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David Arquette & Wife Christina on His Journey Back to Pro Wrestling After Near-Fatal Heart Attack (Exclusive)

By Liz Calvario‍ 3:51 PM PDT, August 26, 2020

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David Arquette and wife Christina McLarty have been through a lot together, including the 48-year-old actor's near-fatal heart attack and hospitalization about three years ago. His terrifying experience is captured in their upcoming film, You Cannot Kill David Arquette, and reveals the highs and lows of Arquette's journey back into the world of professional wrestling.

"You were nearly dying," McLarty tells her husband as they interview each other for ET. "You had to have two stents put in your heart."

In November 2018, Arquette -- who won the World Championship Wrestling championship in 2000 -- participated in a "wrestling death match" against wrestler Nick Gage. The fight almost killed the actor after he was cut in the neck and it got infected. After he was hospitalized, he later admitted that he wasn't aware just how dangerous it could be and wrote in a lengthy statement that he got injured because of his lack of experience.

Additionally, it was later revealed, by his sister, Patricia Arquette, that he had suffered a heart attack a year prior to his wrestling match.

"The whole experience was crazy, both as a couple and then also doing it as business partners," McLarty expresses. "In the documentary, you've always been a really open book…One of the things that you were not allowed to see during the editing process was how we showed your mental health struggles, your depression and addiction and anxiety. How is it for you to see it in the documentary, the way that we portrayed it?"

"I probably won't ever watch the documentary ever again," Arquette admits, sharing that "it's really so hard for me to watch. But good art comes from being vulnerable, being revealing, being open, being honest and I wanted to do that in the film."

While he's glad his wife kicked him out of the editing room, the Scream star shares that he's learned one important lesson throughout the whole process.

"I was beating myself up so much because after the death match that's in there, you got really upset with me and you were like, 'I just feel like you want to die,' and I was like, 'I don't want to die,'" he recalls. "But then doing some self-discovery, [I saw] that I've been beating myself up for so many years, telling myself sort of these lies, like, that I'm stupid, that I'm not good enough. Whatever your personal rabbit hole that you go down is, I've just learned through this process that it is about understanding yourself and believing in yourself, telling yourself that you're the greatest."

For McLarty, she will never forget receiving a message from the late Luke Perry, whose son Jack is also a wrestler, that Arquette was hurt.

"I'll never forget waking up to a text from Luke Perry telling me that he was driving you to the hospital," she remembers. "I get the chills and it's hard not to be emotional talking about Luke because of your deep love and friendship together and how much he meant to Alexis [Arquette] and how big of a friendship he and Alexis shared."

The death match was a "wild experience" for McLarty, who says it was "hard to separate myself as your wife" and his working partner. "I was really angry at you at times. I was very mad about the death match and very upset as to what transpired thereafter because you were in the hospital," she confesses.

"But then at the same time, I was calling the director and asking him what he got on camera because I couldn't be there that night," she says, adding that it was "a very strange role to play. But I'm so proud of the film."

Arquette, on his end, thanks his wife for all her support. "I couldn't have done this without you. You put up with a lot," he expresses. "It's an insane world and I'm glad we made it through. We made it through pretty, really strong and by the time this whole pandemic came and we had to lockdown, it made it a lot easier to be helping and kind."

You Cannot Kill David Arquette arrives in drive-in theaters on Aug. 21 and VOD on Aug. 28.