Arquette checked into rehab at the beginning of January (11) and has now spoken about the moment he knew it was time to get sober during a taped chat with Oprah Winfrey, which will air on TV in America on Thursday (24Feb11).
He explains, “I came back from Miami and I’d taken a nap and I woke up and Patricia and Courteney were at my bed.
“Courteney had a cup of coffee and I was like, ‘What are you two doing here together?’ Like I already knew… And Courteney’s like, ‘Do you mind coming out into the living room for a second?’
“I peep my head around the corner and my best friend… is there and my business partner and some guy I don’t know, and I go, ‘What up turkeys? I guess this is my intervention.'”
That took place on 30 December (10) but Arquette reveals he still attended a New Year’s Eve party the following night – because he had promised he would be there. But he didn’t drink.
He adds, “I was sober at the New Year’s event. It was at this club I was putting on… I had already been sober and so I went there because it was something I was planning on doing and I wanted to see if I could do it sober, if I could still entertain and dance around. And I could and I had a great time.”
In the hard-hitting chat with Winfrey, Arquette admits he drank his first beer when he was four and already had a “serious” drinking problem by the time he started high school. He also told the talk show host he stole marijuana from his father when he was eight.
Arquette’s sisters Patricia and Rosanna will be part of the show when it airs.
