Patricia Arquette Talks 'Escape at Dannemora' Love Scenes, Weight Gain, Asking "Who's Allowed to be Sexual?" | Drama Actress Roundtable - video Dailymotion

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Patricia Arquette, Oscar-winner and star of Showtime's 'Escape at Dannemora,' joined the Drama Actress Roundtable along with Danai Gurira, Christine Baranski, Emilia Clarke, Niecy Nash and Michelle Williams.

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00:00So with Escape at Dannemora, you shot in a prison, you were there surrounded by people

00:10who were living this life. How did that sort of inform you? How scary was that?

00:16It was very intense to feel the energy and see all the dynamics. I mean even briefly at these

00:24prisons because we shot at five different prisons. So what happens at the end of the day when you're

00:27driving back to wherever you're staying? Well and also shooting up north, it was very cold.

00:32It's like winter, it's a gray town. The middle of the town is the prison, this huge wall and there's

00:40a depressing quality. There's a tension going on everywhere I think and then gaining weight for

00:46that part and wanting her to look a certain way and feeling that was the right choice for me to make.

00:52But then going into the world and having people's reaction, it's like a scientific experiment.

00:57People would look at you like, oh, oh, I used to love you. Yeah, are you still acting?

01:05Oh my gosh.

01:06Or people just wouldn't really, even, and in the life I was living, the way people perceived me was

01:13as an invisible person. Like, oh, you're just kind of a matronly, dumpy, middle-aged lady. So

01:21you just don't exist or something in the world. I'm uptight. I'm not comfortable. I take baths in the dark.

01:29I've always been modest since I was a little girl. Changed behind a chair. But I really wanted to do

01:35these love scenes. Like, I'm going to gain a bunch of weight and my boobs are going to be giant and my

01:41stomach. No, I'm not. Actually, this is the first love scene. I'm not wearing any body makeup. I don't

01:47care that you have real sunlight and it's high death or whatever. This is all a nightmare. But

01:55not really. Because I really want to say, who's allowed to be sexual now in this culture? When are

02:00women allowed to be sexual? What body type do we have to have? And this lady is more comfortable with

02:05her sexuality than I am. And what does it feel like to be in a character that is willing to embrace that?

02:18I want to touch on the act really quickly. I believe I heard you say this is one where your children

02:25said, don't take this. Don't take this role. Why and what made you say, I got to do this?

02:32Well, it's based on this story of Dee Dee and Gypsy Blanchard. And Dee Dee has Munchausen by proxy.

02:39So she's having her daughter treated for all these medical conditions she doesn't have. So I told my

02:44kids, oh, you know, I might do this story. It's about Dee Dee and Gypsy Blanchard. And they'd both seen

02:50the documentary. No, don't do it. Mom, don't do it, please. I'm like, you guys know I'm an actor.

02:56I'm not the kind of person who comes home like, take your medicine.

03:03I'm thinking, they're like, it's just so scary. And it is. Because I think you can build a lot to

03:10give birth. Your teeth go, your eyes get worse. It's physically difficult. And nature's built it

03:17so that you would die for your child. And you would do anything to avoid their pain. And that's natural.

03:23And when a parent is the opposite, or would inflict pain on their child, it feels like such a perversion

03:30of our natural self. And that was weird. I mean, I was very clear with myself. Like,

03:37you are leaving Dee Dee at work every day. Like, everything about her.

03:42I'm definitely seeing also a lot more women on the set. Oh, definitely. I see women boom operators,

03:55DPs. And I'm seeing, I'm working with a lot more women directors. And I think that space has given me

04:02a little more strength as an actor in myself. There will be times where creatively, I really disagree with

04:09someone's choice. For the first time in my life, and I'm not saying young actors should do this,

04:14because you can learn a lot by trying to step outside your comfort zone. But I said to somebody,

04:19I'm not doing it like that. And because of this, and this, and this, and this, and I had tons of

04:25reasons, and the scene before, and the scene after, and this. And this is the choice that I made. It's a

04:30conscious choice. No, I don't want to hear, we'll shoot it both ways. Don't worry. Yeah,

04:35you know what that means. You get your take, but I'm doing my take. It's so important,

04:40because like, we're in a society so, so often as women in every field, I imagine that, you know,

04:45the idea of pleasing or being, you know, amenable and doing what you're told in a sense and

04:51getting along is so paramount. And so that breaking that down and being like, we're going to collaborate

04:56here. It's going to be about the fact that I'm here as a whole artist and we're collaborating.

05:01I'm not just obeying, but I mean, I collaborate. I don't not listen, but sometimes there are things

05:06that are very clear to me and I want that respected. I think that's, that's the place that we're going.

Patricia Arquette Talks 'Escape at Dannemora' Love Scenes, Weight Gain, Asking "Who's Allowed to be Sexual?" | Drama Actress Roundtable

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