David Arquette sat down with The Creative Coalition CEO Robin Bronk in the latest episode of “At Home With The Creative Coalition,” a podcast featuring unplugged and uncensored conversations with today’s biggest stars. In the newest episode, Arquette talks about the time he fell through the roof of an airplane on the Universal lot, the advice Wes Craven gave him about his relationship with Courtney Cox, why he owns the chair from the police station where Hugh Grant was once arrested, the time that Heath Ledger called Hugh Grant a “prick,” and more. Highlights below.
“At Home With The Creative Coalition” is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, SoundCloud, and more.
Listen now at:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/always-be-prepared-with-guest-david-arquette/id1521900273?i=1000535276999
For planned coverage, please link to:
http://thecreativecoalition.org/podcast
Highlights from “At Home With The Creative Coalition” featuring David Arquette —
On possibly offending Hugh Grant at the Golden Globes and the time Heath Ledger called Grant “a prick”:
“I collect things, just, like, funny stuff. And I came across the booking chair. It’s, like, where they have the numbers when you get arrested, you sit in it. And it was cool, because it was from the ‘40s or ‘50s or something, so it was like this cool-looking chair, and it was in the West Hollywood Police Department, so anybody who got arrested in West Hollywood would have had to sit in that chair. So I once told Hugh Grant — I was at a Golden Globes party, I was like, ‘Hey, excuse me, Hugh. This might sound strange, but I collect a lot of stuff, and I bought the booking chair where you got arrested, and, I don’t know, you could have it if you’d like, so you could, like, have your friends take pictures in it. I don’t know.’ He goes, ‘Oh, really. Well isn’t that wonderful.’ And I was like, ‘Oops, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…’ And then I got, like, bumped out of the way, and it was Michael Douglas with a pregnant Catherine Zeta-Jones, and he was really protective of her, and I felt like, I was like, ‘Oh! Fish out of water! Supposed to be somewhere I can go to, like, sit down!’ And it’s Heath Ledger in front of me, and I’d met Heath a few times, and he was a really cool guy, and I was like, ‘Oh, man, I’m so embarrassed, I just went to offer Hugh Grant his booking chair and he got really upset.’ And he goes ‘Oh don’t worry, guy’s a prick.’”
On his father teaching him about the business of filmmaking and his antics on set as a teenager:
“My dad was really sweet. I remember my first day he had brought me to a set, and he said, ‘Okay, that’s a gaffer, they deal with the lights. That’s the key grip…’ He kind of gave me an idea, ‘That’s the cinematographer, he’s sort of in charge of the camera, and that’s his first camera assistant,’ so he gave me a real idea of what to look for and then when you’re in it, there’s a lot of stuff, when you’re young, like 17, there’s a lot of stuff you have to learn. A lot of the thing is discipline, because you’re a kid still, and you’re wanting to cut up. I got charged like $10,000 for climbing on an airplane in the back lot of Universal, standing on top and then I fell through the roof. It was just like a junked-out old plane, but it cost me a pretty penny.”
On his admiration for Wes Craven:
“If I talk about Wes too much, I’ll get all teary-eyed, because he had such a huge impact on me. His kindness was really what amazed me, and he did it in such a calm way. He was just brilliant, just a brilliant man. I learned so much watching him and he’d answer any questions. He’d do things like, he’d be watching these, like, crazy anime. Kids now are into anime and stuff. Wes was watching these old Korean or Japanese animated things and getting ideas for shots and stuff and it just blew my mind that he was on that level. And he would listen to, like, opera, and put on different music, and he’d say things like, ‘David, that’s unusable.’ And I’d say, ‘Okay, Wes. What would make it usable?’ So we had this really amazing relationship where he’d say stuff like that. During ‘Scream 2,’ my mom was dying of breast cancer, and it was a really painful time. I was having a hard time with my relationship with Courtney at the time, and he sat me down and said ‘David, you really have to get your stuff together’ conversation, like, ‘You’re going to have a wonderful life, but it really takes the work. I think you and Courtney would make a wonderful couple, but she’s gotta trust you.’ You know, it was just the most fatherly, beautiful conversation… There’s not a lot of mentor people like that.”
On his house getting burned down as a child:
“We had grown up in Hollywood, and not, like Hollywood Hollywood. It was a lot grittier back then. One night, where we lived in Hollywood, our house got burned down. We got targeted by, like, a gang. They thought the neighbor lived in my house… Our neighbor had joined a gang and his mom found out and made him quit, but every time they had dropped him off at his house, he’d come up to our driveway, and every time they’d drive away he’d hop over the fence to his house.”
On investing himself in researching the L.A. sex worker culture for his role in “Johns”:
“Santa Monica was the street at the time, it’s a little east of West Hollywood, but it was kind of, like, where hustlers were. Like, male prostitutes. They called them drag queens at the time, and they actually would sort of refer to themselves like that, too. So I got to know this culture. For three months, I would get like 20 bucks in fives, and I’d go. I’d see one, I’d give them a five and say, ‘Tell me where you’re from, why you’re out here. What’s your relationship with your parents? What’s in your pockets? What’s the craziest thing that’s ever happened to you out here? You know, do you have any brothers or sisters?’ Just sort of this process I’d go through, and I’d never really had that opportunity, and it was really powerful. At one point, I met my character archetype on the street. This kid named Tweety, and he had a teardrop tattoo, which my character had in the movie.”
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More about “At Home With The Creative Coalition”
Hosted by The Creative Coalition CEO Robin Bronk, “At Home With The Creative Coalition” brings listeners intimate portraits, key moments of discovery, and “art and soul” conversations with iconic entertainment industry personalities from the big screen to the boardroom, from L.A. to D.C. Listen now at http://thecreativecoalition.org/podcast.
Upcoming guests include Mädchen Amick (“Riverdale”), Shiri Appleby (“UnREAL”), Justin Bartha (“The Hangover,” “National Treasure”), Michael Fishman (“The Conners”), Willie Garson (“And Just Like That…”), Nicholas Gonzalez (“La Brea,” “The Good Doctor”), Tony Hale (“The Mysterious Benedict Society,” “Arrested Development”), Patricia Heaton (“Carol’s Second Act,” “The Middle”), New York Times Bestselling Author Susan Isaacs (“Compromising Positions”), Aasif Mandvi (“Evil”), Rachel Mason (“Circus of Books”), International Bestselling Author Patrick McGinnis (“The 10% Entrepreneur,” “Fear of Missing Out”), Yolonda Ross (“The Chi”), Reid Scott (“Echo”), Mona Scott-Young (“Love & Hip Hop,” “The Gossip Game”), Krista Vernoff (“Grey’s Anatomy,” “Station 19”), and Matt Walsh (“Veep”).
Previous guests include Jason Alexander (“Curb Your Enthusiasm”), David Alan Basche (“The Exes”), Asante Blackk (“This Is Us”), Carly Chaikin (“Mr. Robot”), Wilson Cruz (“Star Trek: Discovery”), Alan Cumming (“Briarpatch”), Ethan Cutkosky (“Shameless”), The Creative Coalition President and actor Tim Daly (“Madam Secretary”), Lea DeLaria (“Orange Is the New Black”), Jim Gaffigan (“The Jim Gaffigan Show”), Griffin Dunne (“This Is Us”), Judy Gold (“The Other F Word”), Clark Gregg (“Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”), Jon Huertas (“This Is Us,” “Castle”), Jason Isaacs (“Star Trek: Discovery”), Richard Kind (“Curb Your Enthusiasm”), Chad Lowe (“Supergirl”), Marlee Matlin (“CODA,” “The West Wing”), AnnaLynne McCord (“Let’s Get Physical”), Eric McCormack (“Will and Grace”), Wendi McLendon-Covey (“The Goldbergs”), Katherine McNamara (“Shadowhunters”), Marta Milans (“Shazam!”), Rob Morrow (“Billions”), Kathy Najimy (“Duncanville”), Haley Joel Osment (“Future Man,” “Entourage”), Bill Prady (“The Big Bang Theory”), Jessica Queller (“Supergirl”), Anthony Rapp (“Rent”), Julie Taymor (“The Lion King”), Alfre Woodard (“Clemency,” “Luke Cage”), Constance Zimmer (“Good Trouble”), and David Zucker (“Airplane!,” “Scary Movie”).
More about The Creative Coalition
The Creative Coalition is the premier nonprofit, nonpartisan 501(c)(3) social and public advocacy organization of the arts and entertainment community. Founded in 1989 by prominent members of the creative community, The Creative Coalition is dedicated to educating, mobilizing, and activating its members on issues of public importance. Actor Tim Daly serves as the organization’s President. The Creative Coalition also creates award-winning public service campaigns including #RightToBearArts to promote the efficacy of the arts. The Creative Coalition harnesses the unique platforms of the arts community and entertainment industry to make positive impacts on social welfare issues. For more information, visit https://thecreativecoalition.org.
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