Rosanna Arquette

Rosanna Lisa Arquette ( ; born August 10, 1959) is an American actress. She was nominated for an Emmy Award for her performance in the television film The Executioner's Song and won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for the film Desperately Seeking Susan (1985). Her other notable film credits include Baby It's You (1983), After Hours (1985), The Big Blue (1988), Nowhere to Run (1993), Pulp Fiction (1994), Crash (1996), The Whole Nine Yards (2000), and Joe Dirt (2001 film). She also directed the documentary Searching for Debra Winger (2002).

Early life Arquette was born in New York City, on August 10, 1959, the daughter of Brenda Olivia "Mardi" Nowak, an actress, poet, theater operator, activist, acting teacher, and therapist, and Lewis Arquette, a film actor and producer. Her paternal grandfather was comedian Cliff Arquette. Her mother was Jewish. Her father was a convert from Catholicism to Islam. Her four siblings, Richmond, Patricia, Alexis, and David, also became actors.

Career

Arquette has appeared in both television and feature films since 1977. One of her first noticeable roles was in S.O.B. (1981), directed by Blake Edwards. She earned an Emmy Award nomination for the TV film The Executioner's Song (1982). However, she was unhappy with the film's nude scene, remarking in an interview that the idea of the general public seeing her naked made her feel uncomfortable and exploited, and that most of the offers she had received since demanded that she similarly expose herself. Her first starring role was in John Sayles's film, Baby It's You (1983), highly regarded by Rotten Tomatoes reviewers but not widely distributed. She co-starred in Desperately Seeking Susan (1985) alongside pop superstar Madonna, for which Arquette won a BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role despite appearing in the leading role. In an interview at the time, Arquette said "The two questions I hate the most are 'What was it like working with Madonna?' and 'Are you the Rosanna in the song "Rosanna"?'" Following the commercial and critical success of Lawrence Kasdan's Silverado (also 1985), the limited success of the Martin Scorsese film After Hours (also 1985) and the commercial flop 8 Million Ways to Die (1986), also a critical failure, she quit Hollywood to work in Europe, acting in Luc Besson's The Big Blue (1988). Director Scorsese then offered her a part in his segment of New York Stories (1989).

Arquette's other movies of note are Pulp Fiction and the David Cronenberg film Crash and the Australian film Wendy Cracked a Walnut (1990, also known as ...Almost). In 1990, she appeared on the cover and in a nude pictorial in Playboys September issue, although she said it was without her prior knowledge or consent. Arquette starred in Sondra Locke's Trading Favors, played Angelina Jolie's mother in Hell's Kitchen and later appeared as the girlfriend of Jolie's real-life father Jon Voight on Ray Donovan.

In 2017, Arquette alleged (along with almost a hundred other women from the entertainment industry), that the then film producer Harvey Weinstein sexually harassed her, threatened her because of her refusal to enter his hotel room, and subsequently saw to it that she was paid less for Pulp Fiction, then no longer cast her in A-list lead roles because of her rejection of his quid pro quo sexual harassment proposition; Weinstein was convicted of sex offences in 2020. When news broke about Weinstein's sexual offending in October 2017, Arquette was one of the first actresses to speak openly about his misconduct, with Ronan Farrow for The New Yorker and The New York Timess Jodi Kantor. In the documentary Untouchable (2019) about Weinstein, focusing on those who accused him of sexual abuse, Arquette, Paz de la Huerta, and Erika Rosenbaum were among those interviewed.

Arquette has expanded into directing, including the documentaries Searching for Debra Winger (2002) and All We Are Saying (2005); she also produced both projects. Arquette appeared in What About Brian as Nicole Varsi and in Showtime's The L Word as Cherie Jaffe. She also guest-starred in Malcolm in the Middle as a healer named Anita.

In 2009, she joined Fit Parent Magazine, founded by Craig Knight, as Editor at Large. Arquette starred in the 2011 French thriller The Divide, directed by Xavier Gens. She had a featured role in the 2012 comedy Peace, Love & Misunderstanding with Jane Fonda.

In an August 8, 2019 interview with TheWrap, Arquette said the FBI advised her to make her Twitter account private after online critics complained about her tweeting that she had shame for being "white and privileged".

On March 8, 2026, Arquette expressed to The Sunday Times her hatred for the n-word and revealed she "cannot stand that [Tarantino] has been given a hall pass," in reference to the director's 1995 hit Pulp Fiction in which she had a "small role." She denounced the word's use, saying that this is "not art, it's just racist and creepy." In response, Quentin Tarantino stated that he "hoped" the publicity Arquette ostensibly sought by her criticism was worth "disrespecting" him and the film in which, he added, she had been "thrilled" to participate. He added that he found her action showed "lack of class."

Personal life The Toto song "Rosanna" was written by David Paich, who has claimed that the song is based on numerous girls he had known. However, as a joke, the band members initially played along with the common assumption that the song was based on Arquette, who was dating Toto keyboard player Steve Porcaro at the time. Arquette herself played along with the joke, commenting in an interview that the song was about "my showing up at 4 a.m., bringing them juice and beer at their sessions."

Arquette's first three marriages ended in divorce: to director Tony Greco, film composer James Newton Howard, and restaurateur John Sidel. In January 2022, Todd Morgan filed for divorce from Arquette after 8 years of marriage.

Arquette has described her diet as "vegetarian for the most part".

In August 2019, Arquette posted a Twitter rant about her experience with white guilt, stating; "I'm sorry I was born white and privileged. It disgusts me. And I feel so much shame." She later claimed the FBI told her to set her Twitter page to private due to the reaction she received after posting that.

Philanthropy In 2010, Arquette became Goodwill Ambassador for The Womanity Foundation.

Filmography

Film

Television

Web Year Title Role Notes 2010 Sweety Mrs. Summers 2 episodes

Awards and nominations