# Rosanna Arquette
**Rosanna Arquette** (full name Rosanna Lauren Arquette) is an American actress, director, and producer born in 1959 in New York City, best known for her BAFTA-winning role in *Desperately Seeking Susan* (1985) and for her part as Jody in [Quentin Tarantino](https://www.edgepedia.org/quentin-tarantino)'s *Pulp Fiction* (1994).[1](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/arquette-rosanna-1959) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000275/awards/) She comes from a family of performers and has also worked as a documentary filmmaker and as an advocate on women's safety and accountability in the entertainment industry.[3](https://www.chla.org/sites/default/files/atoms/files/CHLA-SPORTS-AND-ENTERTAINMENT-LEADERSHIP-COUNCIL-2014.PDF)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1959, New York City, into a show business family[1](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/arquette-rosanna-1959) |
| Breakthrough | Roberta Glass in *Desperately Seeking Susan* (1985), opposite Madonna[4](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/67288-DESPERATELY-SEEKING-SUSAN) |
| Major award | BAFTA Film Award, Best Actress in a Supporting Role, 1986, for *Desperately Seeking Susan*[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000275/awards/) |
| Early recognition | Primetime Emmy nomination, 1982, for *The Executioner's Song*; Boston Society of Film Critics Best Actress, 1983, for *Baby It's You*[5](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/rosanna-arquette/bio/3030204089/) |
| Signature later role | Jody, wife of the drug dealer Lance (Eric Stoltz), in *Pulp Fiction* (1994)[6](https://www.fandango.com/people/rosanna-arquette-37939/film-credits) |
| Directing | Documentaries *Searching for Debra Winger* (2002) and *All We Are Saying* (2005)[3](https://www.chla.org/sites/default/files/atoms/files/CHLA-SPORTS-AND-ENTERTAINMENT-LEADERSHIP-COUNCIL-2014.PDF) |
| Recent work | Tammy Pitman, an Atlantic Records label executive, in Charli XCX's mockumentary *The Moment* (2026)[7](https://floodmagazine.com/216935/rosanna-arquette-charli-xcx-the-moment-in-convo/) |
## Family and early life
Arquette was raised in a show business family headed by her father, [Lewis Arquette](https://www.edgepedia.org/lewis-arquette), an actor and director, and her mother, Mardi, an actress, poet, theater operator, activist, teacher, and therapist.[8](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/rosanna-arquette/) Her grandfather was the actor and humorist [Cliff Arquette](https://www.edgepedia.org/cliff-arquette), known on television as Charley Weaver.[1](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/arquette-rosanna-1959) Her four younger siblings, Richmond, Patricia, Alexis, and [David Arquette](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-arquette), all became actors.[1](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/arquette-rosanna-1959)
The family lived for a time in Chicago, where her father headed the comedy troupe Second City, before her parents moved the household to a commune in Virginia in the early 1970s.[8](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/rosanna-arquette/) Arquette has described the commune as lacking running water, electricity, or a working bathroom, and has recalled racism there that she found intolerable as a teenager.[9](https://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/rosanna-arquette-talks-healing-in-her-famous-family/) At 15 she hitchhiked to San Francisco with three friends and found work at Renaissance and Dickens fairs, then moved to Los Angeles, where she made her professional stage debut in *Metamorphosis* (1975) at the Story Theatre.[8](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/rosanna-arquette/)
## Television beginnings and the 1980s breakthrough
Arquette's early career ran through television movies. She debuted in the family drama *Having Babies II* (ABC, 1977), appeared as a commune girl in *More American Graffiti* (1979), and played the teenage daughter of [Shirley Jones](https://www.edgepedia.org/shirley-jones) on the NBC dramedy *Shirley* (1979–1980).[8](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/rosanna-arquette/) She later said she spent those years playing, in her words, "every pregnant, teen-age runaway hooker drug addict you can imagine" to pay the rent.[10](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-11-02-ca-15434-story.html)
**Film acclaim arrived in the early 1980s.** She earned a Primetime Emmy nomination for the television adaptation of [Norman Mailer](https://www.edgepedia.org/norman-mailer)'s *The Executioner's Song* (1982), then won the Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress for John Sayles' *Baby It's You* (1983).[5](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/rosanna-arquette/bio/3030204089/) In 1985 she appeared in two films that defined her screen image: [Lawrence Kasdan](https://www.edgepedia.org/lawrence-kasdan)'s western *Silverado* and Martin Scorsese's *After Hours*, in which she played a spaced-out siren.[11](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/PersonDetails/244102)
*Desperately Seeking Susan*, directed by Susan Seidelman, cast Arquette as Roberta Glass, a bored New Jersey housewife who follows the free-spirited Susan (Madonna, in her film debut) through the personal ads and, after an accident, is mistaken for her.[4](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/67288-DESPERATELY-SEEKING-SUSAN) The character had initially been conceived as a woman in her thirties for a famous actress, but Arquette was cast to play Roberta.[4](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/67288-DESPERATELY-SEEKING-SUSAN) During production, Madonna's album *Like a Virgin* went triple platinum, and the film came to be known as "The Madonna Movie"; on the first day of filming a police officer mistook Arquette for Madonna and asked for an autograph.[4](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/67288-DESPERATELY-SEEKING-SUSAN) The film was written, produced, and directed entirely by women, something Arquette has highlighted as part of its significance.[12](https://los40.com/2026/03/29/buscando-a-susan-desesperadamente-el-primer-papel-estelar-de-madonna-tras-descartar-a-barbra-streisand-o-a-diane-keaton/) Arquette won the 1986 BAFTA Film Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for the performance and was nominated for a Golden Globe in the comedy or musical category.[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000275/awards/) She received a second BAFTA nomination the following year for *After Hours*.[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000275/awards/)
## Later film and television
A small but memorable role refreshed her profile in the mid-1990s: Jody, the wife of the drug dealer Lance ([Eric Stoltz](https://www.edgepedia.org/eric-stoltz)) in Tarantino's *Pulp Fiction* (1994).[6](https://www.fandango.com/people/rosanna-arquette-37939/film-credits) • [8](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/rosanna-arquette/) She followed with a role in [David Cronenberg](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-cronenberg)'s *Crash* (1996) and worked steadily in film and guest television roles thereafter.[8](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/rosanna-arquette/) Her genre range ran from [Vincent Gallo](https://www.edgepedia.org/vincent-gallo)'s *Buffalo '66* (1998) to the comedy *The Whole Nine Yards* (2000).[11](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/PersonDetails/244102)
Recent credits include Gigi Cessna on ABC's *Big Sky* (2022–2023), Rose in Netflix's *Florida Man* (2023), Kate in Apple's *Presumed Innocent* (2024), and Jenny Ballard in the 2025 series *Ballard*.[13](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000275/) In 2026 she co-stars as [Atlantic Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/atlantic-records) label executive Tammy Pitman in *The Moment*, a mockumentary built around [Charli XCX](https://www.edgepedia.org/charli-xcx)'s *Brat* era, directed by [Aidan Zamiri](https://www.edgepedia.org/aidan-zamiri) and released by A24 after its Sundance debut.[7](https://floodmagazine.com/216935/rosanna-arquette-charli-xcx-the-moment-in-convo/) • [14](https://a24films.com/films/the-moment) Arquette said she accepted the role after receiving a personal letter from Charli XCX, and that her decades of contact with the music business informed the performance.[7](https://floodmagazine.com/216935/rosanna-arquette-charli-xcx-the-moment-in-convo/)
## Directing and documentary work
Arquette moved behind the camera with two documentaries: *Searching for Debra Winger* (2002), an examination of the pressures facing actresses in Hollywood, and *All We Are Saying* (2005).[3](https://www.chla.org/sites/default/files/atoms/files/CHLA-SPORTS-AND-ENTERTAINMENT-LEADERSHIP-COUNCIL-2014.PDF) She has also hosted the podcast *Radical Musings with Rosanna Arquette*.[15](https://snapshot.apple.com/us/person/6740288962)
## Weinstein allegations and activism
In 2017 Arquette joined the group of actresses making sexual harassment accusations against [Harvey Weinstein](https://www.edgepedia.org/harvey-weinstein), and she told [The New Yorker](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-new-yorker) that in the 1990s, after showing up for a dinner she had scheduled at the Beverly Hills Hotel, she was sent instead to his hotel room, where he requested a massage and, after seizing her hands, tried to move them toward his penis until she refused.[16](https://time.com/4976003/harvey-weinstein-gwyneth-paltrow-angelina-jolie/) She has said that after she rejected Weinstein her career suffered, and that she believes she got the *Pulp Fiction* role only because of its small size and Weinstein's deference to Tarantino.[17](https://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/id/eprint/31633/2/HernandezFroio_201001134_CorrectedThesisClean.pdf)
She has continued to speak publicly. In 2026 she criticized Tarantino's use of a racial slur in *Pulp Fiction* as "racist and creepy," prompting a written response from the director, and she condemned Weinstein's denial of the accounts she and other actresses had given.[18](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/mar/09/rosanna-arquette-quentin-tarantinos-n-word-pulp-fiction-racist-creepy) • [19](https://www.thewrap.com/industry-news/business/rosanna-arquette-condemns-weinstein-assault-denial-prison-interview/) Her activism extends to anti-war protests and advocacy for women, equality, and accountability in the entertainment industry.[9](https://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/rosanna-arquette-talks-healing-in-her-famous-family/) • [20](https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1310-sunday-edition-with-antho-272063104/episode/rosanna-arquette-joins-anthony-and-pam-345584535/)
## References
1. [Arquette, Rosanna 1959–, Encyclopedia.com](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/arquette-rosanna-1959)
2. [Rosanna Arquette – Awards, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000275/awards/)
3. [Rosanna Arquette – Actress, Filmmaker and Breast Cancer Advocate, Children's Hospital Los Angeles (2014)](https://www.chla.org/sites/default/files/atoms/files/CHLA-SPORTS-AND-ENTERTAINMENT-LEADERSHIP-COUNCIL-2014.PDF)
4. [Desperately Seeking Susan, AFI Catalog](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/67288-DESPERATELY-SEEKING-SUSAN)
5. [Rosanna Arquette Biography, TV Guide](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/rosanna-arquette/bio/3030204089/)
6. [Rosanna Arquette Filmography, Fandango](https://www.fandango.com/people/rosanna-arquette-37939/film-credits)
7. [Rosanna Arquette Is Living in Charli XCX's Moment, FLOOD (February 12, 2026)](https://floodmagazine.com/216935/rosanna-arquette-charli-xcx-the-moment-in-convo/)
8. [Rosanna Arquette – Actress, TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/rosanna-arquette/)
9. [Rosanna Arquette Talks Family Healing and 'Bad Guys' in the Industry, Us Weekly (March 16, 2026)](https://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/rosanna-arquette-talks-healing-in-her-famous-family/)
10. [Arquette: Desperately Seeking Good Roles, Los Angeles Times (November 2, 1986)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-11-02-ca-15434-story.html)
11. [Rosanna Arquette filmography, AFI Catalog](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/PersonDetails/244102)
12. ['Buscando a Susan desesperadamente': El primer papel estelar de Madonna, Los 40 (March 29, 2026)](https://los40.com/2026/03/29/buscando-a-susan-desesperadamente-el-primer-papel-estelar-de-madonna-tras-descartar-a-barbra-streisand-o-a-diane-keaton/)
13. [Rosanna Arquette, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000275/)
14. [The Moment, A24 Films](https://a24films.com/films/the-moment)
15. [Rosanna Arquette – Movies and Podcasts, Apple Snapshot](https://snapshot.apple.com/us/person/6740288962)
16. [Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie and Others Come Forward With Sexual Misconduct Allegations Against Harvey Weinstein, TIME (2017)](https://time.com/4976003/harvey-weinstein-gwyneth-paltrow-angelina-jolie/)
17. [Thesis excerpt on Arquette and Weinstein, White Rose eTheses](https://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/id/eprint/31633/2/HernandezFroio_201001134_CorrectedThesisClean.pdf)
18. [Rosanna Arquette says Quentin Tarantino's use of N-word in Pulp Fiction is 'racist and creepy', The Guardian (March 9, 2026)](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/mar/09/rosanna-arquette-quentin-tarantinos-n-word-pulp-fiction-racist-creepy)
19. [Rosanna Arquette Condemns Weinstein's Ongoing Denial in Prison Interview, TheWrap](https://www.thewrap.com/industry-news/business/rosanna-arquette-condemns-weinstein-assault-denial-prison-interview/)
20. [Rosanna Arquette Joins Anthony and Pam on Take 2 Radio, iHeart/Sunday Edition](https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1310-sunday-edition-with-antho-272063104/episode/rosanna-arquette-joins-anthony-and-pam-345584535/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 1970s to 1990s › Surnames A*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license