Alexis Arquette

Early work

In 1982, at the age of 12, Arquette made her first screen appearance in the music video "She's a Beauty" by The Tubes, playing "this little kid who's on a ride with all these women and whatnot".^[8] In 1986, she made her big-screen debut in an uncredited role as Alexis, the androgynous friend and bandmate of sexually ambivalent teenager Max Whiteman (Evan Richards) in Down and Out in Beverly Hills.^[9]

In the earlier years of her career, Arquette primarily performed as a female impersonator, frequently under the name "Eva Destruction". At 19, she played trans sex worker Georgette in the screen adaptation of Last Exit to Brooklyn (1989).^[10]

Film career

The majority of Arquette's film work was in low-budget or independent films. In total, she starred in more than 40 movies. Notable roles include a crack addict opposite Tim Roth in Jumpin' at the Boneyard (1992), a teenage boy seeking revenge for a traumatic childhood in the New Zealand-shot horror fantasy Jack Be Nimble (1993), and a murderous drag queen in the low-budget comedy Killer Drag Queens on Dope (2003).^[11][12] Her other film credits include Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror and Sometimes They Come Back... Again (both 1996) and I Think I Do (1997).

Arquette had supporting roles in Pulp Fiction, Threesome (both 1994), and Bride of Chucky (1998).^[13] She played Boy George fanatic George Stitzer in the Adam Sandler–Drew Barrymore comedy The Wedding Singer (1998), singing "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" repeatedly throughout. A later role as Georgina, a Boy George impersonator, in the Sandler–Barrymore film Blended (2014) served as a callback to that earlier character.

Television

In 2001, Arquette returned to New Zealand to portray Roman emperor Caligula in two episodes of Xena: Warrior Princess.^{[citation needed]} That same year she guest starred in the Friends episode "The One with Chandler's Dad", in which she appeared alongside her sister-in-law Courteney Cox, and made a cameo in Son of the Beach.^{[citation needed]}

In September 2005, VH1 announced Arquette as one of the celebrity house guests on the sixth season of The Surreal Life. On January 31, 2007, she appeared as a featured celebrity client and guest judge on the premiere episode of Bravo's reality series Top Design.^[14]

Other work

Arquette made a cameo appearance in the music video for Robbie Williams' song "She's Madonna".^[15] She later publicly announced that she had begun the process leading to sex reassignment surgery.^[16]

Gender identity and transition

In 2004, Arquette expressed an interest in undergoing gender-transitioning medical treatment. She decided against hormone therapy and kept private whether she ultimately underwent gender-affirming surgery, completing her transition in 2006.^[17][18] Her experience was documented in the film Alexis Arquette: She's My Brother, which debuted at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival.^[19] Arquette was a vocal supporter of other transgender people, including Chaz Bono, who transitioned shortly after Arquette.^[18]

Amid increasing health complications from HIV, Arquette began presenting again as a man in 2013.^[1] Her brother David Arquette said that Alexis was "gender suspicious" and alternately felt like a man or a woman at different times.^[20][21][22]

Health

Arquette contracted HIV in 1987.^[23] In later life she suffered from ill health as a result of being HIV-positive.^[23][1][24]

Film

Television