquette had a small role in Vincent Gallo’s directorial debut, Buffalo ’66.  Triple threat Gallo wrote, directed and starred in the movie.  He played a man who was recently released from prison for a crime he did not commit.  Upon his release, he kidnaps Christina Ricci and forces her to pretend to be his wife, but she doesn’t seem to mind at all.  Anjelica Huston, Mickey Rourke and Kevin Pollak co-starred.

Gallo didn’t get along with many members of his cast and crew.  He called Ricci a “puppet” and made disparaging remarks about her weight.  He also upset Huston who he said got revenge by making sure Buffalo ’66 was not shown at Cannes.  Which is why you don’t act like an asshat the first time you direct a movie.

Buffalo ’66 received primarily positive reviews.  But it topped out at 25 theaters.

Rosanna Arquette - Hope Floats - 1998
Rosanna Arquette – Hope Floats – 1998

Arquette had a small role in Forest Whitaker’s romantic drama, Hope Floats.

Sandra Bullock starred as a housewife whose life is disrupted when she appears on a daytime talk show.  Arquette played her best friend who reveals to her on the air that she is having an affair with her husband, played by Michael Pare.  Harry Connick, Jr. co-starred as Bullock’s rebound guy.

Despite mostly negative reviews, Hope Floats did okay at the box office.  It opened in second place behind Godzilla and grossed $60 million in the US.

Rosanna Arquette - Floating Away - 1998
Rosanna Arquette – Floating Away – 1998

After Hope Floats, Arquette kept on floating in the TV movie, Floating Away.  Arquette played a woman who loses custody of her baby to a domineering husband and goes on a journey of self-discovery.  Judge Reinhold and Paul Hogan co-starred.

Rosanna Arquette - I'm Losing You - 1998
Rosanna Arquette – I’m Losing You – 1998

Arquette starred in the melodrama, I’m Losing You, which co-starred Frank Langella, Andrew McCarthy, Gina Gershon and Elizabeth Perkins.  Langella played a successful TV producer who is diagnosed with cancer and given one year to live.  Arquette and McCarthy played his children who have to deal with losing their father.  

The movie was based on a novel of the same name by Bruce Wagner.  Wagner adapted his own novel and directed the movie.

Rosanna Arquette - Voodoo Dawn/Fait Accompli - 1998
Rosanna Arquette – Voodoo Dawn/Fait Accompli – 1998

Arquette co-starred opposite Michael Madsen in the bayou-based thriller, Fait Accompli also known as Voodoo Dawn.  Madsen and Arquette set out to get revenge on a bad cop by means of a voodoo curse.

Rosanna Arquette - Sugar Town - 1999
Rosanna Arquette – Sugar Town – 1999

Arquette continued her strong work ethic in 1999.  There’s just a ton of projects here so we’ll be hitting them fast.  Arquette appeared in the rock and roll indie drama, Sugar Town.  Several rock stars including Duran Duran bassist John Taylor appeared in the movie alongside Beverly D’Angelo and Ally Sheedy.  Arquette played Taylor’s wife and Sheedy’s best friend.  In a bit of typecasting, she plays an aging actress who is struggling to find good roles.

Arquette also popped up as a hippie mommy in NBC’s TV movie, The 60’s which compressed an entire decade into four hours less commercials.  Julia Stiles, Jerry O’Connell, Jeremy Sisto and Charles S. Dutton starred.

Arquette - Palmer's Pick-up - 1999
Arquette – Palmer’s Pick-up – 1999

Palmer’s Pick-Up was released in 1999 after many years of sitting on the shelf.  If you have been following the WTHH series, you’re aware that the Coppola clan includes a lot of aspiring film-makers.  Palmer’s Pick-Up was directed by Nicolas Cage’s brother, Christopher Coppola.  Grace Jones and relative Talia Shire also appeared.

Rosanna Arquette - Switched at Birth - 1999
Rosanna Arquette – Switched at Birth – 1999

Switched at Birth was a TV movie starring Arquette and Melissa Gilbert.  The title tells you everything you need to know.  Arquette and Gilbert both give birth to babies on the same day and the hospital pulls the old switcheroo.  That’s why when my kids were born I wrote my name on their foreheads with a big ol’ magic marker.  It’s just the smart thing to do.

Rosanna Arquette - Hell's Kitchen - 1998
Rosanna Arquette – Hell’s Kitchen – 1999

Arquette also appeared in the crime drama, Hell’s Kitchen.  Mekhi Phifer and Angelina Jolie played kids from a rough neighborhood who turn to a life of crime.  Their attempted robbery results in Jolie’s brother’s death.  Five years later, Phifer is released from prison and Jolie blames him for the death of her brother. Another friend, played by Johnny Whitworth, is caught up in Jolie’s revenge scheme.  He has feelings for Jolie, but he is also caught up in an affair with Jolie’s mother who was played by Arquette.

Hell’s Kitchen was released in Canada in 1998 and got a small release in the US as Jolie was becoming a rising star.

Rosanna Arquette - The Whole Nine Yards - 2000
Rosanna Arquette – The Whole Nine Yards – 2000

Arquette returned to mainstream Hollywood movies with a supporting role in the black comedy, The Whole Nine Yards.

Matthew Perry starred as a dentist who shares a lot of mannerisms with Chandler Bing.  Arquette played his wife who hates him.  Bruce Willis played Perry’s new neighbor who just happens to be a notorious mafia hit-man.  Arquette convinces Perry to try to collect on the bounty on Willis’ head by informing a mob boss of his location.  Natasha Henstridge, Amanda Peet, Michael Clarke Duncan and Kevin Pollak co-starred.

Despite mixed reviews, The Whole Nine Yards was a hit at the box office.  It inspired a sequel and a Bollywood remake neither of which involved Arquette.

Rosanna Arquette - Poison/Tease - 2000
Rosanna Arquette – Poison/Tease – 2000

Arquette also appeared in the made-for-TV thriller, Poison also known as Tease.  She played a failed actress with a hot teenage daughter.  Her daughter seduces and kills any men who might come between them.

Rosanna Arquette - Too Much Flesh - 2000
Rosanna Arquette – Too Much Flesh – 2000

Arquette also appeared in the erotic French drama, Too Much Flesh.  Writer, director and star, Jean-Marc Barr, played a 35-year-old virgin married to a fundamentalist played by Arquette.  Since she insists on remaining chaste, he ends up having an affair with a woman who may be Arquette’s sister.  The film’s title echoed the sentiments of many critics who thought the movie had very little reason to exist beyond erotica.

Rosanna Arquette - Things Behind the Sun - 2001
Rosanna Arquette – Things Behind the Sun – 2001

In 2001, Arquette appeared in the critically acclaimed drama, Things Behind the Sun.  Gabriel Mann played a rock journalist who wants to interview a popular singer-songwriter about a brutal rape.  He believes a song is autobiographical and asks his editor, played by Arquette, to assign the story to him.   Don Cheadle, Elizabeth Pena and Eric Stoltz co-starred.

Rosanna Arquette - Joe Dirt - 2001
Rosanna Arquette – Joe Dirt – 2001

Bouncing from one genre to the next, Arquette had an uncredited supporting role in David Spade’s redneck comedy, Joe Dirt.  Spade played a mulleted janitor looking for his parents.  Reviews were negative and the movie was not exactly a hit at the box office with a US gross under $30 million dollars.  And yet, it has inspired a sequel fourteen years later.

Rosanna Arquette - Big Bad Love - 2001
Rosanna Arquette – Big Bad Love – 2001

Big Bad Love was a comedy-drama written and directed by actor Arliss Howard based on stories by Larry Bowen.  Howard starred as an alcoholic Vietnam vet who is struggling with his career as a writer.  Howard’s real-life wife, Debra Winger, played his character’s ex-wife whom he owes back alimony and child support payments.  Arquette played one of Howard’s friends.  Big Bad Love played the film circuit where it received mixed to negative reviews.

Winger had stepped out of movie roles for six years prior to Big, Bad Love.  The experience of working with Winger gave Arquette an idea for a documentary.

Rosanna Arquette - Good Advice - 2001
Rosanna Arquette – Good Advice – 2001

In the comedy, Good Advice, Arquette played Denise Richards’ best friend.  Richards played an advice columnist who flies off to Brazil.  She leaves her boyfriend, played by Charlie Sheen, who has just lost his job as an investment broker.  Desperate, Sheen begins ghost-writing Richards’ advice column.  Good Advice went straight to video where it was trashed by critics.  I have a bit of good advice for Richards.  Don’t marry your crack-head co-star.  Unfortunately, Richards didn’t heed the advice that many of her friends and family must surely have shared with her.  Sheen and Richards met while making this aborted comedy.

Rosanna Arquette - Diary of a Sex Addict - 2001
Rosanna Arquette – Diary of a Sex Addict – 2001

Arquette ended 2001 with the direct-to-video drama, Diary of a Sex Addict.  Michael Des Barres played the titular addict, a middle-aged chef who is compelled to seek out strange women with whom to have sexual relations.  Arquette played his wife to whom he is unfaithful.  So yeah, you’d pretty much have to be a sex addict to cheat on her.  Nastassja Kinski played his shrink.  That’s just asking for trouble.  If you’re a sex addict, don’t go to a world class supermodel for help.  

I haven’t seen Diary of a Sex Addict.  But according to IMDB, the most relevant plot keywords are as follows: breasts, bare breasts, sex with neighbor, sex in bathroom and rough sex.

Debra Winger - Searching for Debra Winger -
Debra Winger and Rosanna Arquette – Searching for Debra Winger – 2002

If you’re like me, you think it’s sad to see an actress like Arquette reduced to minor roles in dumb comedies like Joe Dirt and Good Advice or direct-to-video kink like Diary of a Sex Addict.  Arquette thought so too.  After working with Winger and her husband on Big, Bad Love, Arquette decided to make a documentary about the difficulties actresses face in Hollywood as they age.

Arquette interviewed several actresses for her documentary.  It’s a veritable who’s who in What the Hell Happened?  In addition to Winger, Arquette sat down with Patricia Arquette, Jane Fonda, Whoopi Goldberg, Melanie Griffith, Daryl Hannah, Salma Hayek, Holly Hunter, Julia Ormond, Gwyneth Paltrow, Meg Ryan, Ally Sheedy, Sharon Stone and numerous others.

Arquette was slightly sneaky about her intentions when she made the movie.  She didn’t tell Winger that she was anything more than one of many interview subjects.  According to Winger:

She went around interviewing everyone, including myself, for a film called State of the Art. Then several months later she called me and said, ‘I have to admit I have another title I was always going to call it. Do I have your permission?’

I told her she didn’t need my permission because my name is public domain. I understand that it was a lovely film but I decided that I wouldn’t see it so that I wouldn’t have to comment on it. It was deeply embarrassing because after I had spent eight years seeking some amount of obscurity, in one fell swoop she obliterated that possibility by putting my name in the title.

If Winger seems less than enthusiastic, Arquette found the experience of sharing her experiences with other actresses to be cathartic:

I felt much more comfortable in my own skin and not so isolated. It was like hooking up with this tribe of women and artists.

The movie showed at Cannes and then was bought by Showtime for a run on the cable channel.

Early on in Arquette’s career, she showed potential to be a leading actress in movies like After Hours and Desperately Seeking Susan.  But by this point, her career has shifted into supporting roles.  By nature of the work, supporting actresses are going to have more roles on their filmography.  They spend less time on each project.  Even when Arquette has the lead in a movie, it’s a smaller independent movie or direct-to-video.  That’s going to mean a very long list of movies and TV shows going forward.  I’m going to address most of them briefly to give a sense of just how many project Arquette was involved in despite the fact most audiences probably weren’t aware she was still working.

Rosanna Arquette - Will and Grace - 2003
Rosanna Arquette – Will and Grace – 2003

2003 brought with it guest appearances on TV shows.  Arquette appeared on one episode of The Practice and two episodes of the sit-com, Will & Grace (pictured).  She also appeared in two TV movies, The Law and Mr. Lee and Rush of Fear.

Rosanna Arquette - Dead Cool - 2004
Rosanna Arquette – Dead Cool – 2004

In 2004, Arquette appeared on the TV series Summerland and the British comedy, Dead Cool (pictured).

Rosanna Arquette - The L-Word - 2004-2007
Rosanna Arquette – The L-Word – 2004-2007

From 2004-2007, Arquette made several appearances on the Showtime series, The L-Word.  She played a bi-sexual who becomes involved with the character played by Katherine Moennig after divorcing her husband played by James Purcell.  Arquette appeared on a total of five episodes across three seasons.

Rosanna Arquette - Law & Order: Criminal Intent - 2005
Rosanna Arquette – Law & Order: Criminal Intent – 2005

In 2005, the TV guest spots hit critical mass.  Arquette appeared on an episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent entitled Sex Club.

Rosanna Arquette - Malcolm in the Middle - 2005
Rosanna Arquette – Malcolm in the Middle – 2005

This was followed by an appearance on the sit-com, Malcolm in the Middle.  Arquette played a healer at the Burning Man Festival who takes Malcolm’s virginity.  Is it me or does this seem to be a theme of Arquette’s late career?

Rosanna Arquette - Grey's Anatomy - 2005
Rosanna Arquette – Grey’s Anatomy – 2005

Arquette also appeared on an episode of Grey’s Anatomy titled, Owner of a Lonely Heart.  She played a prison inmate who swallows razor blades in order to get sent to the hospital and out of prison.  That is just revolting.  Possibly worse than taking Malcolm’s virginity.

Rosanna Arquette - All We Are Saying - 2005
Rosanna Arquette – All We Are Saying – 2005

As a director, Arquette continued making documentaries in which she could appear in front of the camera.  This time, she interviewed a bunch of musicians for the documentary, All We Are Saying.  Her subjects included Burt Bacharach, Mary J. Blige, Boy George, Sheryl Crow, Elvis Costello, Iggy Pop, Elton John, Annie Lennox, Marilyn Manson, Joni Mitchell, Willie Nelson, Stevie Nicks, Yoko Ono, Tom Petty, Patti Smith, Gwen Stefani, Sting, Steven Tyler, Nancy Wilson and her ex, Peter Gabriel.  It was like We Are the World with 100% less Huey Lewis.

Arquette hasn’t directed another movie since All We Are Saying, but she has an untitled project in the works.

Someone is going to complain about how long this article is.  If not here in the comments section, it will happen in some forum somewhere where this article is linked.  So I just want to point out that as comprehensive as I try to be, I am omitting four other movies Arquette appeared in that were released in 2005.  And a documentary she narrated.  Does this woman ever sleep?

Rosanna Arquette - I See You.Com - 2006
Rosanna Arquette – I See You.Com – 2006

In 2006, Arquette starred opposite Beau Bridges in the comedy, I See You.Com.  It’s about a teenager who sets up surveillance cameras all over his house and broadcasts the footage online.

Rosanna Arquette - What About Brian - 2006-2007
Rosanna Arquette – What About Brian – 2006-2007

From 2006-2007, Arquette was a regular on the TV drama, What About Brian.  Barry Watson starred as a single 32-year-old guy living in Venice Beach.  Brian is surrounded by married friends and family including his older sister played by Arquette.

What About Brian had a pretty loyal group of fans.  But ultimately, it was cancelled during its second season.  According to Arquette:

I think it was a really good show. People stopped me all the time to tell me that they loved that television show, and I guess ABC… They have a new regime now, but the regime then just didn’t get it. People loved that show. And they kept changing the timeslot, changing this, changing that. I don’t know what really happened with it.

Rosanna Arquette - Dirt - 2008
Rosanna Arquette – Dirt – 2008

After the cancellation of What About Brian, Arquette continued making guest appearances on TV shows across the dial.  She played a Madonna-esque pop star in an episode of Courtney Cox’s show, Dirt.  At the time, Cox was Arquette’s sister-in-law.

Rosanna Arquette - Medium - 2008
Rosanna Arquette – Medium – 2008

Arquette was also a guest on her sister Patricia’s show, Medium.  Arquette played an author who writes books about meeting the opposite sex.  Patricia Arquette’s character, the medium of the title, has visions of the author meeting men in bars and luring them to their doom.

Rosanna Arquette - Lipstick Jungle - 2008
Rosanna Arquette – Lipstick Jungle – 2008

Finally, Arquette appeared in an episode of Brooke Shields’ comedy-drama, Lipstick Jungle.  Kim Raver’s character was nervous about meeting her boyfriend’s mother, played by Arquette.  When they finally meet, she realizes that they have a lot in common.  Both are aggressive, fashion-conscious women.

Rosanna Arquette - Repo Chick - 2009
Rosanna Arquette – Repo Chick – 2009

In 2009, Arquette had a supporting role in writer-director Alex Cox’s Repo Chick.  Repo Chick was Cox’s thematic follow-up to his cult classic, Repo Man.  Universal Studios was not amused with Cox’s unofficial sequel and threatened him with a cease and desist order.

Rosanna Arquette - American Pie Presents: The Book of Love - 2009
Rosanna Arquette – American Pie Presents: The Book of Love – 2009

She also appeared in the direct-to-video sequel, American Pie Presents: The Book of Love.  After the American Pie movie franchise appeared to run its course, four direct-to-video sequels were made.  This is the fourth and final entry in the American Pie Presents series and the seventh movie in the overall series.  Eugene Levy was the only actor to appear in all four theatrical films and direct-to-video sequels.  I hope he was paid well.

Rosanna Arquette - Private Practice - 2010
Rosanna Arquette – Private Practice – 2010

In 2010, Arquette appeared in two episodes of the Grey’s Anatomy spin-off, Private Practice.  As frequently happens in spin-offs, she played a completely different character than the one she played in the original series.  On Private Practice she played the mother of the boy who is dating Taye Digg’s daughter.

Rosanna Arquette - Inhale - 2010
Rosanna Arquette – Inhale – 2010

She also played a doctor in the indie drama, Inhale.  Dermot Mulroney and Diane Kruger starred as parents who need a lung transplant in order to save their daughter who suffers from lung cancer.

Rosanna Arquette - The Divide - 2011
Rosanna Arquette – The Divide – 2011

In The Divide, Arquette played one of a handful of survivors of a nuclear attack.  Her character finds herself at the mercy of the men in the group.  Michael Biehn and Milo Ventimiglia co-starred.

Rosanna Arquette - Exodus Fall - 2011
Rosanna Arquette – Exodus Fall – 2011

Arquette played an abusive mother in the period drama, Exodus Fall.  After the death of their father, three teens in the seventies are left with their alcoholic mother played by Arquette.

Rosanna Arquette - Peace, Love and Misunderstanding - 2011
Rosanna Arquette – Peace, Love and Misunderstanding – 2011

Arquette also appeared in the indie flick, Peace, Love and Misunderstanding.  Catherine Keener starred as a divorce lawyer who heads to Woodstock to live with her mother played by Jane Fonda.  Elizabeth Olsen, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Kyle MacLachlan.

Rosanna Arquette - Hardflip - 2012
Rosanna Arquette – Hardflip – 2012

Arquette’s “mom” roles continued into 2012 with the skateboard movie, Hardflip.  Randy Wayne played a young skateboarder with hopes of getting a sponsor.  John Schneider played his largely-absent father and Arquette played his sick mother.

Rosanna Arquette - Royal Pains - 2012
Rosanna Arquette – Royal Pains – 2012

Arquette also played a birth mother whose arrival adds some drama to two episodes of the USA series, Royal Pains.

Rosanna Arquette - Girls - 2013
Rosanna Arquette – Girls – 2013

In 2013, Arquette played Ben Mendelsohn’s hippie wife in an episode of the HBO series, Girls.

Rosanna Arquette - Law and Order: SVU - 2014
Rosanna Arquette – Law and Order: SVU – 2014

In 2014, Arquette had a guest appearance on the procedural drama, Law and Order: SVU.  She played a completely different character from the one she played on Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

Arquette also appeared in Ivan Reitman’s football drama, Draft Day which starred Kevin Costner and Jennifer Garner.

Rosanna Arquette - Ray Donovan - 2014
Rosanna Arquette – Ray Donovan – 2014

Arquette also appeared on a few episodes of the Showtime series, Ray Donovan.  Liev Schreiber stars as a professional “fixer” in LA.  Jon Voight played his father who has been released from prison.  Arquette played a former starlet-turned-screenwriter who befriends Voight’s character.

Rosanna Arquette - CSI: Cyber - 2015
Rosanna Arquette – CSI: Cyber – 2015

In 2015, Arquette once again guest starred on her sister’s TV show.  This time it was the CSI spin-off, CSI: Cyber.  In the episode, Patricia Arquette’s character helps Rosanna’s character cope with the death of her sister.

Arquette shows no signs of letting up.  She has additional projects scheduled for release for the next two years.  As the article demonstrates, Arquette has been working steadily for years.  But most people are completely unaware of what she has been up to since Pulp Fiction.

So, what the hell happened?

I guess the obvious answer is that Arquette just kept on working.  It’s always worth pointing out that a career like Arquette’s is a success story.  There are countless actresses who would trade places with her in a heartbeat.  It should go without saying, but if I don’t repeat this message a lot of readers accuse me of lacking perspective.

Having said that, Arquette had a rare opportunity to achieve a level of success that most actresses can never really expect to achieve.  In the mid-to-late eighties, she was a household name.  Arguably, she was more famous than her filmography would suggest.  She was hosting Saturday Night Live and appearing on Playboy covers despite the fact she was best known as the girl who dressed like Madonna in that Madonna movie.

In 1985 in particular, the door to stardom was open to Arquette.  With After Hours, Silverado, Desperately Seeking Susan and even The Aviator, Arquette turned heads.  But that kind of opportunity doesn’t last very long for actresses in Hollywood.  If Arquette had any intention of becoming an A-list movie star, she needed to act fast.  But she struggled to capitalize on that heat and it faded pretty quickly.  By the time the decade ended, Arquette’s chance at movie stardom had passed.  She was relegated to supporting roles or leads in smaller projects.

There’s probably some who will say that her sister, Patricia, came along and scooped up what could have been Rosanna Arquette’s movie career.  But I don’t really buy that argument.  Rosanna is nine years older than Patricia.  I don’t really believe that they were ever in competition for the same roles.

Despite the many pitfalls of a Hollywood career, Arquette has persevered.  She may not have ever been an A-list movie star.  But her acting career spans decades and she’s still as active as ever.

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Jestak
Editor
8 years ago

Nice appreciation of Rosanna Arquette’s career. I finally watched Desperately Seeking Susan for the first time earlier this spring and found it delightful. Arquette and Madonna are both very good and the movie is extremely entertaining. Silverado is the only one of Arquette’s films that I saw during the mid-1980s (I was a grad student on a tight budget). I’ve always suspected that she must have had a lot of scenes that were edited out; that would account for her being third-billed despite a small role. It’s a pretty decent Western but she doesn’t really have that much to do… Read more »

Jestak
Editor
8 years ago
Reply to  Jestak

Oh, and one more thing I forgot to add. If Rosanna Arquette was truly the inspiration for Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes,” then she indirectly contributed to one of my favorite romance films ever, Say Anything.

daffystardust
Editor
8 years ago

Some good laughs in this one, Lebeau. I also appreciated the photo of Arquette with Elvis Costello. It seems like quite a few of her projects involved psychics…or is that just an indication of how many films and TV shows in general fall back on psychics? If the audience’s reaction to her in that Kilborn clip is any indication, it seems like there was always a market that was enthusiastic for Arquette, but filmmakers just couldn’t consistently figure out how to use her effectively. It’s possible that at some point she made the choice to be a “working actress” over… Read more »

RB
RB
8 years ago

Some good laughs in these pages 🙂
“Desperately Seeking Susan” was required viewing at the time. It was all the rage, and Rosanna Arquette was envied (the whole, getting to hang out with Madonna kind of thing).

I’ve always thought of Arquette as a steady working character actress in TV/movies, as opposed to a WTHH movie opener. She has actually been featured in more big name productions than I would have guessed prior to reading the article.

BTW they are certainly large for how thin she is.

Ross Nolan
Ross Nolan
8 years ago

Wonderful entry, very funny! 🙂

I’m stunned by how busy Arquette seems to have been since basically day one. I seen a few of her movies (notably ‘After Hours’ which is an underated gem), heard of others (‘Amazon Women on the Moon’) and not heard of most of the rest (‘8 Million ways to Die’ – incidentally will Andy Garcia ever get a WTHH article?)

Annie
8 years ago

Great entry! How you can make me read 10+ pages about actors I don’t give a fig about I’ll never know. 😉 I’ve seen her here and there but seeing her photos here, I felt like she was in something I had watched many, many times. Not just something like Pulp Fiction or DSS, like maybe she was in a series I watched frequently. I knew there was something she was in I’d seen a LOT. Then I was pages in, thinking maybe I was just confusing her for another actress. Until you mentioned I Know What You Did. DINGDINGDING.… Read more »

admin
Admin
admin
8 years ago
Reply to  lebeau

You won’t hear me complaining about the length of the articles (now, if I watched every video inserted into certain articles, I probably would’ve grown long fingernails and be permanently glued to this chair); i just take me time, it isn’t like anyone being tested on the content (wait, they are!).
Wow, “Gone Fishing”; that is a sad piece of work there. Joe Pesci and Danny Glover work in the Lethal Weapon sequels, but that deal is just D.O.A. from the beginning. What a dull picture (going fishing would be more exciting).

Terrence Clay (@TMC1982)
Reply to  lebeau

Bad Movie Beatdown: Gone Fishin’

http://blip.tv/film-brain/bad-movie-beatdown-gone-fishin-6583831

Film Brain reviews a Disney movie that almost was, a feeble comedy that gasps like a fish, featuring the dubious comic stylings of… Joe Pesci and Danny Glover? Contains mild lanaguage, sex references and slapstick comedy. This work is protected by Fair Use.

admin
Admin
admin
8 years ago
Reply to  lebeau

I find such criticism unfounded, really; there’s nothing wrong with being thorough. Besides, the length of the article depends on the subject, so if you wrote about, say, Mario Lopez, I bet the article wouldn’t get past page 4. That’s like complaining about someone’s IMDB filmography being too long, or someone’s employment history being too extensive.
Thing is, sometimes people complain about things that are fine, yet at other times do nothing about something that has some holes in it.

RB
RB
8 years ago
Reply to  lebeau

I don’t know what you would change. I didn’t mind spending a rainy afternoon reading all 17 pages, especially now that I have a phone where you can actually do this.
I guess you could always compress a bit of the direct to video descriptions, but I respect that you preferred to represent all aspects of the person’s career. Besides, direct to video is a market that provides work to a lot of people.

admin
Admin
admin
8 years ago
Reply to  lebeau

Well, with so many social formats out there these days, people like to express their opinions more than ever. When those opinions sound dismissive or rude just for the sake of being rude, I tend to move on. Constructive criticism I’m all for though; the right kind of input is very important.

admin
Admin
admin
8 years ago
Reply to  lebeau

Yeah, that sounds about right. Usually those outside sources are are less informed about the “What The Hell Happened…” articles and this website in general.

admin
Admin
admin
8 years ago
Reply to  lebeau

One thing I forgot about Rosanna Arquette was her cameo in “Buffalo ’66”. Wow, I remember when that picture was being filmed. See, I live in Angola, about 30 minutes from downtown Buffalo, but a lot of the early outside shots are places by the Ford stamping plant, and my uncle owns a car wash a few blocks away from that area. Back then, I worked at his car wash, although I don’t remember seeing any crew in the area, but a Few people did see a setup further downtown. Nowadays, that “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” deal is being filmed… Read more »

admin
Admin
admin
8 years ago

Busy, busy, busy actress. I’m glad that Rosanna, Rosanna was the choice, since I just recently visited her IMDB page, reading the bio and many of the comments (I was inspired by a weekend showing of “Desperately Seeking Susan”). My favorite films in which she’s prominent are the afformentioned Susan, “The Executioner’s Song”, “After Hours”, “Silverado”, “8 Million Ways to Die” (I mentioned on this site in another comment that that period of Jeff Bridges career was my favorite, and I don’t know, I just like the flick in general), and “Floating Away” (I don’t count “Pulp Fiction”, since that… Read more »

admin
Admin
admin
8 years ago
Reply to  lebeau

Yeah, she was one of those performers who were interviewed for that sex in movies series IFC ran a few years back; she seems rather frank about nudity and very comfortable naked on camera. Some people are shy about nudity, some aren’t. I’m fine with either perspective, as long as they’re being honest with themselves.

jaxxalude
jaxxalude
8 years ago

I hereby confess my sins! I’ve seen one of the DTV movies talked about here; namely Poison (aka Tease) from a late-night broadcast on TV. Granted, I wasn’t expecting top-notch material – the fact that it was a 2000 movie starring Arquette (and featuring none other than Murdoc from MacGyver as one of the leads) pretty much gave it away. But boy, was that shit formulaic to a tee! The only reason which kept me going through that ordeal was to check out the actress who played Arquette’s daughter, Mandy Schaffer, naked – I figured she had to be, given… Read more »

admin
Admin
admin
8 years ago
Reply to  jaxxalude

I’ve come to realize a lot of the television nudity I was enthralled with as a youngster was tainted by the use of body doubles. Case in point: the bathtub scene in “Nightmare on Elm Street” (Heather Langenkamp was my first film or television crush was wasn’t Jem or She-Ra) when the Nancy Thompson character gets pulled under; I think it’s a cameraman’s sister the viewer sees.

admin
Admin
admin
8 years ago
Reply to  lebeau

Yeah, I really dig those flesh-colored bikinis some performers wear as well; they’re, um, interesting?

RB
RB
8 years ago

She definitely does not seem to be intimidated by anything, well said!
I plan to check out “After Hours” and “8 MIllion Ways to Die” the latter for, as Glu mentioned, Jeff Bridges, and also because I’m intrigued by Hal Ashby, a true free spirit if there ever was one. However, a couple of his projects suffer from a little too much freedom and it sounds like this might be one of them.

admin
Admin
admin
8 years ago
Reply to  RB

I like “8 Million Ways to Die”, but it was a troubled production and may be a little too loose for some people (studio did have final cut though). One outstanding scene is the improvised shouting dialogue between Bridges’ Scudder and Garcia’s Angel characters at an abandoned warehouse towards the end of the film.

RB
RB
8 years ago
Reply to  admin

Actually I have to retract my comment about Hal Ashby because I did some supplemental reading yesterday and the tension between him and the studio really may have compromised what he was able to do best, and that’s a shame. The same article had some excellent points to make about the impact of the blockbuster on 80s movies, money, and influence. Much food for thought.

admin
Admin
admin
8 years ago
Reply to  RB

The film still contain some Hal Ashby touches, and as usual I never heard any of the actors complain about the shoot or doing the film since then (more than likely, they really enjoyed themselves). I think it’s better than its given credit for, but maybe I’m just seeing what I want to see (but like what I see).

Leo
Leo
8 years ago

CINEMADONNA: Desperately Seeking Susan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pd2YgXrmILw

A new series looking at the cinematic ouevre of the Material Girl herself, starting with her desperately overrated debut, Desperately Seeking Susan.

RB
RB
8 years ago
Reply to  Leo

Leo, I actually watched all 9 minutes of that clip this morning. While the guy is mildly entertaining, I don’t think he’s being altogether fair in his criticism of the movie. He is of course got just as much right to an opinion as anyone and RB will never contend otherwise. (Although I think that’s fairly well understood at Leblog and I probably don’t need to give that disclaimer so often..) Anyway. “Desperately Seeking Susan” isn’t a movie that has any pretense; it doesn’t try to pretend to be anything other than what it is. Yet he analyzes it as… Read more »

admin
Admin
admin
8 years ago
Reply to  RB

I think this guy was just flexing his critic muscles here. Sometimes that means that the critic in question stretches things father than they need to go. I mean, it’s “Desperately Seeking Susan”, not “Shanghai Surprise” (good thing it isn’t “Single White Female” either, because that would be awkward).

Maree
Maree
8 years ago

Thankyou so much for this amazing blog! You always manage to be witty without being insulting, and you’re always very informative & entertaining. Keep up the great work, i hope this blog keeps going for a long time yet! From a fan

M
M
8 years ago

I tried to find why Arquette hated van damme,but couldn’t find any references to it got any links? I think no where to run was quite ok movie for her.She really didn’t have all that much going for her anyway. YEAH! She cute and got a great smile and great rack.But 85% of her movies are train crash. Van damme was king of the direct to video MA marked back then so he had the upperhand on drawing audience by name. But It says a lot about roseanne’s acting qualities when she can fake all that chemistry they show on… Read more »

Victor Field
8 years ago

Ah, Rosanna Arquette. She may not have had the huge career she deserved, but she never really sank into true obscurity either – even when the movies (and TV shows) are bad, she never is. Great piece, even if it did remind me of how utterly miserable “After Hours” and “The Wall” made me when I saw them (SPOILER ALERT if anyone reading these comments hasn’t seen them)… her character committing suicide in the former and getting killed by a Nazi in the latter did not go down well with teenage me. Mid-40s me wouldn’t be thrilled either, truth be… Read more »

Nate
Nate
8 years ago

Just FYI, “gorp” was originally (’60s-’70s) an acronym for “good old raisins and peanuts,” a classic hiking snack, and it eventually evolved into a synonym for what we now usually refer to as “trail mix.” By picking a food name they were probably trying to piggyback off the success of ‘Meatballs,’ but given the subject matter I’m a little surprised they didn’t go with a more traditionally Jewish food. It’s not like folks are eating a ton of meatballs out in the woods . . .

Leo
Leo
8 years ago

Infamous Queer: Crash (1996)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8A9-m6Vikmw

Infamous Sphere revisits the world of David Cronenberg and talks sex, porn and car crashes.

Elliott Berger
Elliott Berger
7 years ago

I found ” Baby It’s You ” a while back and it transported me to a different world. I am so in love with this movie ! I want to scream from the rooftop for people to watch it.. Rosannas’ performance is just fabulous. Her portrayal of a high school kid morphing into a young woman is perfect. She is sexy, sassy , funny and sensitive. It hurts me that this great actress never reached her potential but at least in this movie she was given a chance to act and WOW, did she deliver. Just watching her flashing eyes… Read more »

Krullnther
7 years ago
Reply to  Elliott Berger

Elliot I can tell you that I find myself into this same “Baby it’s you” trap!…Rosanna is amazing in this movie. It’s the kind of movie that makes you fall madly in love for the character (in this case Jill Rosen played by Rosanna). After that I started to look for Jill Rosen in other movies but I could not find there was just Rosanna Arquette pushing herself more and more into a very aware sexy-persona, that in my opinion just broke all the enchantment around Jill Rosen. I think Rosanna could have protected more her beautiful image and make… Read more »

Elliott Berger
Elliott Berger
7 years ago
Reply to  Krullnther

Thanks so much for your comment. I thought I was going crazy over this movie. I watch it every night to get my Jill – Rosanna – Amy fix. Yes, that’s the real Jill, Amy Robinson. You can see her in ” Mean Streets ” as Harvey Keitels’ squeeze. I’m happy for Jill that she became an actress and a successful Hollywood producer. As for Rosanna, what can I say. Those eyes ! And the way she keeps changing in every frame. Amazing. It’s sad that she didn’t take the advice that Betty Davis gave her, to concentrate on her… Read more »

ME
ME
7 years ago

Meet you all the way, Rosanna !!!!!!!!!!!!

Terrence Clay (@TMC1982)

Whatever happened to David Arquette?

http://www.looper.com/17471/whatever-happened-david-arquette/

In the late ’90s, actor David Arquette seemed virtually on top of the world. He was a main member of one of Hollywood’s most well-known acting families. He was in a relationship with one of TV’s biggest actresses (Friends star Courteney Cox), and he boasted a major role in Wes Craven’s wildly popular Scream film series. Even though he seemed primed for the big time, Arquette has since slipped far from the spotlight. Here’s what he’s been up to since his all-too-brief tenure in the limelight.

Leo
Leo
7 years ago

Alexis Arquette Dead: Transgender Actress Dies at 47, Siblings Patricia and Richmond Arquette Pay Tribute

http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/alexis-arquette-dead-transgender-actress-dies-at-47-w439001

Alexis Arquette, a transgender activist and actress best known for playing a Boy George-inspired character in The Wedding Singer, died on Sunday, September 11, her brother Richmond Arquette confirmed. She was 47.

Leo
Leo
7 years ago
Reply to  Leo

Alexis Arquette Died from AIDS-Related Illness, Source Confirms, As Her Whole Family Rallied Around Her

http://www.people.com/article/alexis-arquette-died-complications-aids/

Alexis Arquette died from complications related to AIDS, a source close to the family confirms to PEOPLE.

Terrence Clay (@TMC1982)

Rosanna Arquette http://www.avclub.com/article/rosanna-arquette-63250 The actress: The phrase “show business is in my blood” is a bit of a cliché, but it certainly applies to actress Rosanna Arquette, whose grandfather (Cliff), father (Lewis), and siblings (Patricia, David, Alexis, and Richmond) have all worked in Hollywood in various capacities. Although she started in theater and slowly built a foothold on television, earning an Emmy nod for her work in the 1982 TV movie The Executioner’s Song, the majority of Arquette’s career has been in film, where she made her mark with such classic films as After Hours, Desperately Seeking Susan, and Pulp… Read more »

Terrence Clay (@TMC1982)

https://web.archive.org/web/20120608112246/http://www.homunculus.com:80/eikona/arquette.html Rosanna Arquette is one of those actresses that I’ve been dimly aware of since 1985’s Desperately Seeking Susan but to whom I never really gave that much thought. Perhaps this is because her career seems to have stubbornly avoided the Hollywood mainstream for so long (and hasn’t had very many recent hits in the indie world, either) that, without a good video store or extensive cable lineup, it’s easy to forget that it’s there. Or perhaps her narrow face combined with that wide, almost duck-like mouth and Simpson-esque overbite didn’t much appeal to me at first. But recently I’ve… Read more »

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