He may be part of an acting legacy that includes both his grandfather (Cliff Arquette) and his father (Lewis Arquette) as well as his siblings Rosanna, Patricia, and the late Alexis Arquette, but David Arquette successfully managed to prove himself as a thespian from his very first TV role – Fox’s adaptation of The Outsiders – and quickly forged a career that made him a recognizable face. Sure, a good chunk of that success came courtesy of his role in the Scream franchise as Dewey Riley, but he’s been working regularly on both the big and small screens since the early 1990s. 

Currently, Arquette can be seen in the new film Mob Cops, which – as the title implies – is indeed about a couple of cops who work with the mob. DECIDER was fortunate enough to grab a few minutes with Arquette, chatting with him about the film, his knowledge of the real-life cops on whom the film was based, and his appreciation of period pieces. The latter topic also led us down the path of discussing an early Robert Rodriguez joint and the aforementioned Outsiders series, but we also found time to talk about his return to the Scream franchise and his recent appearance at Coachella as Bozo the Clown. (Yes, really.)

DECIDER: How did you find your way into this film in the first place? I know you’ve got a history with the director.

DAVID ARQUETTE: Yeah, I’d done a few films with Danny Abeckaser. Everyone calls him “Danny A.” He’s an amazing guy. We did Mob Town together, and we did another film after this called The Perfect Gamble. So I love working with Danny. He creates this family on set, this group of people that he loves to work with, like Barry Markowitz, an incredible cinematographer who did films like Sling Blade and All the Pretty Horses. A wonderful filmmaker. So he gets this group together that he really loves and really enjoys and has a lot of fun with, and he creates this environment where you feel very free to find some moments that may not be in the script and explores these characters in a way that feels comfortable. 

He loves mob movies. I mean, he was in The Irishman himself as an actor. He’s a wonderful actor himself. So he surrounds himself with really great people, like Jeremy Luke, the other guy with me. We’re the two mob cops. And Jeremy grew up in Staten Island, so he knew a lot of these guys, a lot of the families, and talking to him and Joey Russo, Lorenzo [Antonucci], and Bo Dietl… All of these guys have experience within this world, and you could just see how authentic they are. So it made it really easy to go in there. I kind of play the straight man in it, to be honest with you., to Jeremy Luke’s really loud character. He wants attention. My guy only wants to provide for his family and get some bad guys off the street. But you kind of justify it in his mind. He just doesn’t want to be exposed for working for the mob. 

So how much familiarity, if any, did you have with the story of these guys beforehand?

I’d seen some news articles on it, and I’d read some stuff, and I’d always heard these stories about it. It was always this unbelievable story. I couldn’t understand it. And then to get into the weeds of it and figure out that this guy [Lou Eppolito]  wrote a book, and he appeared in these different movies, like Goodfellas… And then afterwards, Jeremy Luke sent me a clip of my sister [Patricia Arquette] and him in Lost Highway! I was, like, “Uh, what?!” [Laughs.] So it was interesting, because it’s real life. It’s real people involved. Real victims. 

Did you do any research on your own beforehand, or did you just stick to what was in the script?

No, we did some research. We looked at a lot of news articles and just read up on  lot of different mobsters. Watched some mob movies and some stories on ’em. There’s plenty to research. It’s a really interesting world. Highly toxic masculinity, you know what I mean? But there’s a real understanding of family in it, and there’s this real camaraderie and love for each other. Sadly enough, it’s misguided, but…it’s easy to understand where they’re coming from and kind of put yourself in their shoes. I also know a lot of cops. And I play cops all the time. I’ve probably played more cops than any other occupation! [Laughs.] But, yeah, to sort of see how cops think… There’s this mentality of not panicking when something really horrible is going down. And my character was also a soldier, so he’d been at war. He knows the extremes of life, and how to be able to remain calm and handle things. Nothing’s a big deal. You just kind of deal with ’em.

How did you enjoy the period-piece aspect of the film?

I loved it. I mean, I love that world, that time period. These guys were cops in the ’70s and ’80s. It’s fun. Whenever you can kind of engulf yourself in a world… You can do it a lot with mob movies, you can do it a lot with westerns. You can look around at certain parts when you’re in a scene, and you just kind of feel like you’re there, and you really feel grounded. It’s easy to get into character, and it’s easy to find these little beats that might not be in the script to start with, where your character might say something where it’s off the cuff but it fits right in because it’s how he’s feeling or what he thinks. When you start getting to that place, it really makes it more comfortable.

I wanted to ask about a couple of other things in your back catalog, but one in particular is another period piece. What do you remember about the experience of doing Roadracers?

Oh, man, I loved Roadracers. That time period specifically was so great, and Robert Rodriguez… You know, he was at the beginning of his career, right after El Mariachi. He is just an incredible filmmaker. I mean, he strapped a camera on his shoulder and was, like, “Just drive!” Holding onto the front of the car, because we were just trying to steal the shot before they wrapped for the day. Just things like that. And playing someone who’s very cool is fun, because you, uh, don’t always feel that way in real life. [Laughs.] And I was always a fan of the Fonz. So there was that, and just being able to play a character who gets the girl…and loses the girl at the end, yeah, but he chooses to leave. But, I mean, the hot rods and the rock ‘n’ roll… It was just such a fun movie to be a part of.

Actually, I guess your first TV role was a period piece as well: Fox’s series adaptation of The Outsiders.

Yeah! I loved that book. And meeting S.E. Hinton was incredible. Working with Fred Roos and Francis Coppola on that was just a dream come true right out of the gate. They cast it with this group of actors who were all these troublemakers. [Laughs.] We were all just figuring it all out. I was 17 when I did the pilot for that! And then to be part of a book series that I was such a huge fan of when I was growing up. I mean, The Outsiders and Rumble Fish were, like, my two favorite films growing up. So, yeah, to be a part of that was really something else. 

I loved it. I learned a lot. We did 13 episodes on film, one hour long, so as a first job… I mean, in general, getting a pilot is tough, and in general having that pilot picked up to series is tough, so to be able to do both of those things right out of the gate… I had an amazing teacher named Ben DeBaldo in high school who really gave me the confidence to finally book my first job. And then I got on set, and…there were moments in that where I was just, like, looking around at everything. It’s so period and perfect, you really feel like you’re in the world. Whenever you can stay there and not see the camera or the crew and just be in the moment, that’s where the magic happened. 

Are you excited about the impending release of the new Scream movie?

Yeah, I mean, Kevin Williamson directing his first Scream film was really exciting, because he obviously wrote the first one and second one and the fourth, and he was just such a huge part of building this world and these characters… He came up with it all! We obviously miss Wes Craven, but… [Trails off.] It was supposed to be a surprise, and then somebody leaked it, so…there’s not much I can say about it. But I do love playing the role of Dewey. 

I know I have to start wrapping up, but I’m curious: if you have to decide which has been the more important thing for you in your life, would it be your WCW experience, or being able to continue carrying the torch for Bozo the Clown?

Oh, my God. Well, that’s funny, because they’re both things I loved with I was younger, but I’d say Bozo was my first thing that I fell in love with. I lived in Chicago – well, in Evanston, Illinois – and just loved Bozo the Clown, and it had such a huge impact on me. And then I went to the circus and saw Lou Jacobs at Ringling Brothers and just was, like, “I love this world so much!” And it stuck with me my whole life. And then probably 17 years ago now, I met with Larry Harmon, who had turned Bozo from Bozo the Capital Clown into Bozo, the World’s Most Famous Clown. And it took me 15 years to acquire the rights, but when I did… I mean, I was recently at Coachella with Yo Gabba Gabba onstage in front of all these people with the Teletubbies, H.R. Pufnstuf, Strawberry Shortcake and the Care Bears, and then Paul Williams and “Weird Al” Yankovic and Thundercat and Portugal the Man. This whole group was so amazing, such incredible people to be associated with. It was just the best time! A lot of work, a lot of dreams, and it just sort of came to this point. It really meant a lot to me.

Lastly, how would you have done on “The Grand Prize Game”? Would you have crushed it? 

Well, I got to play it once at WGN…and I did get all six buckets! [Laughs.] I was a natural! But it’s fun. We go around and do it all the time. I just did Vandy Camp, Dick Van Dyke’s charity, and I put out the buckets, and there was a lady there who was, like, “Oh, we’re gonna play the Grand Prize Game!” [Laughs.] So we played it, and she got such a kick out of it. And somebody did play it and get all six buckets…and they went home with a crisp $100 bill! 

Mob Cops is currently playing in select theaters, but also available on digital for rent or purchase.

Will Harris (@NonStopPop) has a longstanding history of doing long-form interviews with random pop culture figures for the A.V. Club, Vulture, and a variety of other outlets, including Variety. He also collaborated on Surely You Can’t Be Serious: The True Story of Airplane!, a book with David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker. (And don’t call him Shirley.)