Actress answers hairy call of nature

By Mark Kennedy
Associated Press

ARQUETTE: Had human hair glued to her body

There's a catch, though, which will come as no surprise to fans of her quirky career.

Arquette's covered in downy whorls of hair. It's everywhere on her 5-foot-1 frame, stretching from a stubbly mustache to the curly clumps sprouting on her toes.

It's a brave — and itchy — role.

"Welcome to my life," she says, with a laugh of resignation.

Written by Charlie Kaufman ("Being John Malkovich"), the film spoofs society's view of beauty and nature. Dark, comical and uneasy, it's a typical Arquette movie. The film also stars Tim Robbins, Rosie Perez and Rhys Ifans.

Arquette, 34, plays an abnormally hirsute author who is happiest when skipping through the forest and surrounded by ferns. When she falls in love with a repressed scientist played by Robbins, she must leave the forest and come to terms with a hairless notion of beauty.

To get into character, Arquette endured having cut-up human hair glued to her skin, making it impossible for her to sit down during filming. She also suffered from poison ivy and poison oak during the shoot around Los Angeles.

Risk seems to come easily to Arquette, whether it's in roles such as "Bringing Out the Dead," "Stigmata," "Beyond Rangoon," "True Romance" or "Lost Highway," in which she clinically strips for a gangster.

Her great-grandfather, grandfather and father were actors, as are her siblings Rosanna, Alexis, Richmond and David. Her son, Enzo Rossi, appeared in 1991's "The Indian Runner," and as a baby Elvis in 1993's "True Romance."