Clad in a comfortably chic black silk Maxfield dress, cinched at the waist with a golden belt, and wooden platform sandals to carry her natural beauty and confidence, Patricia Arquette (aka the “Bonsai Aphrodite”) shared that she has always “felt like a secret Mexican” because her first words were, “In 1519 I lived.”

For those needing a refresher in Mexican history, that was the year Spanish adventurer, Hernán Cortés, landed in Veracruz and began his conquest of the Aztec empire.  So, it seemed fitting that Arquette would travel to the Riviera Maya Film Festival to promote her new film, A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III, directed by Roman Coppola.

During a press encounter at the exclusive Fairmont Mayakoba (check out the pic below!), Arquette spoke candidly about artistry and the arts, personal history, her acting process, aging (“getting comfortable with yourself is one of the gifts of age”), the conglomeration of Hollywood, social causes (she is deeply involved in Haiti), and of course, Charles Swan III, which co-stars Charlie Sheen Jason Schwartzman and Bill Murray.

Of her old friend and director, Roman Coppola, Arquette said that “to know Roman is to really love Roman” and that making Charles Swan III was “like hanging out with your friends.”

When asked by celebs.com what, if anything, Arquette always takes from home when she is on location, she replied, “A toothbrush.  Have toothbrush, can travel.”

A red carpet event and screening of A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III followed at the Unico Beach Club in Puerto Morelos, Mexico.

For those in the US, you can check out the film on on DVD, and, in case you missed how awesome the promo posters were for this film, check them out again, below:

 A special report by Ellen Gonda from the 2013 Riviera Maya Film Festival, Mexico