Lotta Arquette Stuff, Surprise Series, & Tony Roberts
Dracula opens in theaters on Feb. 6. It is an English-language film made in France, and it was directed by and written by Luc Bresson, a Frenchman.
Here’s much of the plot, but not the ending: In the 1400s, Prince Vladimir of Romania (Caleb Landry Jones) is battling the Muslim Turks. His beloved wife, Elizabeth, is killed during this battle, and Vlad renounces God and becomes Dracula.
For four centuries, Dracula seeks the reincarnation of Elizabeth. This changes when Dracula meets with Hacker, a Parisian attorney. It’s a “boring” business meeting, but during this meeting Dracula realizes that Mina, Hacker’s wife, is the reincarnation of Elizabeth. Vlad wants Mina, and Hacker, of course, wants her, too.
Zoe Bleu (Sidel), 31, plays Mina. Dracula is her first big film part. She has also been a part-time fashion model and a part-time ballet dancer.
Zoe’s mother is actress Rosanna Arquette, now 63. Rosanna’s well-known siblings are actors Patricia Arquette, 57, and David Arquette, 54.
Rosanna had long given “hints” that she identified as Jewish in a religious sense. This was confirmed when I found out she hosted (2021) Rabbi Mordecai Finley, a Los Angeles rabbi, on her podcast. The summary says Finley “has been instrumental in Rosanna’s perspective on life, marriage and motherhood, and much more.”
Patricia has always avoided any formal religious identity. I don’t think David is religious. However, in 2012, on a visit to Israel to film a TV episode, he celebrated his bar mitzvah at the Western Wall. An Orthodox rabbi presided over the bar mitzvah.
Zoe’s (Jewish) father is John Sidel, now 59. He was married to Rosanna from 1994-1999. Sidel, an American, is a political scientist and he’s a faculty member of the prestigious London School of Economics.
Two Netflix Series
Very recently I saw a short summary of the plot of Cash Queens, a French comedy thriller series that begins streaming on Netflix on Feb. 5. Here’s that summary: “When life pushes them to the brink, five desperate friends decide the only way out is to form a gang, swipe some guns and start holding up banks.”
The five friends are women. I don’t know if any of the French actresses who play these women are Jewish. However, I did see that two French actors have names that sound Jewish: Jonathan Cohen and Olivier Rosemberg. I quickly found out that Rosemberg and Cohen are about 40, and they often are writers for series that they also act in. Rosemberg is the creator of Cash Queens as well as acts in the series.
Then something special happened: I find out that they both starred in and were writers for Family Business, a very Jewish series that I missed when it began playing on Netflix in 2019. It was so popular that three seasons of the show were made and streamed (six episodes a season). All those seasons arestill streaming on Netflix.
Here’s Netflix plot summary: “After France is about to legalize pot, an entrepreneur and his family race to turn their butcher shop into a marijuana café.”
I gathered, from various sources, that the “pot family” is Jewish and they have very Jewish last name — “Hazan.”
I found out there is tons of Jewish stuff in the series. Like using very popular Yiddish words that Jews in English-speaking and French-speaking countries use, like bubbeleh. I found out that almost all the actors playing Hazan family members are Jewish in real life. Cohen and Rosemberg are “kosher.”
I just came across these two series, and I haven’t seen an episode of Family Business yet. I will start watching as soon as I finish this column. I hope Family Business is a treat — and when Cash Queens streams — I hope it is a success for Monsieur Rosemberg, the series creator.
The Late Tony Roberts
Here is one more showbiz Jew who passed away in 2025. Actor Tony Roberts died on Feb. 7, 2025, age 85. Roberts worked steadily in theater, TV and movies from 1962 to 2017, and you’ll almost certainly recognize him — but you probably don’t know his name.
He is best known for acting in five Woody Allen movies. He had pretty big roles in all these flicks. Perhaps his most memorable Allen role was in Annie Hall. Roberts played Rob, Alvy Singer’s best friend. Woody played Alvy Singer.
The Detroit Jewish News has been supported by readers like you since 1942. Support independent, local, Jewish journalism with a donation today.