David Arquette Talks Magic, Science, and Faith in Peacock's 'Mrs. Davis' Amid Season Finale (Exclusive)
Peacock's brilliantly bonkers sci-fi adventure series Mrs. Davis has premiered its Season 1 finale, and there is no doubt that fans are certainly in for a wild ride. Ahead of the big episode, PopCulture.com had a chance to speak with David Arquette, who stars as Monty, the magician father to Betty Gilpin's A.I.-battling nun Sister Simone, formerly Elizabeth Abbott. During our chat, Arquette opened up about learning magic for the role and the show's heavy themes of science and faith.
"I'm in awe, whenever I watch it. I'm like, 'Wow,'" he said of Mrs. Davis, then noting what he finds so impressive about the series from his perspective as a film and TV producer. "Putting those set pieces and these adventures together, it's mind-boggling how they accomplished it all." Offering his thoughts on the overall feel of the series, Arquette said, "It definitely feels like a comic book show... in a comic book world. She goes on this crazy adventure, she's such a badass.
The actor also pointed out how much "action" Mrs. Davis has throughout, then adding that it's never short on "emotional, really profound moments," and "humor," as well. "It's great to see the different relationships developing," he continued, pointing to a couple of specifics. "I love her relationship with Andy McQueen's character Jay... and Wiley's [Jake McDorman], just amazing actors and performances all around."
Over the course of the show, we have seen Monty in flashbacks, as Simone has stated that he died. However, her mother Celeste (Elizabeth Marvel), doesn't believe this. While we will not give any spoilers, PopCulture can confirm that Thursday's Season 1 finale does in fact reveal Monty's fate, and it's the pinnacle of faith vs. science vs. magic that the Abbott family represents that is truly the heart of the show.
"It's like, magic... you're being fooled, but you're kind of allowing yourself to be fooled. Religion has this blind faith, you have to believe in something you can't really tangibly put your finger on.... Then A.I. is this unknown [thing] that's coming up," Arquette explained, "like is it going to be completely evil or is it going to be a benefit to society? I don't know, it's all a little nerve-wracking."
He continued, "As far as adventure goes, I think it's really fun. I think there's a lot behind it, too, that I haven't even picked up on with all the little pop culture references throughout it and these little things. Like somebody forcing someone a card, which is this insane concept, which when you find out about it as a magician, you're like, whoa. All these little things like how these disappearing acts and stuff work. It's all tricks, but they're brilliant."
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When it comes to the magician elements of his character, Arquette confessed that he "can do a couple card tricks" and some other "little stuff," but joked that he's "really not very dextrous" with his hands. "I'm just kind of sloppy in general," he quipped. "Just goofy like, not the smoothest cat. So it was fun playing kind of a smooth cat and trying to be really on his game and smooth, then playing the other side where he is more desperate and struggling."
Arquette went on to reveal that his magician costumes were designed by the legendary "amazing tailor" Jaime Custom Tailoring of North Hollywood. "The costume defined a lot of it... When we found him, it really brought a lot of the stage look together." He then revealed that he worked with Nashville-based magician Frankie Foti to learn some card tricks.
The actor joked that he thinks it's likely real "magicians can tell" that he's "not very good" at the sleight of hand "because when you're a magician you've spent so many hours" working out the tricks. Comparing it to his time working in the wrestling industry, Arquette said, "It's a little bit like me going into the wrestling world when I'm not a wrestler. They're like, 'You have to put in the time to do it.' So I get it. I'm a huge fan of magic, but I don't consider myself a magician."
Finally, when it comes to magicians and illusionists that he admires, Arquette admitted that he doesn't "like anything that really seems like someone could die." He continued, "I don't like it anywhere. I just don't like the threat of death, I don't like it, I could live without it. So those are my favorite tricks. I saw, I've seen so many magicians, but yeah, Penn and Teller I saw early on when they used to do their real gory act."
Arquette added, "I was like a teenager and I saw it and my brain kind of exploded at that point. David Copperfield's just incredible in what he does. David Blaine, I love his stuff... And Doug Henning was a really funny seventies one I watched a lot. He's got a whole different vibe, but I always got a kick out of him." Mrs. Davis Season 1 is streaming in full right now, at Peacock.