If we’re open to their stories we’ll
have a richer art form. We’re human
beings and we have many ages,
many different cultures, all kinds of
different relationships. I want to see
more of that on screen.”
Patricia is certainly doing her bit
by playing complex, flawed
characters of a certain age. She
was awarded a Golden Globe
for last year’s miniseries Escape
At Dannemora—a true story in
which she played Joyce Mitchell,
a prison worker who had an affair
with two convicted murderers and
subsequently aided in their escape.
Now she’s following it up with
another true story in The Act and
she’s on award-worthy form again as
Dee Dee Blanchard, a Munchausen
syndrome by proxy sufferer
murdered by her own daughter.
Arquette knew about the
syndrome, where a caregiver falsely
convinces someone in their charge
(usually a child) that they’re sick or
injured, but not the disturbing details
of the Blanchard case. “But my kids
did and they were like, ‘Don’t play
that lady!’” says the mother to son
Enzo, 30, and daughter Harlow, 16,
from her relationships with musician
Paul Rossi and actor Thomas
Jane respectively.
“I knew about Munchausen by
proxy and I found it fascinating. It’s
such an aberration of nature for me.
As a parent my instinct is to protect
my kids and I’d never want them
to feel any pain, so this idea that a
parent would cause pain and would22 • AUGUST 2019
INTERVIEW: PATRICIA ARQUETTE
“AS A PARENT
MY INSTINCT IS
TO PROTECT MY
KIDS AND I’D
NEVER WANT
THEM TO FEEL
ANY PAIN”PICTORIAL PRESS LTD / EVERETT COLLECTION INC / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO