PATRICIA ARQUETTE Embracing My Second Act

THE STAR OF MURDAUGH: DEATH IN THE FAMILY REFLECTS ON HER CAREER, LEGACY AND LIFE AS AN EMPTY NESTER: ‘IT’S EXCITING’

- COLLEEN KRATOFIL

Patricia Arquette has been rethinking what her life looks like these days. “It’s funny because somebody had told me that the Chinese call menopause the second spring, and my life kind of is a second spring,” the Oscar winner, 57, says. “My kids are grown-up, I’m single, I don’t have to take anybody else’s dreams into account as far as where I want to live or what I want my house to look like. I get to ask myself for the first time, ‘What do I want to do?’ ”

The answer to that involves indulging in more of what she loves: traveling, crafting and quality time with friends. “This whole world’s different all of a sudden,” she says. Arquette split from her boyfriend of nearly nine years, artist Eric White, in 2023, and raised her son Enzo, 36, whom she shares with musician Paul Rossi, and daughter Harlow, 22, with actor Thomas Jane. Now, she says, she “can have all these adventures with people I really miss and want to spend time with.” She’s also focusing on acting roles that excite her. “There’s still a lot to explore,” she says.

Hot off her Emmy-nominated role as the cold and conniving Ms. Cobel on Apple TV’s