MEET MY MODERN FAMILY
David Arquette reveals all about his happy new life.
WWith three kids and three basset hounds, David Arquette, 46, and his wife, Christina, 36, do not travel light. These days just loading the entire next-generation Arquette clan into the car is quite an accomplishment. “It’s like a circus car when we get out,” says David. “They just keep coming!”
The family welcomed their latest addition, son Augustus “Gus” Alexis Arquette, on March 8. Gus, whose middle name honours David’s late sister Alexis, joins the couple’s son Charlie West, 3, and David’s 13-year-old daughter Coco from his previous marriage to Courteney Cox, 53. For David, the youngest of five siblings in the famous Arquette acting family (Rosanna, 58, Richmond, 54, Patricia, 49, and Alexis, who died at age 47 in 2016 of complications from HIV), a home filled with barking, crying and lots of laughs suits him fine. “We’ve got a teenager, a toddler and a newborn,” he says with a smile. “It’s a crazy household.”
David is grateful for the happy chaos after weathering a rocky period that included the end of his 11-year marriage to Cox in 2010, then a stint in rehab for alcohol and depression. He found love and stability again with Christina, an entertainment reporter, and the couple wed in Los Angeles in 2015.
He has also stayed good friends with Cox, and the two work together to co-parent Coco. Christina says she’s fortunate to have a blended family: “Everybody just gets along so great.” Coco loves helping with the younger kids and David’s parenting experience has come in handy. “David was a dad before I was ever a mom, so he really gave me a lot of good advice along the way,” she says.
Yet there was one big hurdle no-one could have prepared her for. Five weeks into her pregnancy with baby Gus, Christina began experiencing severe morning sickness, something she hadn’t had the first time around. “It’s just a terrible feeling,” she says. “I would be running to the bathroom and David would be holding my hair.” (She was diagnosed with hyperemesis gravidarum, the same extreme nausea that has plagued the Duchess of Cambridge for all three of her pregnancies.) It got so bad she couldn’t get out of bed. “It caused a lot of problems for me as a mom,”she says. “I couldn’t take my kids to school or put Charlie to bed.”
After trying multiple home remedies, she finally found relief after her doctor prescribed a medication for morning sickness. Her symptoms cleared up, and she could partake again in the family’s favourite pastime— eating. “I’m from Arkansas,” she says. “We do all the southern stuff—fried okra, fried chicken, dumplings.”
Now, as their kids grow up, the acting genes clearly run strong. “Seeing Coco do plays and sing,” says David, “it’s amazing!” And little Charlie “is a performer!” says Christina. “We were at someone’s house who had a microphone set, and he got up, took control of the mic and was doing a one-man show!” Not that his brood needs to find stardom to make their dad proud. “My wish for my children,” David says, “is that they find their truth and are happy people.”
“My proudest parenting moment is just seeing them grow. Coco is such a wonderful young lady” —David Arquette