“So help me God, if you step one foot inside my workshop, I will shoot your d*ck off!” warns Celeste (Elizabeth Marvel) to her husband, Monty (David Arquette), in the second episode of the Peacock hit Mrs. Davis. Yeah, it’s that kind of marriage. Arquette and Marvel play well off of each other in these scenes. The best line from Celeste when she encounters Monty or thinks she does? “I can smell you.”
It’s great fun and thus far, Mrs. Davis has won over both critics and fans. The show finds Betty Gilpin as Sister Simone, a nun on the run who’s hellbent on acquiring the Holy Grail and destroying the AI (Mrs. Davis) running everybody’s life.
For David Arquette, last seen in the 2022 reboot of Scream as Dewey, being part of the series was a joyride. Arquette’s Monty is a magician. We first meet the guy in Reno, Nevada, circa 2001, where he and Celeste have sent daughter Simone/Lizzie to be a plant in an audience during a magic show. Celeste, the brainchild behind their outfit, is a tricky beast. She won’t let Monty go into her special workshop, but Monty tricks Simone/Lizzie into going in there instead.
Bad idea. The young girl is immediately shot through the gut with a booby-trapped crossbow. We can see why Simone hung onto some serious mommy and daddy issues. With just a few more weeks until the season finale of Mrs. Davis, David Arquette caught up with MovieWeb to discuss the show. Dive in.
David Arquette Finds Magic in Mrs. Davis
MovieWeb: What wicked fun the show is. Your character, Simone’s father, is great if not mysterious. What was it like for you working alongside these great actors?
David Arquette: Betty Gilpin is just such a tremendous actress. She just leads this show, and she’s fierce and emotional. She had had a traumatic childhood, thanks to my character, Monty, and Celeste, played by Elizabeth Marvel. It was really wonderful working opposite her. It was really wild to watch, because you just kind of do your little segment in pieces. You don’t really have all the scripts. So even I am still trying to piece it all together. It’s been an amazing adventure.
MW: Your character Monty is mysterious. He’s a magicia, and he plays a vital role in Simone’s past. What did you find most compelling about your character?
Arquette: Well, I do play a magician, so the stage magic performances are kind of larger than life. But, in actuality, Monty is an insecure guy who really wants attention. He wants fame and success. He loves magic and wants to save magic. He thinks Mrs. Davis [the AI] has destroyed magic; that she’s allowed everybody to know the secrets. So, he has a vendetta against her. The role gave me a lot to work with emotionally.
MW: You talk about emotions, and you seem deep. All actors obviously pull from real-life experience. Was it that way for you here, and why do you feel this time in particular is a good time for a show like this to come out?
Arquette: When I first did this one scene, I got really choked up. Because in the scene, I’m talking to my ex-wife, who’s asking for me to sign the papers for divorce. And I turn to my daughter, and in the moment, it kind of like brought back all the feelings of divorce, and it’s a really painful thing. So, just that sort of emotional roller coaster…
Arquette: It was beautiful to act opposite these actors and feel a sort of comfort. And it’s really interesting. When we first started this, AI wasn’t really out there. There were whisperings of it, but it wasn’t live and active and on its way to independently thinking. We’re kind of there right now. We’re at a place where it’s getting more powerful as we speak. So, the timing was pretty incredible for them to put on this epic quest of a nun trying to eliminate this destructive AI.
Will There Be a Second Season of Mrs. Davis?
MW: There’s a specific history explored and finality with your character here, but should the show go forward for another season, and you were asked to be brought into that, what sort of things would you love to be see? Even if it was in a flashback?
David Arquette: To have an opportunity to work with [show creator] Tara Hernandez on this was just… I mean they’re just the top. I don’t know if they ever saw me coming back. There’s a lot of stuff that happens, and a lot of my stuff is in flashback. It’s just a very detailed and complicated story. I think at some point, if they wanted to, they could bring it back. If the audience really loves it, and demands more, I think there’ll be an opportunity to do more.”
MW: It would be great to have more of this nun on the run. So, let’s dive deeper. What really makes you choose a roll?
David Arquette: I don’t know how other actors do it. I’m a working actor, so I need jobs. Sometimes, you don’t have the luxury of saying no to something that may not be the at the level you want to work on. But you need to work. For something like this, I just got it through a tape I made and sent in. I was amazed that I got it, for one. I’m not like picking and choosing my projects. I’m literally finding out about projects, calling my manager and saying, “Hey, what about this or anything for that?” So, it’s an ongoing thing. I’ve been doing it for 33 years or something now. You keep hustling. You just have to keep on doing it. Sometimes things don’t turn out the way you want. Sometimes it turns out better than expected.
MW: What has been the most interesting thing you’ve had to adapt to as an actor, especially in the last decade with entertainment changing so much?
Arquette: For me, it’s really more on a personal level, and just really understanding your emotions — my personal emotions and some of my past pain and trauma. Then sort of facing that and dealing with it. Like, overcoming addiction obstacles in my life and coming to terms with those, then just having confidence in yourself and believing in yourself, and being able to sort of weed through and find the projects you really want to spend your time on. I look for projects that I love.
MW: So, what do you really hope viewers take away from the rest of the season of Mrs. Davis?
Arquette: There’s definitely some cerebral thing and story analytics that go on, but ultimately, it’s just an adventure. A fun adventure to sit back and go on. I love that about it. It’s what I love about wrestling. It’s what I love about the circus. It’s what I love about magic. It’s a larger-than-life spectacular world and can’t believe some of the things that are seen.
Mrs. Davis streams every Thursday on Peacock.
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