Alexa here with some time travel for your Tuesday. I was thrilled to see self-professed nerd Patricia Arquette take the stage on Sunday night for her Globe win. I've had a thing for her for since the summer of my 15th year, when a pal of mine snuck me some VHS copies of various Nightmare on Elm Street movies. They were my first slasher films, and while the genre didn't stick for me, when I saw the third installment I decided it was the best: not only did it have snake Freddy Krueger but I felt a kinship with the igenue with the cute bangs. (Hair was of the utmost importance to me then.)
Later that summer, while I was reading through my back issues of Seventeen Magazine, I tore out a page that mentioned her; little did I know how amusing the page would be today. Makes me glad I don't throw things away:
Seventeen Magazine - April, 1988
Tricia Leigh Fisher: She grew up in a show-business family, the daughter of actress Connie Stevens and singer Eddie Fisher and the half sister of actress Carrie Fisher, and therefore didn't lead a typical kid's life. In fact, while most of her friends were sweating over math equations Tricia Leigh Fisher was hanging out in Las Vegas watching her mother do her nightclub act. "I loved it," she says. "I'd play the slot machines, sneak into the shows, and then fall asleep under my mom's dressing table." Not surprisingly she got hooked on the business. The nineteen-year-old's most recent release is Pretty Smart. Fisher's future plans: "I want to do important films with a message, not play some silly teenager who's worried about going to the prom."
Julia Roberts: "A rebellious girl who usually gets what she wants with very little effort." That's how actress Julia Roberts describes her character in the soon-to-be-released film Mystic Pizza. But take one look at her playful eyes and irresistible smile, and you sense that this self-possessed free spirit could just as easily be referring to herself. Does being the sister of one of Hollywood's hottest actors, Eric Roberts, make it easier to get jobs? "I wish!" The twenty-year-old smiles. "The fact is, nobody's going to sink forty million dollars into a movie just to hire Eric Roberts's little sister."
Patricia Arquette: "Oh no...not another one!" Patricia Arquette's parents were exasperated when she announced her plans to become an actress. From her vaudevillian great-grandmarents to her big sister, actress Patricia Arquette, there have been four generations of the Arquette clan involved in the theater. But despite her family's reluctance, she set out and landed roles in A Nightmare on Elm Street 3 and, more recently, Far North, with Jessica Lange. Arquette, twenty, admits auditions can turn into "kind of a freak show...they're always curious to see if I look like Rosanna." But she doesn't mind. "I have no problem with comparisons. I'm very proud of my sister."
I also recall having a great amount of hair admiration for Julia when I saw Mystic Pizza. Reading this again also made me realize that Julia and Patricia are the same age. But, does anyone remember anything with Tricia Leigh Fisher?
In any case, I'm happy to see how far Patricia has come from her days of being consumed by a phallic Freddy. Englund is an Academy member; I hope he votes!
Photo signed by Patricia and Robert Englund available on ebay.