Oscar frontrunner Patricia Arquette bared a very personal side during an appearance on The Meredith Vieira Show on Wednesday, Feb. 11. The Boyhood actress, 46, was asked about Bruce Jenner’s public transformation from male to female. Arquette has some experience with the topic as her younger sister, actress Alexis Arquette, went through the same change many years ago.
“I feel like Alexis, my sister, has taught me so much about love and acceptance,” the Medium star began. “It’s a very difficult thing to be transgender, especially 20 years ago when Alexis started talking about it. I didn’t exactly understand it.”
Arquette went on to explain that her sister approached her about the change soon after their parents (actors Lewis Arquette and Brenda Olivia “Mardi”) died.
“I lost two people I loved,” she said. “We all come into this life in a different package — a baby package. We get older, we become an old person package. If you’re male or female at the end, I didn’t care. I said, ‘I don’t care what package you’re comfortable in. I love and accept you. I’m so glad you’re here on earth. I want to be with you, spend time with you.’”
In regards to the reality star’s public transition, which will include his own TV special and a future announcement on the upcoming season of Keeping Up With the Kardashians, Arquette thinks it will do a lot for those struggling with identity issues.
“You have to be so brave to live this truth of who you are, and if Mrs. Jenner is transitioning, I give all my love and support to her and love and appreciate everything she’s given to America,” Arquette said of the former Olympian. “She’s fighting a fight for a lot of kids that are being kicked out of their own homes. Society turns their back on these kids. It’s really brutal.”