In “The Good Half,” David Arquette and Nick Jonas are in conflict.

The former plays Rick, the stepfather of the grieving Renn (Jonas). Renn’s mother and Rick’s wife Lily (Elisabeth Shue) have died, and the funeral sparks a family drama. Rick and Renn never liked each other, and the funeral brings out the worst in both of them.

It’s a surprising turn for David Arquette, known for his role as noble Dewey Riley in the Scream franchise. Arquette delivers a great performance but was blown away by Nick Jonas.

ClutchPoints was able to speak with Arquette about The Good Half, the moment he committed to Jonas, and his true feelings about Dewey’s death in Scream (2022).

Interview with David Arquette “The Good Half”

ClutchPoints: I was reading about the film and the director, Robert Schwartzman, talked about some of the early conversations he may have had with you and other cast members. He said to “stay open and collaborative.” I’m curious if you could talk about some experiences, maybe specific scenes, where that really rang true for you.

David Arquette: Wow. Robert is just an incredible director. His approach is really open and spontaneous and open to improvisation within the structure of the story and based on the characters.

I don’t know why this comes up, but I thought of something and he calls it “smoothie juice.” And he said, “Then say ‘smoose.'” (laughs) And I thought, “What?” And he said, “Yeah, call it ‘smoose.'”

It was moments like that, where you kind of worked together. Little things like that that came out of the scene and the character, the dynamic, that was really fun.

Nick Jonas is just a great actor. He really impressed me. I mean, he’s got a lot of experience, so it shouldn’t have surprised me, but he was really willing to improvise or just go along with it or just play down my character and make little jabs at him.

When something like that happens, it’s a bit like a tennis ball. So everyone was very open to it. They could all think quickly, they could have a lot of fun, they all knew where their characters were in the story, so it wasn’t out of place.

CP: Do you remember the turning point when Nick Jonas really impressed you while filming “The Good Half”?

TH: Really from the beginning. When we started working together from the first scene, it was just great. And he just knew exactly where he was, what he was doing, and had a great sense of humor and understood our relationship.

And I also loved his relationship with Brittany’s (Snow) character. They just had a close bond, even though there was tension in the story. But you could see that they really understood each other and were really comfortable with each other, and Matt Walsh is just an incredible comedic actor.

So everyone really came to have fun and make a film that we could all be proud of.

Improvising with Nick Jonas

CP: You’ve mentioned improvisation a few times – was there any improvisation involved in the confrontation with Nick Jonas’ character during the funeral?

TH: Yeah, little things like him not really telling me what joke to tell and me not really having a joke. It was a little riff – I was trying to imagine what Rick must have been going through when he was setting this up.

I was like, “Oh, jazz.” You just choose jazz because that’s what jazz is for. For that silly stuff. You don’t even really hear the joke on camera or anything, but for me it just wore off.

But the really funny thing about that scene, and the reason my character was so upset at the time, is in the script: The whole family was supposed to drive from the funeral into a limousine and then to this party.

And then Robert decided that Rick wasn’t going to be at the funeral. I don’t know if it was a camera angle or something, but I wasn’t going to be in the limo.

I didn’t care as an actor because I just had some free time. But Rick was really upset about it. Rick was angry because Rick had picked out the limo and paid for it and he was really looking forward to the ride in the limo.

But he is not in the limousine, like, How could they do this to me? It was part of my character’s backstory that made him so upset about this funeral, while he was sort of taking his anger out on Renn.

So the anger in the back of his mind has nothing to do with the fact that they lost this incredible woman. It’s about him not getting to ride in the limo. And for me, it was fun to play that out in my head too. I can understand where his anger came from, and it wasn’t a sad part, you know what I mean?

It’s not like he broke down and said, “Sorry, buddy.” He was upset about a limousine.

CP: I’m not used to seeing you in roles like Rick – he’s quite a jerk, you know? But is it easy for you to flip the switch and feel the anger that Rick would feel towards the limo?

TH: Well, Brett (Ryland), the writer, had written such an incredible script. (It) was based on an experience he’d had himself, so there was a lot of that in there. Part of the balance is not forcing things – you have to figure out the tone of the movie you’re in and how everyone’s playing it and how you fit into the larger part of the storytelling.

So you could just let the words speak and then, when there was time to play around, take the improvisations to where the character felt that way.

It’s not easy, but you just have to know what you can and can’t allow. For example, you can’t giggle the way you like, or you limit your personality. You see everything that happens through the eyes of the character, so if someone says something that I might find really funny and laugh at, they’ll take it personally.

So it’s really easy to activate yourself in this way. You just need to remember where your point of view is coming from.

What is David Aruqette’s “good half”?

CP: I really liked the overall theme of The Good Half – Nick Jonas’ character knows his mother’s good half, right? I think that’s a really cool thing. How do you think people who know you personally would describe your good half?

TH: Oh, that’s interesting. I’m not sure. I mean, life is a rollercoaster. We all have our ups and downs, especially as parents, sometimes it’s hard to be disciplinary and speak up when the kids are misbehaving.

You have to let them know about these things. But the really good half of it is all the good times you have. We usually take pictures.

When we take photos, we usually photograph the good times we have – unless you’re a photojournalist or something (laughs) – but most of the photos you take in your life are of the happy times.

So it’s really about those moments and the dynamics that you have with your loved ones.

I lost my mother when I was 25, so I could relate to what his (Nick Jonas’) character was going through and understand that in my own life. Obviously for my character we had a different take on it and a different approach, but I think Robert captured that sense of loss.

But what was always really healing for me was feeling gratitude for the time you had with these people and how important and great it is to keep their memory alive and to meet their friends or their family and talk about things you might have forgotten. It might bring back a memory in you and you think: Oh yes, I remember that.

And just look at old pictures and visit old places that you’ve visited or lived in. Things like that are really important.

Does not return in Scream 6

CP: I read an old interview about Scream 6 where you said you were “sad” not to be in it. Was there ever a discussion about Dewey living through the role, and is there anything you didn’t get to do with your character that you would have loved to?

TH: I mean, it’s sad. I really enjoyed the role. I got to the point where I think there was an element of the character Dewey that was very much in tune with Wes (Craven) and Wes’ sense of humor and Wes’s kindness.

And I think the fact that we had lost Wes right before this movie was part of the loss of Dewey as well. He was such an important person in my life and such an amazing man. I just can’t speak highly enough of him. I guess it was kind of parallel to that.

There was no real discussion about keeping him alive. I think part of losing him was also because he was supposed to help reboot the franchise, have an impact on the fans and have a real moment in this kind of trilogy, or, well, no trilogy (laughs), but a film series that was painful and really touched people emotionally.

I’ve talked to a lot of Scream fans and they’ve said, “I cried in the theater” and “We miss Dewey” and things like that.

But if there’s anything else I would have wanted for that character… I don’t know. I would have just loved for him to come back and just be a part of everything. I love working on roles like that, I love working with Neve (Campbell) and Courtney (Cox).

For me, it was a really powerful series of films. And I love that it brings such memories and joy to a lot of people who love those films. When I meet fans of it and just send them videos or something, it’s very humbling that it’s touched so many people and they’ve taken so much away from it.

David Arquette on John Cena’s farewell tour

CP: I know you used to be a professional wrestler and John Cena announced his retirement tour. I know you’re retired, but is there any chance we’ll ever get a retirement or another fight?

TH: (Laughs) Oh my God, I don’t know. I mean, I was in WCW when it was still around, but without a full understanding of what wrestling was and how to wrestle.

I would always kind of like to do that on a large level, you know, at one of the big companies, and kind of go into the training facility and really train that element.

But I don’t know. The clock is ticking. (laughs)

I’m happy for John Cena. I think he’s had an incredible career… I love the guy (and) especially the work he’s done with Make-A-Wish. He’s such a hero in that regard.

The Good Half is in theaters.