A TRIP WITH ALEXIS ARQUETTE
He's posed as the Hindu god Krishna for the cover of Genre magazine, his
alter egos are drag queens Eva Destruction and Amanda B Reckondwith, and he's the
brother of actors Richmond, Rosanna, Patricia and David Arquette. He's Alexis
Arquette who's appeared in a huge variety of films that have displayed both his range
and eccentricity as a performer.
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The grandson of vaudevillians, son of veteran character
actor Lewis Arquette and poet Mardi Arquette he made his screen debut with a small role
in Down And Out In Beverly Hills in 1986. He had his first breakthrough as
Georgette, a sensitive young transvestite with a crush on a neighbourhood thug in
Last Exit to Brooklyn a few years later, and he's famously played supporting roles
in Pulp Fiction and in The Wedding Singer. |
Alexis (left) in The Wedding Singer
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His latest film is romantic drama/comedy
The Trip which gets its world premiere at the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival
sponsored by OutUK on the 5th April.
OutUK's Mike Gray has been talking to Alexis Arquette about his career and The Trip.
OutUK: What was it like growing in such a creative environment and with so many brothers and sisters
who all became performers?
Alexis: It's sort of the family business so it wasn't so odd. My parents were both
actors and my Dad was in a theatre group in Chicago called Second City. So it was second nature for us
even though it was something none of us planned on doing. I planned to go to school
for different things, but you know once you live in LA...it's all around you. It's
sort of pointless to live here and not be part of this industry in some way.
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OutUK: You are the youngest of the family, so was there much pressure on you to be
the most outrageous and shout the loudest?
Alexis: I guess I'm wild amongst my family, but I'm pretty tame compared to some
of my friends. No, I always looked up to my family members, my brothers, my sisters.
They always kind of said the right thing. We were a big family. There's five kids so
there was plenty of rivalry.
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Alexis (right) in I Think I Do
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OutUK: Do you think performing is in your genes, or do you think you became a performer
and actor because of the environment you grew up in?
Alexis: My grandfather and my great-grandfather were both in vaudeville. I'm not sure
that genetically you can pinpoint those sort of things. It's more sort of environment I
I guess but there were a lot of histrionics going on in our family and it's easy to
become dramatic in that sort of setting.
OutUK: You as a drag queen, how did that start?
Alexis: It was because it was the 80's and boys wore make up. That's how I fell into it,
thanks to Boy George. Without that sort of androgynous fashion I wouldn't have figured out
the whole drag persona thing. But I've always found drag fun. I guess it's halfway 'cos
of me being motivated by my views on gender, and the other part is because I just
like to shock people, and I like to say things which you can't say normally when
you're not in character.
OutUK: I thought at first you were gay, but then you had a girlfriend, so are
you really bisexual...and I've read too that now you don't like discussing your sexuality.
Alexis: I always found it really kind of irrelevant because unless you've planned to
sleep with someone I don't know why you'd ask them about their sexuality. Unless
you're planning on discriminating against them. It just seems like that sexuality
is like invisible race and once you find out what someone is you have the opportunity
to judge them and then they put you in a box.
OutUK: The problem is though people especially young people, need public figures to be honest
about their sexuality as role models, so they can learn to be honest with themselves too.
Alexis: For years I've been out as a gay man, because I always believed that kids
did need a role model and people should be honest about sexuality, but then I came
around. I really wish that Elton would have come out when I knew he was gay when
I was a kid when I needed him to come out. But at the same time if someone's a
public figure...do we expose ourselves for who we are? and wear our sexuality on our
sleeves...or our bisexuality and be called wishy-washy? It comes full circle when
you want to live your life the way you want it without society's judgement or mores
or anything heaped upon it. You realise your sexuality is private. It's really no-one's
business unless they want to sleep with you or discriminate against you.
OutUK: Tell me about Michael, the character you play in The Trip?
Alexis: I've often played pretty kind of out campy characters and Michael's definitely
another one. He's very flamboyant and always trying to shock people and saying the
one thing that everyone's thinking and no-one has the balls to say. He's silly and
flippant and by the end he's grown up a bit. It's a bit of like a coming-of-age storyline,
but I loved playing the character. He's always trying to get down your pants. I have
friends like that. You'd be crying on their shoulder and their hands are down your zipper.
But it's sort of endearing if you know what I mean.
OutUK: You're coming to London for the Festival?
Alexis: I'd really like to. I love London. I'd live there if I could. I lived there when I
was a teenager and my favourite thing in London is the public toilets...it's like
a gay sex club on every street-corner.
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The Trip receives its World Premiere at the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival
on 5th April in NFT2 and is screened again on the 7th April in NFT 3.
Alexis Arquette DVDs currently available.
Alexis Arquette Videos currently available.
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Larry Sullivan and Steve Braun in
The Trip
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LLGFF PROGRAMMERS INTERVIEW
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WEBCAM BOYS FILM PREVIEW
OutUK's GAY BOYS' FESTIVAL OVERVIEW
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