From the "People" Archives:

A Conversation with Finn Taylor and David Arquette of "Dream with the Fishes", Part II

by John Bernstein

[To read from the beginning of this interview, click here.]

As "Dream with the Fishes" makes its way across the country's crowded movie market place, the affable filmmaker and the easygoing, colorfully retro-garbed actor kicked-back with indieWIRE to chat about voyeurism, insecurity, and all things indie.

indieWIRE: David, most of your film work has been in the indie-film world. Is that by design, or just the way your career has played out so far?

David Arquette: I'm really attracted to the small character-driven stuff.

iW: Are you being offered other kinds of roles in bigger pictures?

Arquette: Well, no. (LAUGHS) I think I scare them quite frankly, and I don't blame them. Be scared. Be very afraid.

iW: What should they be scared of?

Arquette: I'm a madman. One tiny example of my "delusional-actorness" was when we were shooting the graveyard scene. I kept arguing with Finn about where I should be standing in relationship to some characters attending a funeral. He had me peering out from behind a headstone. I thought that was too close. They weren't supposed to know I was there. I told him I was going to go run way over the hill for the scene. So I did.

Finn Taylor: By this point the sun was going down, too.

Arquette: Yeah, and after a few minutes, Finn yelled at the top of his lungs, "You're invisible!" (ALL LAUGH) So I ran back. It was starting to get dark. I ripped my suit wide open on a barbed wire fence. It was one of two suits we had. I can be trouble.

iW: How did you to hook up?

Arquette: I read the script, and fell in love with him. The guy fucking rocks! It was such a great relationship script, and a real adventure. I loved how my character's mind was expanded. I think almost everyone has a suicidal side in them. I definitely do. It seemed like a cool, non-cheesy way to attack the issue. I mean, it never glorified that. I think it sent a clear message that it's wrong to kill yourself.

iW: Your character, Terry, is a voyeur in the film. Do you see any parallels between being a voyeur and a filmmaker or actor? In a way, filmmakers, writers, and actors are vicariously living through other characters, too.

Arquette: Well, sort of, but I think the motivations are different. I think actors watch people for information.

FT: As a writer, I think I can relate to being a voyeur. The reason I chose to make Terry a literal voyeur was because that was the most opposite you could be from being engaged in living your own life. I actually noticed the voyeuristic side of David. From the very beginning David was watching me and watching others. In one scene where David was improvising, he kept repeating, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," just like I do. I wondered if he had picked that up from watching me.

Arquette: No, I just think we're both just extremely insecure people. My mom and I do that all the time. We're always apologizing for everything. We repeat it over and over again until we start sounding like Dustin Hoffman in RAIN MAN. You know, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, gotta go watch Wapner, yeah."

(ALL LAUGH)

iW: What were some of the differences between making "Dream with the Fishes" and your first film, "Pontiac Moon"?

FT: About 22 million dollars worth of differences. (LAUGHS) I think the intentions are usually good in the studio system, but with such giant investments being made, I believe they're operating from positions of fear and cautiousness. They're always wanting to make characters likable, palatable, and package films in the most appealing way. If you're always just aiming to be appealing, I believe you are going to turn a lot of people off. Frankly, I don't think anything original comes out of being cautious.

Arquette: Amen.

FT: Independent film is all about taking risks. Nobody is really there to set parameters for you, so you feel liberated to go forward and give it your all. The creative control is important to me. When you micro-manage a film like a commercial or something, you can really kill creativity. What you end up with is almost like a commercial. I find structure somewhat liberating, too. When you write a poem, the structure of that sonnet or haiku can actually set you free to be creative within those limitations. When you do a movie for Hollywood and have tons of money to spend on almost anything you want, it's hard to be focused with where you're going. I think the structure of working independently can be a real asset. You really have to be innovative in the way you work. My involvement in theater and the fact I was a screenwriter for so long has also helped me, because it helped me to imagine my film shot-by-shot before I started shooting.

iW: Do you plan to get more involved with theater, David?

Arquette: Yeah, I would like to, but I am really involved in music right now. I sing and play trumpet in a band called "Ear Two Thousand." I'm really not good, but it's fun. We actually have a song on the "Dream with the Fishes" soundtrack, and we played the film's premiere party. We might actually change the name of the band to something like SAP -- Sick American Punks.

iW: Does the band have a label yet?

Arquette: Get ready--here comes that word again. We're actually doing it independently. It is about creative control, whether it's in film or music. Collaboration is important, but the fewer people meddling with the project the better. It's hard for a lot of people to agree on one thing.

FT: I agree. It seems like when you get a group of people together, they tend to make safe decisions. I think safe decisions are usually boring ones.

[John Bernstein has been a contributing writer/photographer for indieWIRE and iLINE since their inception, and contributes regularly to Detour Magazine, and TNT's "Rough Cut". John is a former art director, was the chair of the Atlanta Film & Video Festival for 6 years, the on-court announcer for the Atlanta Hawks, and can currently be heard on CNN, TBS, TNT, and Cartoon Network's "Space Ghost: Coast to Coast". ]