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Five Minutes with Patricia Arquette

The Toy Story 4 actress offers life, love and career advice

If I weren’t an actress, I’d be: A midwife.

The three qualities that got me where I am today: Stubbornness, playfulness and strategic thinking. Also, good fortune, but I’m not sure that’s a quality.

Moment I felt I’d made it: When so many people loved [my 1993 film] True Romance, even though it was a box-office flop.

Most agonising career decision I’ve ever made: I turned down [1989 film] Last Exit to Brooklyn because I was pregnant.

Change I’d like to see in my industry: More inclusive casting and above-the-line positions for men and women of colour and all classes of people who are discriminated against. I feel like our stories are limited because of our lack of representation, and that’s unfortunate for art.

Last thing you binge-watched? [American comedy series] Baskets [starring Zach Galifianakis].

Movie with the greatest ending: Sunrise [from 1927], directed by F.W. Murnau.

On my bucket list: Morocco.

Song I’d want played at my funeral: “Cosmic Dancer,” by T. Rex.

Food I’m not ashamed to admit I love: McDonald’s French fries.

If I could live in a foreign country, it would be: Greece.

One thing I’m exceptionally good at: Napping.

One thing I’m epically bad at: Spelling.

Superhero power I’d want to have: Mind control.

The beauty essential you’d have to pry out of my cold, dead hands: Coconut oil. And I love my friend Tara Smith’s Feed the Root, which is a tingly peppermint shampoo.

The three qualities I thought I wanted in a partner: Honesty, humour, intelligence.

The three qualities I know now matter: Honesty, humour, intelligence.

Advice to a woman with a broken heart: Go easy on yourself and take your time to heal. Also, remember that something better is waiting.

This article originally appeared in the September issue of marie claire. 

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