Patricia Arquette: «I lie reluctantly. I hate telling lies.”

Con Patricia Arquette we talk about everythingalways: of us women – single, mothers or divorced, violated or betrayed – of our ambitions, frustrations, of rogue governments and failed promisessuccess, fame and Oscar statuettes (he won it in 2015 with Boyhood).

For her – who belongs to fbeloved dynasty that includes sister Rosanna and brothers David and Alexis (the transgender actress who died in 2016) – each character becomes a timely reason for reflection, conversation and discussion. She likes to say what she thinks starting from personal experiencesis just the opposite of most of his many elusive colleagues. It’s been happening for thirty years. To be picky, from the first interview for True RomanceTony Scott’s thriller (written by Quentin Tarantino with Dennis Hopper, Christian Slater, Val Kilmer and a thirty-year-old Brad Pitt) from 1993 which would become one of the cult films of that decade.

Patricia was not yet 25 years old and said: «I grew up drinking beer in dodgy alleys and saw people stabbed in front of me when I was 12so I don’t like certain realities that I feel are fake. I like films that tell the truth about love and violence.” He proclaimed it with conviction already more than thirty years ago and he always insisted on working with courageous and diverse directors (to name just a handful, David Lynch, Tim Burton, Martin Scorsese, Richard Linklater, Stephen Frears).

Patricia Arquette, from cinema to TV

When the cinema stopped offering her challenging roles she passed (and, note well, it was not yet fashionable) on television. There too, Patricia gave life to unforgettable female characters: the seer Allison DuBois in Medium (won an Emmy), the chilling manager Harmony Cobel in Severance, the abusive mother Dee Dee Blanchard in The Act (Emmy and Golden Globe) and the prison employee Joyce Mitchell in Escape at Dannemora (Golden Globe).

The newest character, Maggie Murdaugh in the miniseries Murdaugh: Death in the Family (Murdaugh: Death in the familyon Disney+), reflects Lhe true story of an important family of lawyers in South Carolina, where father and mother were murdered by their son. Also on this occasion the actress measures the depth full of contrasts of our psyche, and of our society. Always available and generous (during our chat today on Zoom), together we pick up the thread and warmth of our ancient dialogue.

Murdaugh: Death in the family

Alex Murdaugh (played by a fabulous Jason Clarke) is a pathological liar. He is dishonest, a cheat and cheats on Maggie, but she always finds a reason to justify it.
Maggie had married at 20, grown up in South Carolina, and was still in college. Certain behaviors were also introjected at an unconscious level: you had to be a good wife, a good mother and uphold certain fundamental principles at any cost. These same principles will paradoxically lead to his death.

Let’s talk about lies: can many lies be forgiven? What do you think?
To be honest, I try not to lie, I find it a lack of respect for others and for myself. However, I cannot say that I have never done it: I lied to get out of extreme situations by inventing a boyfriend I didn’t have, or when I felt a physical sensation of discomfort, perhaps with a stranger. Even though I disapprove, and I don’t like telling lies.

Alex, her husband in this latest series, is a skilled manipulator, a man of success and power.
It is a striking example of our society, which adopts a very dark value system. Anything to achieve one’s personal interest is legitimate, therefore acceptable. You’re a great lawyer, so why not? In America this constant lying behavior is becoming the norm. As if it were a natural thing, and it’s not. If anything it is the sign of a disturbed personality.

In her work, true crime stories fascinate her.
I’m interested in human dynamics. My mother was an analyst, my father an actor: in our conversations we talked about subconscious realities, the reasons why people make certain decisions, I made certain terms my own. If I had been an actress in a different era I would certainly have played Medea and made the brutal stories of other times my own. The human species continues to kill and commit horrendous acts.

She often mentions her mother and the influence she had on her. What did he leave her?
Beautiful things and some horrible ones. Maybe mom wasn’t aware of it at first, then she realized that I had a certain dependence on her. My father was an alcoholic, he cheated on her, he was a narcissistic impostor and he put her to the test. She tried to counterbalance this by teaching me the value of psychology, love, poetry, travel, mythology. We didn’t have a penny, yet he found a way to take us to Europe: he used that guide booklet then called “20 dollars a day” and found family pensions, places where we all slept in small fishermen’s bungalows near the beach. She was a woman of profound spirituality, but she also led me to accept violent and brutal behavior, even unhealthy romantic relationships, like the one she had with my father. Let’s be clear, now that I’m an adult I’ve completely forgiven her, in fact, I love her. She left years ago, today I am at peace with her and myself. I took care of her recently, before she died, and I managed to make her feel how much I loved her.

Tell us now about your children.
They too will make many mistakes and I have no idea what their future will be (and, in general, that of today’s kids). I see that they have solid values ​​and a strong sense of ethics. They are beautiful people, attentive, deep and capable of feelings. Surely I too have made thousands of mistakes as a mother, but I probably passed the test because my boys are decent people. Now I can encourage them to take risks, to accept trials, to explore life.

They are not living in the best of worlds.
I agree. Young people live in a world completely different from the one we grew up in, which is unrecognizable today. I was so excited even at the mere idea of ​​maturing, of facing new things, and getting to experience what I wanted to do. Nowadays it is difficult to find a path and a future that makes sense. We are in a phase of broken values, “deconstructed” if you like.

What do you see as positive, beautiful, or joyful?
The other day I was reflecting on this gloomy and not at all promising present of ours, and a guy said to me: “Do you know what I’m telling you? This period electrifies me: many things no longer work and are disappearing, but new ones are being born, and I see fantastic ways and worlds around the corner”. It’s true that a lot of unpleasant things are happening in America, but there are also many good people. There are those who lose financial aid and food stamps, people who are hungry, but there are also food banks popping up almost everywhere, hundreds of volunteers offering help and protecting people from the Trump administration’s anti-migration policy. I am surprised to discover that so many people still believe in our community. She is active, and above all, helpful.