David Arquette: Uninhibited

"You can get me to do pretty much anything in front of a camera," 23-year-old David Arquette says when I ask him whether he'd ever--like his acting siblings Rosanna, Patricia, Richmond and Alexis--do extensive nudity, wild sex or drag queens on-screen.

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He also tells me he wouldn't mind losing a part to one of his brothers-- or anyone else, for that matter. "There are more than enough acting jobs to go around," he says, apparently unaware he's the first actor in the history of show biz to think so. Indeed, Arquette cites losing a plum role in The Quick and the Dead to Leonardo DiCaprio as evidence of his theory that "everything works out the way it should. When I didn't get Dead, I was heartbroken for maybe a second," he concedes, "but then a terrific, somewhat similar, character came along in another Western, Walter Hill's Wild Bill."

Arquette, who began acting at 17 on Fox's "The Outsiders" TV series, got more than just his juiciest part to date from Wild Bill--offscreen, he also got co-star Ellen Barkin. "I know some people see us and say, 'Is she going through some weird Cher trip?'" he says of their considerable age difference, "but we're having a great time together. Why question or stifle something because it's not 'correct' by society's standards? Besides." he says, with a laugh, "I like to be outrageous. As I'm always joking to my friends, 'After my peak years as an actor, then I'll start my porno career!'"

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Edward Margulies