Insight with Chris Van Vliet - David Arquette On Redemption, Nick Gage, SCREAM And The Evolution of Horror Movies

Episode Date: March 15, 2022

David Arquette (@davidarquette) is an actor, director, producer and professional wrestler and former WCW Champion. He is best known for his roles in movies like the "Scream" franchise, "Ready To Rumble", "Never Been Kissed", "Eight Legged Freaks" and many others. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet at his home in Los Angeles, CA to talk about Scream 5, whether his character Dewey Riley was every considered as the killer, the evolution of horror movies, what his first big break in acting was, his marriage to Courteney Cox, winning the WCW Championship to help promote the film "Ready to Rumble", why he started training to become a professional wrestling almost 20 years later, his documentary "You Cannot Kill David Arquette", his infamous death match with Nick Gage and much more! For more information about CVV and INSIGHT go to: https://podcast.chrisvanvliet.com If you enjoyed this episode, could I ask you to please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcast/iTunes? It takes less than a minute and makes a huge difference in helping to spread the word about the show and also to convince some hard-to-get guests. Follow CVV on social media: Instagram: instagram.com/ChrisVanVliet Twitter: twitter.com/ChrisVanVliet Facebook: facebook.com/ChrisVanVliet YouTube: youtube.com/ChrisVanVliet TikTok: tiktok.com/@Chris.VanVliet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

All systems are going. Ladies and gentlemen, Chris Van! Believe! Oh, yeah! Here we go, my friends. Welcome back to another audio adventure here on Insight. I'm CBV, Chris Family. Thank you so much for being with us.

And I'm honored to have the amazing David Arquette with us for this interview in person. We had him on the show a little over a year ago when his documentary called You Cannot Kill David Arquette was coming out. And he told me then that we were. We would do our next interview in person. And he is a man of his word because not only did we do this interview in person, he drove to my house so we could record this. What a guy. What a guy.

And you were going to love this conversation. If this is your first episode of Insight, by the way, it'd be amazing if you would consider subscribing to the show wherever you're listening to this. Also, please share this episode with somebody who loves David Arquette, someone who loves the scream movies, and take us. screenshot, share it on social media, tag us so we can repost it. David's at David Arquette. I'm at Chris Van Fleet, and I got to put this out there. Speaking of Scream, there are a few spoilers in this interview for the new Scream movie, which came out in January. So it's technically

Scream 5. It's just called Scream, but the latest Scream movie, we talk a lot about that and some of the intricacies of the plot. So just wanted to put that out there. But, man, And also just a lot of fascinating insight into the scream movies as a whole and David's career, both in wrestling and in movies and also with clowns. So we'll dive into all of that here. Our fan of the week is Lorenzo S. He says CVV is the goat. It's been an honor and privilege to watch and listen to CVV on each and every chance that I get since 2019.

CBV's interviews are a breath of fresh air, especially in 2020. My favorites are the ones with the Good Brothers and Adam Cole. Chris is extremely respectful, personable, and ask great questions, and his passion is infectious. CVV pushes me to be better, more mindful, and a more thoughtful person every single day. Thank you so much. Those are very kind of you, Lorenzo. I appreciate you, first of all, saying those nice words and also taking the time to leave that review on Apple Podcasts. We read one on every episode.

So if you have an iPhone, go in there, leave a few words, and we'll shout you out on the show. Yes, for free, of course, for free. We don't charge for shouting. We don't charge for anything. We don't have a Patreon or a PayPal. It's free. And if you listen on Spotify, they have ratings now.

So if you could go in there and click the five stars, that would be awesome. We just hit 500 ratings on Spotify. You guys are awesome. Okay. I don't want to take up any more time here in the intro because this is so good. So please welcome. The one, the only, David Arcat. Oh, man, we are making this happen.

We are. Thank you so much for coming by. My pleasure. Thanks for having me. I re-watched Scream again on the weekend with my girlfriend who didn't. She loved the movie, but didn't watch a lot of it because of, you know. Yeah. I've learned that if you could close your ears, it's a lot less scary.

I don't know. A little tip out there from poor movie. Close your ears. Scared guy. The sound effects are, yeah. They'll get you. They will get you. Do you think that's the character that you know the best of all the characters you played?

Yeah, I mean, it's so weird with Scream because it's so parallels my life. You know what I mean? I, you know, it was right at the beginning of my career. It was the first thing that I got that really kind of launched me into a different level of celebrity or just even career. I met my first wife on it. We had a kid. We got divorced. I mean, they're like track my...

Same thing happens with the character. Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. So, and then I met my new wife, and I've, you know, we had a daughter. And my first wife had a daughter with her. And then I have two boys now while this last one came out. So it really wants a whole experience. And the crazy thing, I was actually just talking to Brandon about this right before you got here. you played Dewey for half your life.

Yeah, totally. I'm 50. And I did the first one when I was 25. Thank you. Man. I was 24 for a whole year before the first one. That's a screen reference. What do you think is the main thing you've really developed?

When you look back to the first scream and how you were as an actor then versus how you are as an actor in this new scream. Oh, man. there's just so much life experience that happens. And, you know, at the beginning, you're kind of like, I don't know, you're kind of, there's like a naivity that that sounded so. So like, I don't know, there's just an element of just being green and just being new and being fresh and being full of like confidence, like all of this stuff. Yeah.

And then the more you like act, it's all about then finding the real honest moments and when it's like, when you can really like embody the character, really tap into your emotions. There were some scenes in that, in the version of this last scream that were so emotional that they went with a far less emotional take. And it's interesting because I've noticed that a lot of the time, people have a kind of get uncomfortable if they see a man like showing extreme emotion. But if you've ever been in some like serious like kind of the stakes are really high in a emotional experience and argument or something, like you could get really emotional. Sure. You know what I mean? Yeah.

But it's so funny that when you do it on screen, it's like, oh. So they went with a safer take. but I would have liked to have challenged him to go with a little heavier take because essentially, like you said, we had experienced a lot of that stuff. And I'm drawing on stuff like, you know, my parent, my mom dying, and my dad dying, like, you know, all of these, and West dying and like all of these things that were kind of playing. So I don't know.

Yeah, there's like the subtlety that you play any of your characters with, I think is so impressive. I don't think as an actor I've never been told so much. Thank you so much. There's some, like, when we first see Dewey in this movie, you're, you know, you're down and out, right? And you don't want to really talk to anybody. And you're like, I don't know, there's just like these little micro movements, these little micro emotions that I think that you played so well. Oh, thank you, man.

I'm sorry how squeaky this, Jerry. I know. I'm a squeaker, too. Do you want to switch? This one's not so squeaky. I actually won't... Maybe I won't squeak as much. Look at this.

Thank you. I'll try not to move as much. I'm like always moving. Still look okay there? Okay. Yeah. I've just always like, what's this? I'm like a ball like energy.

There was actually something so small that you did in this one scene where you were getting up for some reason. And you just like, you cracked your knuckles. And I don't know if that was David cracking his knuckles, but that was dewy cracking his knuckles. But it just felt so natural in that. I didn't plan it. And I don't typically crack my knuckles. So it might have just, oh, you know what? They might have added a knuckle crack if I was just like, because I do play with my hands a lot.

So they might have added a knuckle crack. They did a lot of really cool stuff. There's one moment where I go, and I was trying to do it in the scene and I thought I had done it. Blood. Spoiler alert. Yeah. Spoiler alert. Lots of spoilers in this.

Spoilers. You haven't seen the film. Oh. But, and then I saw the thing, and I was like, oh, it worked. And then I called myself and I was like, wait, did you guys add that? And they were like, yeah, we added. I was like, oh, I was trying to do it. Like, I was literally trying to make that happen.

But you know, I can't necessarily always see it. But you know what? From wrestling, I learned a lot about acting. Yeah. Really about being in the moment and just being real. Like, the thing about wrestling is it's so over the top that when you can find the moments that are real, like tap into something and you're really angry at someone, and that comes across, and the audience then feels it.

And you really are feeling it. That's really powerful stuff, and it was really interesting to see, because it's a lot harder of a technique to do than a lot of people think. Like, a lot of people think they're over the top, this or that. But if you try to, like, cut a promo, I'll try to cut a promo now! Oh, man. Yeah.

I never really got you cut any promos. Because in those wrestling promotions took me seriously. Yeah, well, you should take me. I think you're coming back out of retirement. I got another match in you. I love the wrestling business. I remember the rock telling me that, like, the thing about wrestling is you've got to do it

so it's believable for the person in the front row and believable for the person in the last row. And I think that that's why a lot of people are like, oh, wrestling's over the top. Because if you did something that was that over the top on camera, it would play it very big, I feel like. Yeah. Everything I did

that sounds seems to play very big. So I'm still coasted on that subtlety. I think you said, it's true. Well, thank you. Thank you. Yeah, I think as you get older, you also kind of settle into your skin a little bit, you know, and get a little

more confident and like life beats you down enough. You're like, okay. You know, I don't know. Sometimes it's like, I recently bought the rates to Bozo the Clown and I went out to premiere Bozo on New Year's Eve and it's just looking around it. Nobody was smiling. Nobody was like, there's a lot of pain right now in the world. So I don't know why I brought it up.

But because like as you get older, there's something about like you're not as like, I don't know. It's almost like when you're starting out acting. or like when you're younger, I guess it is. You're just full of all this optimism and confidence. And then the world kind of beat you down. And then you're like, oh, you're a little more weary about stuff and a little more guarded and a little less trustworthy. Well, that's a trustee.

Well, sometimes trustworthy too. That's what decisions you're making. When you first read the script for Scream and you realize, like, okay, this is the character I'm going to be. Did you just, like, flip to the last page and go, oh, my gosh, my character's still alive. No, I wasn't supposed to live in the first one. What? West Graven brought me back, like, after they had been seeing the dailies and the people

were liking the performance. So there is footage out there of Dewey dying? Well, Dewey just sort of gets sort of killed, like stabbed in the back in the first one. And then, uh, West is like, I'll put you in a gurney. And we'll see if you make it. raise your hand up, give us a thumbs up or something. Thank you, Wes. It was really, like, was just so amazing and really was a mentor in a lot of different ways

and really was supportive, but it kept me alive. You know, you were talking right before, and there were a few times, like, definitely during Scream 4 and maybe during Scream 3, but we were having discussions about where the script was going because it wasn't sort of complete as they go. They start turning them out so they are always kind of played catch up with the scripts. But I was always suggesting because there is like little red herring moments for Dewey where he's like, you know, and then, you know, his sister got killed. And I was just always interested, like, maybe, you know, what if he was like, I always thought of it because it would be the biggest like, what do you mean moment? Yeah. Like.

you're always looking for those moments to sort of surprise the audience or break their hearts or like, you know, I know. So were there early versions of any of the scream movies where Dewey was the killer? I don't think there were any drafts. I made a idea before you.

I pitched for us to have had a daughter and scream four because we actually had a daughter. You and Gail's character? Yeah. So that was. That was funny. But he didn't want to do that either. Like everything else you said,

like it would be totally like, you know, life imitating art. Yeah. Or art imitating life, I guess. I know. I mean, yeah. I'm still not sure if, who knows,

the internet might go crazy. But Gail was really upset with my relationship with Marley Shelton's character, the sheriff Judy in the fourth one. Yeah. So what if something had happened there? then, you know, there's this kid Wes that is in the news screen. I'm no, I'm just saying.

I like that his name's Wes. Yeah, me too. That was really sweet. They were really smart. Matt and Tyler, the directors, did an incredible job. And Jamie and Guy, the writers, were amazing. They put an incredible script together. But I imagine it's tough to make a scream movie without Wes.

It was. Yeah. It was really tough. He's there a lot, like in spirit. I don't know. I felt like I kept him in mind a lot while I was doing it. I kept even like in between while you're doing scenes, thinking about him and thinking about times we had in between,

picking up the phone and making a phone call, you know, these little things. Because if you, as an actor, if you could be thinking a lot of things, you know, nobody can see what's going on in your head. So you're thinking about things that sort of relate in a way to what you're kind of experiencing as a character. Those thoughts play. You know what I mean? They play and you can't really act.

I don't know. I find it hard to force stuff. I try to always find stuff out of like the character, the moment, what you're experiencing. What you've experienced in your past, that's similar. When you've embodied so many characters throughout your career, They call me dick, they call me boo. I don't know how those guys take the time to cut all those things together. Well, one of your fans used to do this for you.

It's a long video, though. They call me David Arquette. That's not me. That's not my name. But when you've embodied so many characters, though, is it difficult or at any point in your career? Have you forgotten who David is? Who is? Who is?

Who am I? No, no. No, along the journey of life, yeah, I've made a lot of wrong turns. Luckily, came back safely, but I could easily nod, you know. But it's really, you know, that's part of it, like figuring out, like, how to stay focused and how to channel your energy in the right way and how to get into the flow. that's really what I've experienced. Like, because, you know, I've had by things with, you know, drugs and alcohol, you know, in the past.

And, you know, even smoking pot, like, I just can't do anything anymore because it gets me out of the flow. And I just need to sort of like stay in it just to like, because when you stay into the flow, it sounds so corny. But when you stay into the flow, you start seeing magical things happening. and like little things. She's just like, even like songs come on or like, you know, connections happen to people.

I just think like, I don't know. I was kind of beating myself up for so long that it was really important for me not to do that anymore. Yeah. To start kind of just, you know,

getting like Bruce Lee says, be like water. Yeah. But when you're in that flow, and look, how is it like your onset, You're getting into that character, and then you guys rap. And then you kind of leave that character behind for a little while.

Then a yearish later, you go into promotion mode for the film, and you go, oh, yeah, we did this, this, this. Maybe you even see the film. And then promotion mode kind of ends. And then is it back to being you again? Yeah. I mean, you're really only, I don't know how other actors do it. I mean, some people might get into character. It was funny.

I was, it was during COVID, so it was really isolated anyway. Dewey's character was isolated. So the place we were staying had like a little kitchenette, the hotel we were staying in. So I just went to the supermarket alone. I got groceries, cooked for myself, and go out to really any restaurants. I had a couple meals with the younger cast. But for the most part, I was alone a lot of it, which he was. was too.

Yeah. So I do little things like that. I don't really get into character. Like, I don't know. I mean, I've done some roles where I'm playing darker characters and it seems like your life becomes a little bit more,

you know, scary in a way. You're not scary, but like you might put yourself and, you know, be hanging around people that, you know, would be dangerous or whatever.

I don't know. It's probably just what happened when you became a pro wrestler. Yeah. I mean, That's the thing about doing things that you're actually you're doing it. You really have no

character guard. How do you explain to people who aren't wrestling fans the whole Nick Gage situation? There's this thing called the death match. And if you get offered, do one. Say them.

They're like, wait a second. It's called a death match. Are you supposed to kill the other person? I didn't know that that's a possibility. Wait a second. And there's ultra-violent stuff? What's that? I didn't know what the ultra-violence thing was.

I didn't know. And he said, this is the part where we're going to do the ultra-violets. I was like, oh, okay. Is that kind of like in Seinfeld where they're like, and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, the match ends. Yeah, yeah. There was a lot of that actually. You should have seen what was supposed to come next. Well, I was supposed to go through a barbed wire wall.

I was going to, there was a bunch of stuff I was supposed to go through. I didn't care. I mean, but something happened. I saw Nick Mondo's amazing documentary about death matches before I did that. And he asked somebody in that, like, why are you doing this? Because, like, there's something inside us that, you know, it's almost like, you know, trying to numb the pain by getting pain or something. Okay.

But he was like, why are you doing this? He asked somebody, you know. And I was thinking about that. It was a really kind of pivotal thing I learned with doing the documentary was that, God, I've been beating myself up for so long. Like, why? Like, what is all that about? You mean internally, not physically?

Internally, mentally. I still, I battle with that all the time. I mean, the negative voice in our heads is like my biggest enemy now, you know, especially since you don't, like, drink a few beers to sort of quiet it down, you know, so you kind of like have to find other ways going on hikes or, you know, hanging out with people you're really comfortable with or doing art. But there's a lot of ways through it doing music. This episode is brought to you by Athletic Greens,

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Athletic Greens. Well, the funny thing about, like if we talk about WCW, the funny thing about television wrestling is it's very fast pace. It's a new episode every single week and it's two hours or three. hours with Nitro and they're writing stuff in the moment that's going to happen in the moment. And I think maybe you forget that this is going to live on forever, whether it's good or it's

bad or it's somewhere in between. Like wrestling fans don't forget. Right. And I think that that's, that was kind of the space you had to, you were forced to live in for 20 years. Yeah. You were thrown into this thing that probably felt very impromptu in the moment probably seemed like a good idea from Eric Bischoff and DDP.

And here we are 20 years later, still talking about it. Yeah. Well, I do feel blessed that I kind of have a connection to wrestling that I got to see behind the curtain of something I love so much. I still sort of stand true to the idea that I was kind of one of like the first band champs. You know what I mean? So it's like I've actually lived that dream of that thing. I mean, the fact that I was an actor obviously taints it, but I don't know.

I wouldn't change it for the world, and I learned so much from it. I really respect wrestlers and what they experience. I can't believe the guys, like, that I was wrestling when I was wrestling the second time, seeing them come up and then just seeing them do it all the time. I just, you know, if you're doing it all the time, your body's kind of used to it, and you also get into the flow of it so you can, like, You're just way better at wrestling. Sure.

When you do it all the time. So, you know, you're going to roll better, you know, but also the chances of something, you know, banging around or higher. I don't know, but like there's a lot of celebrities that do the one match, right? And you could have easily done one more match. What made you decide? I'm going to go be an indie wrestler and, like, tour around and, like, make this thing. Because I wanted to find out why the fans.

got so mad at me. I wanted to figure out what is wrestling. Like, I've always loved it, but what's it all about? And I wanted to just experience it. I wanted to, you know, I guess I wanted to go to my hotel room and not be there. It's just be like, oh, gosh, I guess I'm not getting an hotel room tonight. You mean you go to check in and they're like, I'm sorry, Mr. Arquette, there's no room for you. No, because it was bought on a, you know, one of those other kind of ways, and then they had overbooked. Like Travelosity and Expedia or something. Yeah. But, you know, so they didn't have a room for me.

So you're like with your bags in the middle of nowhere. Were they like booking you like you were an indie wrestler? Like, we've all heard the stories. Were they booking you on Spirit Airlines where you're paying for your own bags or were you able to go, okay, guys, like at least fly me on American and United or Delaware. or something. It was a little bit of a different situation because I was shooting the documentary. So a lot of the time I'd say I'd get to use the footage.

So I wouldn't be paid. Sometimes I get paid. Sometimes people would fly me out. But a lot of the time I was sort of doing stuff on my own. There were a few places that treated me right. First, rest for a few places. That's terrifying. Well, yeah.

It's a terrifying. world. I mean, essentially, you know, I may have been a former champion, but I was a green, you know, wrestler. So, you know, and I don't know. There were different, I don't know. I took a different approach to it. I like being able to help smaller indie wrestling companies that kind of, you know,

you come in with like all these demands and it's just taking away from the sort of overall what they could make. if you have the, you know, the ways it means to not have to, you know, it's not going to kill me one way or another. I don't know. It's a weird way of looking at it. I don't even like charging people to sign stuff. It just makes me uncomfortable.

I know. It's like against all this stuff. And even in the horror conventions and all this stuff. And I love meeting the fans. But it always just is awkward to be. And I have social anxiety. So it's like this combo of like, oh, awkward. I'm uncomfortable.

I feel bad about this. I remember I was coming out here for a lot for work before I moved out to L.A. And people would be like, oh, you know, we've been training at David Arquette's house. I'm like, hold on to what? Like, hey, he's a ring in his backyard. Jungle Boy, Peter Avalon, Luciusaurus. I'm like, hold on, what? That was my favorite time.

Do you still have a ring? No, I gave it to Jungle Boy. That's an amazing part of the story. He's just such an incredible dude. and love that guy. Yeah, and he and his dad and his family came over and we all hung out in the ring. I don't know. It was just meaningful.

And I thought, well, he'll put it to you. I mean, that guy's so incredible. But you got trained to be a pro wrestler in your own backyard. Yeah. It was Peter Avalon. Yeah. He was amazing. Yeah.

I met him through, I called him up, you know, through Dave Marquez and, and, you know, the championship first thing from Hollywood and he picked up the phone and we got to talk in first training section I puked my guts out and Oxnard

yeah he ran me really is that from bumps or what? Yeah I had also broken a ribbon well that was later but yeah no that was just from bumps and being out of shape

and just like he just you know he it was real wrestling training you you know there's a lot of stuff that happens

in those rings and yeah and then one of my first matches I cracked a couple of ribs then I had to like do this match with RJ City and just keep slamming myself down

and like I don't know if you've ever had cracked ribs or but it's so painful anyway like sneezing or coughing but then like take it on these bumps then I had one session with Scorpio Sky too

and I barely could do anything because I kept asking people because I had gotten a couple x-rays and they're like no it's nothing then I had to get like some I don't know like an MRI or something and because I was like there's something wrong with me because I'm in so much great yeah and then they found it it was like under one of these lower ones or somewhere in here where they couldn't see it but but there's a lot of people that would be going through this pain and you're in your mid-40s

at the time when you're, that's amazing, training to become a pro wrestling for the first time. There's a lot of people that would go, yeah, you know what? This hurts a lot. What am I doing? I don't need to do this. Yeah.

I already started it though. And it was almost like, I really did want to sort of figure really the lesson I learned was the, you know, the death match wrestling. Stop beating yourself up so much. You know, that's really what it was. And a lot of things came together.

I was still drinking a little through on and off through that time period. So then really leaving that, you know, self-abusive part behind. It was really, you know, it made a little, I don't know, I learned a lot. It was therapy for him. Yeah. Wow. It was very painful, expensive therapy. I don't know.

It definitely feels like it was like it got you from where you were to where you are now. Yeah. Yeah, and it was pretty interesting. I mean, this whole thing, then scream happens. I don't know. A lot of things started coming together after that. But I feel like the rest of the world didn't understand this. Like when you were on mainstream talk shows and you're like, yeah, I'm trying to be a pro wrestler.

They're kind of like, they made you the butt of the joke. I know. Well, it's funny. I see that a lot. And it's like with Bozo, I'm going around telling people, it's all about kindness. Kindness is key. And you got to laugh. laughing and all this people are looking to me like oh you're like a clown like even my wife she thinks

it's super grinchy so I'm like oh my kids I play a much song I wrote there's like dad you're off key you know this is so embarrassing don't scream while you're talking as a clown but the fact of the matter is you kind of have to like you know where you're going and what your point is or and then once you go on the journey there's all of these like things that happen like you have to redirect and like I don't know but you I don't know just go after what you believe in it's kind of a cliche but you know it's kind of like I just know that people will catch up and be like oh you know what clowns are cool like oh not really you know way after you did the joke and even like wrestling I mean I was talking to Cody Rhodes about trying to have him in the film and it was

right as all the AEW stuff was coming together but it I don't know why I said that but did you want to have a match with them yeah I thought it would be so funny like they were disrespected the belt of my dad I'm gonna pay back that was my sort of pitch to but it was all

during the beginning of that but we had started that documentary way before and then this whole explosion in wrestling so as much as people are leading back I mean I still think Hollywood doesn't take wrestling as seriously as they should. I mean, knowing, like seeing what the Rock can do with his career and everything, the fan base is so, like, amazing.

Well, there's a lot of Dwayne Johnson fans that have never seen The Rock wrestle. No kidding. That is ridiculous. There's even, I think, it's starting to be a lot of John Cena fans who have never seen a John Cena match. Oh, my gosh. That's so funny. I know.

It's crazy. I know. A lot of people just write it off. They don't have the time enough to understand, like, oh, this is. This is incredible. It's a little circusy. Well, they want to be where you're at, and you did the reverse. And that's what's so funny about it, you know? I know, it's so funny. I know. It's so crazy.

Yeah, I don't know. But I think at the core of your story, what's so impressive is that you started training to become a pro wrestler in your mid-40s. And I think there's a lot of people that go, it doesn't necessarily need to be wrestling, but they go, oh, I'd love to do that thing, but I'm too old now. I could never do that thing because I'm 35 or 45 or 55 or whatever. And you basically would, I'm going to do this thing anyway. Yeah. That's what you've got to do, I think, like, in general. And that's my philosophy in life. Like, a lot of people say they want to be famous or something.

You know, if you do a play, a local play, if you put your own play together, if you take some acting classes and then just perform somewhere, perform it apart. Like, you're going to get a buzz. You're going to have the experience. of putting it together. You're going to do it. You can even do it on your phone. You can make a little movie on your phone.

It takes a lot of work and preparation. But if you want to do it, it's like a lot of the time it's like cleaning out a garage. Like a garage looks so daunting to clean out. But you're like, okay, let's start in this corner. You go through these boxes and then you start putting things. You start throwing some stuff out. You find a place for others. And then put some shelves up.

And then you like stack the boxes. And then your garage is clean. It's almost like you do that with whatever you're believing. And you start just going after the one thing. If you want to write a book or anything, you just do 2,000 words a day. You just keep doing it and keep doing it. And by the time you're like, oh, shoot, I wrote all this.

Then you edit it. And then you go through it. And then you have some read it and give their notes and you take it back. It's all just a process. Yeah. I've been saying this a lot, especially lately, is just start. Yeah. I think that so many people get right up against that thing that they want to do.

and then they never take the first step. And you know this from living in Los Angeles for a long time. A lot of people's first step is to move out here, and then they never put in any work when they get here. They go, yeah, I move from the Midwest or Nebraska or wherever to Hollywood. I made it. Yeah. And then they never actually put in any work.

Yeah, I think it's, I don't know, I'm learning more and more. It's all about the work, like all about the constant, like, work, you know, especially in this town, like you'll work on an independent film you want to get produced for two years. It goes nowhere. Yeah. You know, that happens. I can tell you how many times I've done that or like a TV show or this or that. As you get older, you start recognizing, well, I really love the idea.

I just don't have the bandwidth to like pour the time into doing it. Yeah. You know, and there's all these great projects that, you know, if just you had these one couple things, be amazing, but putting those one couple of things together takes a lot of effort too. So you have to kind of like, you know, find out exactly what you want to do and focus on it. What's the best advice you'd have for someone who's moving out here

and trying to be where you're at, trying to succeed as an actor? Well, right now there's so many avenues. Like this phone alone is like, you know, the newest versions of them, you can shoot a film. quality thing. Yeah, cinematic mode is unreal. I mean, and editing and you can like learn all that stuff. It takes a lot of effort.

If you just want to act or whatever, you can like get involved with some of the, you know, acting, really great acting coaches here or plays or find your own play and put it up somewhere. Rent the theater if you can or, you know, find people that will invest in you. I mean, it's always like this game of, you know, finding it. or finding projects and finding the people to attach to them and that whole thing.

But if you, I don't know if you're determined and you won't let anything stop you, especially with this. That's why I say like, you can you know, you can start what I've been noticing more and more is like do what you love. Like if you're

posting stuff, post things you love. And then it will resonate like people understand like, oh, and people kind of gravitate toward the things that they can there's an authenticity to it. So if you find some piece that you really love or you can write something you really love or if you just figure out what you want to express or your story if you want to tell, like everyone has a story.

Yeah. Everyone wants to tell their story. It's really, you know, unless you tell it yourself, it's hard for you to like bring it to someone and say, here, you want to make my story. Yeah. What do you think is the best advice that you've received? It doesn't necessarily need to be about the industry, just maybe about life. What's the best piece of advice? Shoot, I'm really bad at memory. But, um, I mean, my personal, like the things that Bozone's saying and stuff, it's really love yourself. You really have to love yourself because you can be your worst enemy. and when you like figure that out then you recognize the voice

if you have a negative voice in your head which I think most of us do then you have to recognize that voice and not allow it power but really just staying focused believe in yourself like that's the other thing and like believe in your dreams

and really put the work into it like nothing happens you know without really putting that work in what do you think was the role or the moment that really took things to the next level for you. Maybe it was a coaster. Maybe it was an audition you got but didn't end up booking it. No, I mean, there was a, I mean, the day Scream came out, I had an audition and two voiceover auditions that I didn't get any of them. So it's like, you know, I'm 33 years in

the business and that's, you know, this weekend we're having this big movie and I still can't get a job. You mean this last script? Yeah. Oh, wow. It never ends. You know what I mean? That's that hustle, that going after the next job, it never ends. It's not like I'm sitting here right now. And most people wouldn't say this because they'll keep up their air of like, you know, stardom and movie star. But no, it's a hustle. Most people think that you are leafing through a bunch of different scripts and you're the one saying no. There are some that might be true about like these indie movies, but I've done so many of them and it's like you don't really get paid too much for a super low budget movie.

Sure. Even if you believe in the director, I can commit to those, but it's usually like, you know, two weeks, I have to work it out with my family. You're not getting paid anything. It typically ends up costing you money because, you know, I live in Nashville. They don't have money to fly me back and play. fourth that seemed like family. So then, you know what I mean? So there are some, you know, opportunities like that. Yeah. But I've also done a lot of that. And I'm kind of like playing a

little bit more of the Hollywood game and waiting to work with the right people and the right projects rather than just doing stuff to like help people out. And I don't know, I'm just looking after myself. And then focusing on things like Bozo, which I'm really, you know, taking a lot of work. I mean, it's the sake of that I don't have work, you know. But was there an audition or a role early on where you went, oh my God, finally, yes. I've been putting so much work into this. This is going to really help take things on next level. I mean, there's a couple.

There was a movie I did called Johns early on, or early on were a Scott Silver, amazing writer-director who wrote The Joker just recently. He was directing. It was one of his first things. And that was really cool because we were all young. I worked with Lucas Hoss. It was an amazing actor, Terrence Howard, Arliss Howard, all these really great actors. So that gave me a real feeling.

Yeah. You know, I had three months to study for it. I live right by Santa Monica Boulevard where all the male hustlers lived. I mean, worked. So we were all, like, hanging out at the Formosa Cafe in all of it. So I would walk there because I never try, you know, although I drank and stuff, I tried never to drive. So I would.

walk there and I'd give like these hustlers five bucks and I'd say what's the craziest thing that's ever happened to you out of here where are you from what do your parents think um what's in your pockets I just had this list of questions and you know through the process I just was able to like at one point I met the kid with a you know tear drop tattoo like my character had in the movie I kind of like and then a month later like after I shot the movie I ran into the kid and And he was all, like, skinny and it had been shot in the head from, like, like, this, yeah. So it's like this crazy world that I'd been able to just really, like, you know, like infiltrate, yeah.

Yeah. To then put all that into that, into the role. And so that gave me, like, a real acting experience of, like, my first, like, character that I just owned kind of in a way. Yeah, yeah. And then, I mean, Scream changed your life. That changed my life in so many ways. And a lot of it, personally and professionally. You ever think about what your life would be like if your audition wasn't good for that?

Or if you weren't what Wes was looking for? Well, Wes, they called me in for one of the, like, one of the Billy Loomis or the Stu Walker roles. And I was like, I did, there's something about this role, Dewey. And it was written as this big jock. And they didn't know I was professional wrestler. I wasn't at the time. Yeah, ready to rumble, I didn't come out. Yeah.

Well, still, with my heart, my kid brain, I was the champion. I always was. But, no, so I was like, I really loved that role. I think I could bring something weird to, or different to. So, yeah, I don't know. If that movie hadn't happened, it would be a totally different experience for me. There's a line in this new screen movie where they talk about how the Stabb movies was a lot of people's introduction to horror.

films. What was your introduction to horror films? Well, I always love, like, the Shining and just Jack Nicholson's performance and that was just so intense. You know, all those, like, 70s, the 80s, the Omen and

original Halloween, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, I mean, all those really scary ones were great. When you first read Scream, did it read? how it ended up on on screen

a little bit I mean one thing that I think this this version and that version captured was really that we were those kind of that age group

we were kind of like Wes was smart enough to allow us little like ad lib moments and like messing around with each other and it was of the time and it was like

how kids were acting and it was very meta too yeah yeah which I think was so smart because you're looking at it and you're going to Wait a second, you're explaining how this movie's working while we're watching this movie? Yeah, yeah, I know. I know. That was Kevin Williamson, really. And Wes. Like, he also, you know, had that with one of his Nightman Elpstreet films where they kind of turned the... So I think he was towing with that a lot in a way.

What do you, like, if wrestling was the goal for, you know, that point of your life, I guess Bozo's the goal right now? Or, like, what, you know, you could act till you're 150, which is the best thing about acting. What are the next hundred years? Especially since they're going to scan us soon and just AI, David Arcad, and then that's, I'll be. But, yeah, I mean, right now I'm focusing on Bozo. I have two kids. I mean, I have three kids, but two young kids that the seven-year-old's like, this is so embarrassing. Do they watch your films? No, not really. I mean, no.

Have they seen Scream? Have any of your kids seen scream? No, no. Coco saw the last one. Is it weird for her to see you guys both on screen? I don't know. It was, we tried to watch the first one once, and she was like, I'm tapping out. I can't do it.

But she watched this last one, and we weren't there, but. She watched it and she was like, it was like at a fan event. So she was like, I think she had, we kind of got some parent cred there because she was like, oh, wow, you guys actually, you know, know how to act. And spoiler alert, she's like, oh, you died really well, too. Yeah, yeah. Oh, I know. Oh, that still hurts. Oh.

I don't know if they didn't really have to really stab me. I mean, because it was a little, like, they took something out of Nick Gage's handbook to really stab me. I mean, really good. How do those knives work, by the way? They look so authentic. Well, nowadays, they could just have the handles. Sometimes they have the spring ones, but sometimes those get caught too. So handle and it's...

The worst is like when it gets stabbed with a retractable one and it doesn't go and it kind of how you get you. There's like some funky stuff. But nowadays they can add blades. So it's just a handle and the CGI blade? Sometimes. Or sometimes it's rubber and they just make them look better. I thought for sure when they announced that they were doing a fifth scream

that either you or Sidney Prescott was going to somehow be wearing the ghost face mask. Yeah, I mean, it could have, well, we can have a scream six perhaps. Yeah, I mean, you could. No, there is a, they just announced they're doing a scream six. It's happening. I'm so sorry that. I know, you're telling me. There'll be a throwback.

They'll be like a flashback, right? Oh, I don't know. It'll be a photo of Dewey. It's not the same. You still get paid, right? No, he don't. For a picture, I don't know, not really. But still 26 years later, you're probably still getting royalty checks.

for the first screen. I guess so. I mean, yeah, they don't, they're not as like. Not as big as they were in the 90s. Yeah. The films that are that old,

they're not. It's a whole good. It's definitely like, feel blessed to be in position. Yeah. I'm just so curious as we, you know, head towards the end of this interview.

As a former WCW champion yourself, what is your favorite WCW match of all time? Wow. Geez, I'm really terrible about all that. All right, how about just match him? I mean, I don't know. Like, to bash it, what was the, I don't know, I'm just in my head.

We're talking about the Hogan heel turn here. Or of the like, Sturgis? Didn't they have like some crazy, I don't know. I thought I saw some, just in doing the thing, I was watching a bunch of old tapes. And the one match where they had a bunch of motorcycles like that whole. I didn't watch around the whole. As much WCW.

Yeah. Definitely watch a lot more WWF. Yeah, me too. I mean, I was an old school, old school wrestling fans. So I liked like junkyard dog. Oh, okay. Yeah. And Andre the Giant Macho Man and Miss Elizabeth.

I remember doing this because Cocoa Beware. Yeah. I remember the repo man. That was like when I first got introduced to it. Yeah. Do you have a favorite match? Probably Ricky Steamboat and Macho Man. WrestleMania 3?

Yeah. I mean, I guess so. People just say that, but when I was, and I had probably seen it back, it's weird. I see stuff and I'd say, oh, wait, I did see this way back then. But, yeah, I love George the Animal Steel and all of his weird, like, you know, Yeah. Eating the turnbuckled.

You know, and then you go really far back and like Google, gorgeous George just seeing what he did. Like, that kind of stuff is so amazing to me. Yeah, and it's a different era now. And a lot of your friends are... Yeah, there's a lot of really incredible stuff happening now. A lot of your friends are doing it. Yeah.

Those guys, one of my favorite wrestling experiences was watching them. He's like, I'm going to... After this match, I'm going to smoke two cigars. I need two cheese. One of the best things about your documentary is watching you hit the Canadian Destroyer. Oh, man. It's so good.

Oh, man. Yeah, that's all. You work with someone like Jack Perry, Junkal Boy. They make you look really good. I mean, at that point, it was at the end of the whole run. So I'd already kind of gotten the confidence. You know, there's a lot of that you have to get. Like there's this whole thing.

Like if you think you're going to slow in a wrestling match, slow down. Yeah. You know, all of these little things about being in the moment. And it's almost like once you do that, I still have a hard time like being in the moment. Even in an interview, like I'll watch it back. I'll be like, I wasn't even listening. And even they're probably at home saying, like, you sure talk a lot. No.

That's how they're supposed to work. Yeah, I guess so. How easy was WWE to work with when you're trying to get footage from? the documentary. Because they own everything. Yeah. I mean, I had gone to them really early on to want to do it with them before any death match was involved or anything like that.

But it didn't work out. They weren't really interested. They didn't really get what, I don't know. It was just a whole mix. I had a bad experience, actually, my fault. I hosted a raw, they had like the general manager, like temporary general manager. like temporary general manner. Yeah, the guest general matter.

And then there was screen four was coming out. I contacted Triple H. And I was like, this could be cool. I went out there and I don't know. I was after Scream 4. Yeah, I was just in a bad place. I was going through the divorce. I was starting this nightclub.

And it was just, you know, pretty wild. And it was in New Orleans. and I just ended up stayed up all night and like, you know, he came in just my voice was gone. I've been screaming in the Orleans all night. Sounds like ghost face. Yeah, I did. I really did. And I went out and I was like, I was trying to get a heel heat or something like, ah, this town, new or leads.

But it was kind of off script and I think I just pissed off Vince. I'm pretty sure. Oh, I didn't mean to. I really have most respect. for, but I didn't know, like, I didn't, I didn't, I wasn't aware, like, no one really smartened me up too much to, like, make sure not to do this. Stay, like, I don't know, like, I almost thought of it as, like, I guess I was thinking or like it was a house show, but it was raw. Right. You know what I mean?

Yeah. Or I'm just trying to get, like, them mad at me or whatever. Yeah. I don't know. It was a bad move. Did you go back through the curtain and just feel like a cold reaction? Yeah, I did. Yeah, I thought that was always my reaction.

I used to go out to the curtain and everybody be like, what are you doing? Like, you don't know what you're doing. And you don't. That's why I had to like do the wrestling thing. And then I get like all the respect element. And then I get all of this like history. And then I got like, you know, just.

You know, there's all these no cells of like no cell, like interactions and stuff. There's all these like weird, you know, somebody's talking to you what they're talking about. They're trying to take you down and they're talking right to a smile and that you. I'm not good like that. I'm like a gullible fan. So a lot of this stuff I'm like, yeah, okay, sure. Sure, light tubes. but I don't know

I don't know that's one thing that was a little upsetting especially with AEW because I had all the guys that were in AEW in the movie and I wanted to go and like just do a match or something at the you know to promote the movie they were like no-uh I think it was TNT though

and they were like try to charge me to wrestle I was like T&T was going to charge you to wrestle no but I think it was like it went through the the um like publicity yeah the publicity department to like t and t or something and they were like well it cost this much to like i was like no you guys don't i'm forget oh wow they were seeing this like as an

advertisement yeah i mean we were looking to advertise you know on unlike the shows or or at least some some form of advertisement within AW but yeah they looked at it as like well we charge this much for someone to promote in the ring. I was like, well, man. Yeah, that was a little,

like, depressing because I do all a bunch of the guys over there. Yeah. Your, your documentary is unbelievable, though. Oh,

where can people find it? Where's the best people place for people find it? It's on, Lulu, I think it's on. You cannot kill David Arquette. Yeah, it's on,

I think it's on iTunes or whatever. I feel like you might be like, we really can't kill you. Do you have a scar on your neck? Yeah, this is a big job. Oh, my God. It hit my neck muscle,

which saved me. I got a bunch of stitches on the muscle. The greatest thing no one talks about, or at least it kind of just gets glossed over with that match, is you were profusely bleeding out of your neck. You're feeling it throbbing. You get out of the ring and you're like, F this, I'm going to the hospital.

And then you turn around and go, I got to finish the match. It's insane. That was insane. But I did go like this. And Luke was there that night. And he said, Davies Luke. I said, Luke, it's a.

pumping because we'd known Luke for years before that he lived at our house in LA he's an amazing guy but I was like Luke is a pumping he's like no it's not pumping so I knew I wasn't like gonna bleed out at that moment and you finished the match I went back

I went back in and then he hits me the fucking light tube again or this motherfucker with the light of the light jumps and grab the chair and he went to go try to choke him at that point because I was just fucking pissed and he did you don't flip me in he's like don't get up or I'll fucking too.

The fact though that you went back in and finished the match, that's what a true wrestler would do. I think you've earned everyone's respect. Well, the funniest thing about that is when I walked into that place, they were like, boom! They hated me so much. Like, they really wanted to kill me. And then, boom, like, everyone's witnessing of death.

And then it's just like, oh, shit, everyone's like, yeah, like, full. And it gets really. Yeah. And it really got like freaked out and like, you know, right before that there's stuff like like this really weird feeling. But then I started doing crazy stuff. And then boom, once I got hit my neck, it was like, oh shit. And like.

And then I walked out and it was like this weird, like quiet. And that's when I went back in. And then when I left, then it was like, wha! And then actually there's something that's not in the thing, but I turned around. Because Nick Gaye starts like, don't come into, like, my ring. I get it. Like, I guess he was still doing his thing. I was like, I tried to start saying something, and I was kind of getting tears.

I was like, I'll give her an asshole. I literally cried right up there. But I did win them over. Like I literally won some of the hardest core wrestling fans over. What would you say is the role that most people know you for? Definitely. Yeah. Then what's number two and three then?

I mean, Reddy Rumbles probably right up there. And then I'm not even sure. Like, not sure. Maybe you guys can right under this. What do you think? But I don't know. After that, it's probably. more of my relationship stuff or my life, my, you know.

I mean, when you were married to Courtney and, you know, Friends was one of the biggest shows on TV at the time. Yeah. Yeah, I guess that's. And I did an episode of Friends. That's true. Yeah. Because the people see me and they're like, oh, you're from Friends. I was like, I'm from Friends.

I was the stocker friend. I was the friend. It's like saying Brad Pitt's the guy from Friends, you know. Thank you so much for coming by. Thank you. Thanks for having me. I end every conversation with the same questions, so I'll ask it of you. I'm all about gratitude.

I start and end every day saying out loud, three things I'm grateful for. That's the key, man. What are three things in your life that you're grateful for? My three children. But my children, for sure, my wife and my health, I mean. My family, my family, you know, I don't know. My friends. I don't know, that's more than three.

But you can keep going. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Oh, no, that's really like... Your health's got to be a big thing. You're still with us through everything. Yeah. Yeah.

That's what... Yeah. Appreciate you. Thank you. I appreciate you. You're awesome. You're the best. And thank you for coming by and making this happen.

Thank you. And you're the best. Don't forget that. That's one thing. You have to remember. You're the greatest in your world. I'm the greatest in mine. So treat everyone that way.

And we'll have a great world. That was fantastic. I hope you enjoyed that conversation as much as I did. A massive thank you to David for coming all the way in my house to do this interview. Thank you to you for being in there with us and for listening to this interview all the way until the end. Take a screenshot. Let's know what stood out for you the most. Tag us on social media at David Arquette, at Chris Van Fleet, and we'll wrap up with this quote from the great Mark Twain.

The Secret of Getting Ahead is Getting Started. I love that so much. I always say Just Start. That's it right there. The secret of getting ahead is getting started. Be great. Be grateful. Have an amazing day.

We'll see you on the next one for some more insight. The Hammer Alley podcast, an 80s flashback mockumentary. Back in the 80s, there were a thousand bands trying to make it in the world of rock. But there was one band that had it all. Hammer Alley. Whatever happened to Hammer Alley. How did they go from top of the rock? I'm looking for a music video.

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