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  • 6/20/2025
Patricia Arquette made her directorial debut Gonzo Girl , adapting Cheryl Della Pietra's novel of the same name loosely inspired by her experience as Hunter S. Thompson's assistant. The stars were out to support her including her brother, David Arquette, Courteney Cox, Debbie Harry, Keith Richards, Alec Baldwin, Christian Slater, Julian Schnabel, Josh Brolin, Kyle MacLachlan, Ryan Eggold, and more at the SVA Theatre in New York City last week. We spoke to the seasoned actress, who also acts in the film about what it was like to sit in the director's chair this time around. Gonzo Girl star, Camila Morrone who plays opposite Willem Dafoe, expressed to us how amazing it was working with Arquette on the project. The film follows a young woman, Alley (Morrone) who is offered her dream job -- working as a writing assistant to Walker Reade (Dafoe), an aging journalist and author whose drug and alcohol use have worn him into a fading legend. Tasked with getting Reade to finish his newest book, Alley struggles not to be consumed by his drug-soaked lifestyle while still ensuring the job gets done by any means necessary.
Transcript
00:00Hi, Patricia Arquette here. You're watching Live Minute TV.
00:08Oh, so proud. I can't wait to see the movie.
00:10I'm just excited. I'm sure it's incredible.
00:12She's incredible, and I'm really, really excited to see it.
00:16Well, a lot of things resonated for me.
00:18I mean, I hate how obvious movies are these days,
00:21but there was a lot of undercurrents that I felt were great.
00:24First of all, I loved Hunter S. Thompson growing up,
00:27because this movie is based on this book of this woman
00:30who worked for Hunter S. Thompson for several months,
00:33and it's very strongly inspired by that time.
00:36So that was important to me growing up in the 90s,
00:39discovering your beauty and the commodity of beauty,
00:43and what female beauty is through the eyes of celebrities around you,
00:48and what it's like to be in a celebrity's orbit.
00:50All these kinds of things, these themes that I think are interesting,
00:53but mostly codependence and addiction and unresolved trauma
00:57and the pain that we cause each other.
01:00All the things that I've experienced and my character in it
01:03is the end of the line of codependence.
01:06I just felt really overwhelmed.
01:08I mean, I learned so many things.
01:10It was such a steep learning curve, honestly.
01:12I didn't realize how important it is to actually cut everything
01:18you possibly can out of the script before you shoot,
01:20so you don't waste any time on that.
01:22I feel really good about the acting.
01:24I feel like everybody was incredible, and I cast really well,
01:28and they all threw down, and I feel grateful about that.
01:34I play Ally Russo, which is a character based on a true person,
01:38Cheryl de la Pietra, who had the opportunity to go to the
01:41Woody Creek Ranch and work for Hunter S. Thompson.
01:44It's a story about a young woman who's in a little bit of a rut in her life
01:48and not sure how to pursue her dreams and what steps to take next,
01:52which I think is very true of most young people in their 20s.
01:56They kind of know what they want to do, but they don't know how to start.
01:59And she has the opportunity to work with one of the greats,
02:02Walker Reed, loosely based on Hunter S. Thompson,
02:06to go live at his ranch and really immerse herself in a gonzo experience with him.
02:12We all know Patricia Arquette as an actress, as one of my favorite actresses.
02:16I think we can all say one of the great actresses of her generation,
02:19but working with her as a director, she's a mother and she's so maternal,
02:23and she's got this ability to kind of continue and hold you
02:26and to make you feel really safe and secure,
02:29but also to, like, let you go and try and fail on your own.
02:32I don't think she wanted to micromanage my performance.
02:34She wanted me to, like, put my hand in the fire and burn and then go,
02:37that didn't work, she goes, try something else.
02:39And it's so funny because even in so many moments I was like,
02:41Patricia, I just want to be good like you.
02:43What are the secrets?
02:44And she's like, oh, you have it all in you, honey.
02:45Like, you just keep trying and just try something different.
02:47If it doesn't work, throw it away and try something else.
02:50And for an actor, it's very freeing because you allow yourself,
02:53you're given the space to make mistakes and try again.
02:56And I'll just do another thing for it, because I love it.
02:57I love it.
02:58And I love it.
02:59And I love it all for you.
03:00You know, I love it.
03:01I love it.
03:02I love it.

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