‘We’re not going back to the old ways’
Rosanna Arquette on how coronavirus has impacted life in the United States, Hollywood and her personally
Rosanna Arquette, the US actress (Desperately Seeking Susan, Pulp Fiction) and #Metoo campaigner, spoke from her Los Angeles home about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and what she has been up to during the lockdown. “I’m really getting into cooking, a lot — so cooking meals and not wasting anything... For some reason I have a pretty good knack of just throwing stuff together and it tastes pretty yummy. It’s kind of soothing and it feels good... I spent a lot of time in restaurants for years. Just to be able to just cook for my husband... it’s really been good.”
She spoke about recognising some of her personal qualities. “I’m learning that I’m really impatient. There’s a lot of sadness that I have on many issues. And learning how to accept things within myself and with others, and patience with others and forgiveness, and letting go of resentment. All that. I’m wearing this T-shirt today. It says ‘Courage.’ You know, the courage to change. That’s a spiritual aspect in life, the courage to change, which I think we all need right now.”
She lauded communities for coming together. “It’s extraordinary how many people are coming together and helping others... Everybody making masks, sending them to people, we’re seeing community come together, our communities coming together, in a true brother and sisterhood.
“I don’t think this is ever going to be over. The world is never going to be the same after this. America will never be the same after this. We’re not going back to the old ways.”
Will Hollywood recover from the impact of the pandemic? “I think streaming will be the new way. As we had streaming for music, it’s happening with movies and television. I know the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences just changed it so films that premiere on streaming... will be eligible to be voted for Oscars. That’s starting to happen slowly but surely. I love seeing a movie in a movie theater, and I’m sure a lot of people too, but do you feel safe?”
She was critical of the government’s handling of the crisis. “We’ve handled this so poorly in America, the pandemic — we didn’t have an incredible president like (Prime Minister Jacinda) Ardern in New Zealand. We handled this in such a terrible way that now it will spread and kill, I think, millions. It’s terrifying. Let’s hope that every single human being learns something from this and comes out better for it.”